Nationwide Building Society and The Football Association today announced a new partnership which will see Nationwide become the Official England Team Sponsor.

Nationwide and The FA have agreed a new four-year deal which kicks off with England's forthcoming international against European Champions, Greece, on Wednesday 16 August at Old Trafford and will run through until the end of July 2010, after the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Nationwide has a long tradition in football and has been a sponsor for over a decade, becoming England Team Sponsor between 1999 and 2002 and Official Partner of the England Team for the past four years. The latest deal, therefore, will extend the partnership between Nationwide and the England team to almost 12 years. In addition to Nationwide's England Team sponsorship they will also become The FA's Disability Football Partner.

Through this new partnership Nationwide will provide marketing support to a number of The FA's disability initiatives as well as the England Learning Disability Team who will be defending their World Champions title in September in Germany.

The England sponsorship deal includes branding on all training kit, media interview backdrop boards, significant advertising signage at all home games and training sessions and also ticket and broadcast sponsorship rights.

Nationwide will have the right to use the official "Three Lions" crest on advertising and promotions and will have access to players for personal appearances. The deal also includes the England U21s team, all the England women's teams, the England disabled teams and all the England youth teams.

Philip Williamson, Nationwide's Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to confirm this new deal to sponsor the England team for the next four years. As the world's biggest building society and a growing business, it is very important for us to continue to find powerful ways of communicating the benefits that we can offer to our members and to potential new customers."

Peter Gandolfi, Head of Brand Marketing at Nationwide, said: "This is tremendously exciting news for our organisation. As a very large player in financial services, we need to consistently emphasise our brand difference. Sponsorship forms a very important part of our communication process and it is a great way to promote our brand to a huge audience.

"Almost 30 million people in the UK watched England's games at World Cup 2006 and approximately 25 million people in the UK watch football on a regular basis - all potential Nationwide customers.

"We have nearly 600 branches in towns and cities across England and we will be engaging with football supporters, our members and employees through this high-profile football sponsorship. England matches are enjoyed by millions of people and we know that many of our members and employees are massively interested in the fortunes of the national team."

Brian Barwick, The Football Association's Chief Executive, said: "Having an organisation with such a tradition in football as Nationwide is great news and we are delighted to have them on-board over the next four years to support Steve McClaren and the team."

Steve McClaren, England’s new Head Coach, said: "Nationwide is a long-term supporter of The FA and the national team and their renewed association with England is very positive for everyone involved. I'm very excited about the future for England and am delighted Nationwide shares that belief."

The FA's Commercial Director, Jonathan Hill, commented: "We are delighted to welcome back Nationwide who have been such a key partner to us over the years and we look forward to working with them as they support the England teams over the next four years."