Specsavers extends its sponsorship with Celtic Rugby

The annual rugby union competition involving regional sides from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, got underway last month.

Specsavers' expanded sponsorship deal means the optician's logo will continue to appear on the shirts of all match officials at venues across Ireland, Wales and Scotland. In addition, it extends to perimeter advertising boards and programme advertisements for every match in the Magners League in both the regular season and the newly-introduced play-off semi finals and final. It also includes the ongoing sponsorship of the popular Specsavers Fairplay League, where the team with the least disciplinary points against them in a season is awarded a sum of money to be spent on their youth development programme.

Director of Celtic Rugby, David Jordan says: 'Specsavers is now firmly established as official sponsor of the Magners League match officials, and we're pleased that its strong commitment to Celtic Rugby has been extended by this agreement. I am looking forward to continuing to work with the Specsavers team during what promises to be an exciting time for the Magners League culminating in the first ever final at the end of this season.'

Specsavers marketing director Richard Holmes says: 'The Magners League continues to go from strength to strength and we are delighted to be once again supporting the most important individuals on the pitch - the match officials. Our previous sponsorship experiences have demonstrated that the humorous link between match officials and an optical retailer has been extremely well received by the supporters but now after 6 years of support I think fans have seen what the investment in match officials has achieved.'

The Magners League season takes place between September and May, with each team playing every other team on a home and away basis.