Science in Sport to fuel Manchester United
* £1.5million of products to be given away to amateur footballers
* Official Sports Nutrition Partner in UK and Europe
Manchester United and sports nutrition experts Science in Sport have announced a multi-year partnership which will see Science in Sport accelerate their vision to ensure footballers across the UK and Europe take their nutrition and performance to the next level.
To celebrate the launch of the partnership, they are giving away £1.5million’s worth of free* Science in Sport product to players across the UK and Europe. This record-breaking giveaway of 100,000 Free Match Day Fuel Packs, worth over £15 each, contains everything a player needs in order to stay energised, hydrated and recover effectively. The packs can be accessed by logging onto www.scienceinsport.com/football and signing up.
The players and backroom staff at Manchester United have been using products from Science in Sport since 2008 to support the team’s nutrition needs. The partnership now means that Science in Sport will be working with the club nutritionists and players to develop products to meet each individual player’s needs, creating bespoke nutrition plans incorporating these products, as well as developing new products specifically for football.
Science in Sport are building a series of dedicated nutrition stations at Manchester United’s Aon Training Complex to ensure the players have the best access to all of the Science in Sport products before and after training.
Manchester United’s nutritionist Mark Ellison comments: “A professional footballer’s schedule is demanding and we need the players to have the right nutritional programme to give them the energy to give 100 per cent in each game they play. For us, success is ensuring each player is able to keep going right up to the final whistle and then has the best nutrition products afterwards to help them recover from that match and prepare for the next one.”
However, amateur footballers don’t have the same support. Science in Sport’s research shows that amateur footballers are among the least involved in sports nutrition across the UK’s biggest participation sports, with only 26 per cent of amateur footballers using any form of sports nutrition products, compared with 70 per cent of endurance athletes. Science in Sport are committed to supporting amateur footballers to get the same access to nutrition expertise and products as elite players to improve their performance.
Manchester United’s Group Managing Director, Richard Arnold, comments: “At Manchester United, we pride ourselves on being able to offer our squad of players the very best in nutrition support. However, we recognise its role in maintaining performance and aiding recovery isn’t something that is widely recognised among amateur players. It is often thought that products like the ones created by Science in Sport are only for the elite, when in fact they can benefit everyone.
“Amateur football is played by fans week in, week out and through our partnership with Science in Sport we hope to educate them on how sports nutrition products can improve their performance.”
Stephen Moon, CEO of Science in Sport, comments: “If we look at the data, it tells us that amateur footballers need more from the sports nutrition industry. They don’t know what’s out there, and they’re often not educated on how it can help them change their game. For teams where you might be playing a 90 minute game with no substitutes, a Science in Sport gel at half-time can help make sure you don’t run out of energy midway through the second half.
“We recognise this challenge and we want to make a real difference so we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We’re so confident that footballers will benefit from our advanced product range, we’ve agreed to give 100,000 trial packs away to amateur players to kick off our partnership with Manchester United, and they don’t even need to be a fan of the club!”
* Postage and Packing costs of £2.99 are payable