A LOCAL football team has a new sponsor.

Men’s Sunday league team Hexhamshire has received sponsorship from Graham Reader Motor Engineering.

Graham Reader has two garages in Hexham, both in Haugh Lane. The main garage undertakes all types of motor engineering while the smaller garage supplies new tyres and batteries.

A spokesperson for the team said: “It is vital for us to have a sponsor to allow the club to function and everyone at the club greatly appreciates Graham Reader’s very kind offer to sponsor us.”

Hexhamshire FC was formed in 2015 by Lewis Short, who has lived in Hexhamshire all his life, and hoped a football team could become part of the community.

Jordan Dodwell, owner of Vercelli Hexham, Hexham Holiday Homes and the Greenhead Hotel, began managing the team in 2018 to relieve some of the everyday pressures which come with running a club from Lewis.

After a good couple of seasons in Hexham & District Division 2, the team was promoted to Division 1 last season.

The team has also secured the new, state-of-the-art facilities at Queen Elizabeth High School as its home pitch.

The first home game of the season will be played on Sunday, September 26.

A spokesperson for the team added: “Although we want the team to be a part of the Shire community and taking our games out of the Shire (games were previously played at Whitely Chapel), we feel it was important to secure the new facilities to allow the club to progress.

“Unfortunately, a lot of our games during the winter were being called off due to waterlogged or frozen pitch and the new facilities mean we can rely on our own pitch a lot more.”