Gerry Byrne’s New Idea. Uh-Oh
By Roger Bill
The Minister described it as an “exciting new partnership.” Ever the optimist, Gerry Byrne, the Minister of Immigration, Population Growth, and Skills (IPGS), was announcing a two-year, $171,000 sponsorship with an English football team whose players will wear a Newfoundland and Labrador logo on their jerseys.
In the Friday afternoon media release, Byrne boasted that “As Barrow AFC players wear Newfoundland and Labrador with pride on their jerseys, soon we will be cheering along with pride of our own as the team takes the field.”
Maybe when provincial immigration officials are in the U.K. during football season “carrying out newcomer recruitment activities” they’ll take Buddy the Puffin with them.
Barrow AFC
So, who you ask, is Barrow AFC, the English soccer team that is proudly going to wear our provincial logo? Barrow is a blue collar, port city that is smaller than Fredericton, NB. They are not one of the tier 1 English Football League (EFL) Premier Division’s 20 clubs. They are not one of the EFL tier 2 Championship League’s 24 clubs. They are not one of the EFL tier 3 League One’s 24 teams. Barrow AFC (nicknamed the Bluebirds) are one of the EFL’s tier 4 League Two’s 24 teams.
In the last season, Barrow AFC finished 7th in their league which makes them the 75th best team in the English Football League.
Their century-old stadium is the 7th smallest in their division with 2,500 seats. By contrast, the seating capacity at the Mary Brown’s Centre in St. John’s is 7,000. The previous front jersey sponsor was a Barrow roofing company, Cumbria Roofing Ulverston.
Gerry Byrne’s media release claims the “shirt sponsorship” (what the local Barrow newspaper calls the deal) will get the province’s logo in front of millions globally on TV. The EFL has a massive television reach, but that is not the same as saying the Barrow Bluebirds’ televised matches will capture the attention of potential immigrants.
A North American Comparable
Look at the deal another way. If Gerry Byrne was doing a $171,000 shirt sponsorship with a North American hockey team who might be a Barrow comparable? Who is the 75th best hockey team in North America?
There are 32 teams in the tier 1 National Hockey League. There are 32 teams in the tier 2 American Hockey League. There are 28 teams in the tier 3 East Coast Hockey League. In the last season the Savannah Ghost Pirates finished 11th in the ECHL making them the 75th best hockey team in North America just behind the Worchester Raiders and just ahead of the Reading Royals. If the partnership was with the 75th best team in a mix of NHL and Canadian Hockey League teams it would probably be with somebody like the Kamloops Blazers.
But maybe Gerry Byrne has uncovered a team poised for a break-out season that will generate a wave of media coverage? Probably not. William Hill and seven other sports gambling services are offering odds between 20/1 and 25/1 for Barrow to win its 2024/25 tier 4 league championship.
A Fantasy?
Eddie Joyce, an Independent Member of the House of Assembly and also a member of the provincial Soccer Hall of Fame, told NTV the notion that a shirt sponsorship on a tier 4 English soccer team will attract immigrants was a “fantasy.” Who, Mr. Joyce asked, came up with this idea?
The media release announcing the shirt sponsorship was issued at 3:45 p.m. on a Friday, often the preferred time slot for announcing bad news, but the release felt celebratory. At least Minister Byrne seemed celebratory.
Buried at the end of the release were five “Quotes” for the media to use. One of the “Quotes” was attributed to Steve Crocker, the Minister of Tourism, Culture, Arts and Recreation. Mr. Crocker is quoted as saying, “It is great to see this initiative coming out of the Department of Immigration, Population Growth and Skills. I am sure that sports fans throughout our province will enjoy seeing Newfoundland and Labrador on the Barrow AFC jersey.” Note that Mr. Crocker says the $171,000 Barrow sponsorship “initiative” belongs to IPGS and he says nothing about it succeeding as an immigration recruitment strategy.