A Helensburgh football side has forged an affiliation with the Royal Navy’s newest operational submarine.
Helensburgh FC’s fortunes are being followed avidly by the 98-strong crew of HMS Ambush – and the local team has even incorporated the submarine’s crest onto their football strip in recognition of the link.
Kenny Russell, manager of Helensburgh FC 2001s, said: “We are delighted as a club that HMS Ambush has become the 12th player on the field.
“We are also delighted that Helensburgh FC 2001s are the first team in the club to be sporting the Ambush crest on their strips.”
Helensburgh Football Club launched in 1981 and have teams ranging from the Adult Amateur team in the West of Scotland Amateur Football League to multiple youth teams playing 11-, seven- and four-a-side football in the Dumbarton Development Football League.
The Amateurs in particular have been going from strength-to-strength and now sit second in their league.
HMS Ambush, launched in 2011, has also being going from strength-to-strength, recently completing her first operational deployment where she proved her fighting capabilities exercising against surface ships, patrol aircraft and helicopters.
“Communication on submarines at sea is carefully controlled, but one thing all the crew look forward to is the weekly football results.” said Commander Alan Daveney, Commanding Officer of HMS Ambush.
“We now have an extra team to follow when we’re beneath the waves.”
Another link between the Helensburgh club and the Royal Navy’s Astute Class submarines is through the 2001 team’s sponsors – L3 Marine Systems UK – who provide vital PMS systems on board and simulator training within the Astute Training Facility, Faslane.
“The sponsorship was a perfect match for all parties concerned,” said David Pritchard, senior manager of L3 Marine Systems UK.
“When Kenny approached L3 requesting sponsorship we were more than happy to help.”
Club chairman Colin Nicolson commented: “As a community club, the original idea was to build a relationship with the naval base as it is such a huge part of the community and HMS Ambush had no hesitation in saying yes when approached several months ago.”
HMS Ambush returned to her home port of HM Naval Base Clyde at the beginning of October after spending six months on deployment.
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