The English Football League (EFL) Trophy, currently sponsored by pizza chain Papa John’s, visited the towns of the four semi-finalists last week, giving fans the chance to get up close and personal with the trophy.
The EFL announced that it had signed an exclusive three-year sponsorship deal with Papa John’s in October 2020, and the competition has since been known as the Papa John’s Trophy. Papa John’s also became the official pizza of the EFL and has just celebrated this year’s semi-final with a trophy tour.
As the Papa John’s Trophy visited each hometown, the pizza store in each of these locations received new features, as well as a new name in honour of the town for the week. Starting off the tour, the trophy visited Hartlepool on Tuesday, 1st March at the Suit Direct Stadium, giving fans the chance to take selfies with the award and grab some free pizza vouchers.
The second stop of the tour on Wednesday, 2nd March saw the trophy visit the new Papa Millers store, named after Rotherham United’s local nickname.
Free pizza was available next on Thursday, 3rd March at the Papa Louis John’s store, named after Sutton United’s star centre-back.
Lastly, the trophy concluded on Friday, 4th March at Papa Latics in Wigan, with special guests attending and one last chance to see the award up close ahead of the semi-final.
In a statement, the Senior Director of Marketing at Papa John’s, Giles Codd, said the tour was a great way to give back to football fans wanting to see one of football’s engraved awards for themselves.
