West Bromwich Albion is delighted to confirm Principal Partner Ideal Heating will proudly adorn the front of the club’s shirts for a further three years. The UK’s largest heating firm became Baggies sponsors in 2018 and the new deal, which runs to the conclusion of the 2023/24 season, will see the partnership extend to a sixth campaign – making it one of the longest commercial relationships in the club’s history.  

Ideal Heating (formally Ideal Boilers) first agreed a deal with Albion at the start of the 2018/19 season, with the sponsorship taking social media by storm when the now-world-famous “Boilerman” – arguably the most iconic mascot of all time - was unveiled at The Hawthorns. The three-year partnership has gone from strength to strength, with Ideal Heating providing hundreds of tickets to local organisations, as well as merchandise competitions for Baggies fans, and many other successful, supporter-led initiatives.

Ideal Heating has been at the forefront of designing and manufacturing heating technology here in the UK for more than a century. It’s known and loved by homeowners, business owners and installers alike for its industry-leading product range and its creative marketing and sponsorship activity.

Formerly known as Ideal Boilers, the rebrand to Ideal Heating in 2020 was designed to better reflect Ideal’s wide range of heating products and solutions. Alongside the rebrand, and as part of its commitment to a low carbon future in the UK, the business launched a specialist environmental division – hence the new green dot on the ‘i’ for Ideal. Simon King, Albion’s Chief Commercial Officer, is delighted to have extended the agreement, having worked closely with the club’s Principal Partner since 2018.

He said: “Ideal Heating are a brand that continues to grow rapidly and are at the forefront of innovation within their sector. They are a true partner in every sense of the word and it has been quite a journey with them so far, both on and off the pitch. I’m looking forward to seeing our long-standing relationship with Ideal Heating continue to flourish and we will strive to build on the fantastic results our partnership has already delivered.”

Chief Executive of Ideal Heating, Shaun Edwards, added: “We take our role as Principal Sponsor very seriously, but we also like to have a good time – which is why we get on so well with West Brom and its fans. Our legendary Boilerman character was born at The Hawthorns three years ago, and is now centre stage in all of our TV ads and installer materials.

“As well as being a part of the team’s success over the past few seasons, we’ve loved getting to know local people, and will continue to focus on our charity and community work throughout this next term. We’re incredibly excited to be back for another three years, and look forward to building on everything we’ve already achieved with the club.”

Ideal Heating’s new logo is already in place at The Hawthorns and will feature on club shirts for the 2021/22 season.

The competitor lists for the Müller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trials at Kew Gardens, London on Friday 26 March are now available to view. The event, which is the official trial for the marathon and 20km race walks for the Tokyo Olympic Games, will be streamed at britishathletics.org.uk

Ben Connor is the fastest in the men’s marathon field having gone inside the Olympic qualifying standard with a time of 2:11.20 at the Virgin Money London Marathon last October. He will be seeking one of the top two positions to earn automatic selection for the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Dewi Griffiths will be among those who will also be chasing the qualifying standard at the event having posted a 2019 best of 2:11.46; his PB stands at 2:09.49 from 2017. In the women’s contest, Stephanie Davis is the fastest in the field having run inside the Olympic qualifying standard, posting a time of 2:27.40 in Valencia in 2019.

In the 20km race walks, Tom Bosworth headlines the men’s contest and is currently the only British athlete who holds the standard for Tokyo. Callum Wilkinson, who showed great form in clocking 39:05.85   in the 10,000m race walk earlier this month, will be chasing the 1:21.00 World Athletics qualifying mark having clocked a PB of 1:21.21 in Lithuania last September. The first two placed eligible athletes in each individual trial event, who hold an Olympic qualifying standard, will earn automatic selection for Tokyo.

Action will get underway from 6:00am with the men’s and women’s 20km race walks, while the men’s and women’s marathon races will start at 8am. The race walks start and finish in front of Palm House taking in 12 small laps, while the marathon begins at Kew Palace and finishes at Palm House, including one small lap and 12 large laps.

Katie Brazier, Competitions and Events Director at British Athletics, said: “With a week to go until the Müller British Athletics Marathon and 20km Walk Trials, excitement is really building. Although the event will be held behind-closed-doors, we are delighted the race walks and the marathon will be streamed at britishathletics.org.uk so it can be enjoyed by viewers at home.

“Our thanks go to all the stakeholders involved in delivering this event under challenging circumstances.”

British Athletics continues to adhere closely to the Government’s advice and Covid-19 guidelines to ensure the safety of all those involved in delivering and competing at events currently being staged.

London Lions have won the BBL Trophy for the first time in their history after overcoming Plymouth Raiders 88-82 in a dramatic final live on Sky Sports at the University of Worcester Arena. It came after their WBBL team achieved the same thing earlier in the day.

It's Lions' third piece of silverware since January 2019, and atones for a defeat in the final of this competition two years ago against their capital city rivals, while also bouncing back from BBL Cup Final defeat in January.

London meant business from the off in this one, leading from tip-to-buzzer despite it being close late on. A DeAndre Liggins step-back and a steal and dunk from Dirk Williams sparked a 12-2 burst that made the score 18-7 in the first quarter, as they allowed Plymouth just one bucket in five minutes.

Rapid starts to the second and third periods kept Raiders close, with the latter being a 15-2 burst that included nine for Rickey McGill - who finished with a game-high 31 – and that was a theme of this game as Raiders stayed within striking distance throughout, but could never get in front.

Every time London's lead look threatened, it seemed like one of their standouts - Williams or Liggins - was there to hit a big shot. Williams snapped the third quarter run with a three-pointer, and then hit another in a 9-2 response that sent the lead back to 63-55.

Lions could never shake Plymouth off, and they were back within one shot on numerous occasions in the fourth period, including at 74-71 before Liggins made a big 'and-one' play. And with the game still on the line heading into the final minute, he made a free-throw and then had a second one that was bouncing around tipped in from the rim by the defence for two points, 84-77 with one minute to play.

There was still time for more late drama as Justin Robinson missed a pair of free-throws before Denzel Ubiaro tipped in to make it a one shot game with 12 seconds to go, but Orlando Parker iced a pair at the charity stripe to ultimately settle it. It was Liggins who lifted the MVP award, with a near triple-double of 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and five steals.

"I feel great,” DeAndre said. “We came out and played extremely hard, and we just fought to the end and came out victorious.

"We were battling covid earlier in the season, and I had to miss the Cup Final and felt really bad. That's something I couldn't control, so I'm glad that we could pull this one out and get the win.

"We couldn't miss this opportunity again. So I just came in focused from the jump, and we found a will and found a way to come through adversity in the game. We just kept fighting to come out victorious."

Head Coach Vince Macaulay said: "I need to shoutout to the London Lions fans because they are not here to enjoy this with us. We are doing this for them, working really hard in this environment with no one around us and it's for the fans, and I know they will appreciate getting this.

"We had to be animated today, and in all reality we were very focused on the job at hand. It was important for us to come out here and just concentrate on Lions and what we were doing, don't let anything take us out of what we need to do, and I think we did that very well all the way down the stretch.

"In sports it's all about winning, if you don't win it doesn't matter how well you have played. We have been there, stood on the side line while Newcastle Eagles lifted the Cup having played extremely well in that game. It's all about counting those trophies, because we want that to be the result of all our hard work."

Australia all-rounder Ellyse Perry has joined Birmingham Phoenix for this summer's Hundred competition.

The 30-year-old has won five Twenty20 World Cups and was named player of the decade by the International Cricket Council in December. New Zealand T20 captain - and the world's number one ranked batter - Sophie Devine will lead the side.

"It's always a special moment in sport when something like this comes along," Perry said. "I feel really chuffed that another country wanted me to come and play in their competition."

The new 100-ball competition, which was postponed by a year because of the coronavirus pandemic, features eight city-based teams and begins on July 21. Phoenix's first fixture will be against London Spirit at Edgbaston two days later.

At 16, Ellyse became the youngest person - male or female - to represent Australia at cricket when she made her one-day international debut against New Zealand in Darwin. Just two weeks later, she made her senior debut for the country's football team and helped them reach the last eight of the 2011 World Cup, scoring a brilliant goal in their 3-1 defeat by Sweden.

In cricket, she has played eight Tests, 112 one-day-internationals and 120 T20s for Australia. Among her many achievements, in July 2019 she became the first cricketer to complete the double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in T20s.

Perry will link up with Birmingham Phoenix head coach Ben Sawyer, who is also assistant coach and fast bowling specialist for the Australian women's team.

Japanese authorities have told the Olympic and Paralympic committees that it was highly unlikely that entry to the country could be guaranteed. Organisers have said that the move now gives clarity to ticket holders and helps ensure a safe and secure Games for all participants and the Japanese public.

The Games are due to begin on July 23 with the Paralympics following a month later, from August 24. Organisers said that the Covid-19 situation in Japan and many other countries, global travel restrictions and emergence of variant strains of the virus had led to the decision and that ticket holders would be refunded.

The Olympics were postponed by a year in March last year because of the growing spread of coronavirus across the world. It is the first time in the event's history it has been postponed, with more than 11,000 athletes from about 200 countries scheduled to take part in 2020.

Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said: “The move is a great sacrifice for everybody. We share the disappointment of all enthusiastic Olympic Games fans from around the world, and of course the families and friends of the athletes, who were planning to come to the Games. For this I am truly sorry.

"Every decision has to respect the principle of safety first. I know that our Japanese partners and friends did not reach this conclusion lightly. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder at the side of our Japanese partners and friends, without any kind of reservation, to make the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 a great success."

International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons said: "Difficult decisions had to be made with safety the top priority.

"It goes without saying that in an ideal world we would prefer to have international spectators at the Games. But at the moment we must acknowledge that due to the global pandemic we are not living in an ideal world."

The British Olympic Association (BOA) said that while it is a very disappointing situation, it highlights the extreme determination to stage a safe event during the pandemic. A BOA statement said: "This is very sad news, not only for British fans but particularly for the family and friends of athletes."

The exclusion of international fans comes as another major financial blow to the Tokyo Games.

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games organisers and its partners have released a national Legacy Plan, outlining a series of Games’ firsts that will leave a lasting, positive impact on jobs, skills, education, culture, physical activity and investment across the West Midlands and the UK. It outlines how the Games’ £778 million public investment into the West Midlands is benefiting people in the region and beyond, will continue to do so after the Games, and can provide a legacy blueprint for future host cities.

The plan is delivered in partnership between the Birmingham 2022 organising committee, the Government, Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Combined Authority, Commonwealth Games Federation, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, West Midlands Growth Company and Commonwealth Games England.

The national plan includes aims to deliver several Commonwealth Games firsts, including:

1.    The first carbon-neutral Commonwealth Games;

2.    The first time firms bidding for contracts must include a social value requirement;

3.    The largest business and tourism programme of any Games to attract international visitors and investment to the region and the UK;

4.    The first Games to fully integrate volunteers from all delivery partners into a united volunteer programme.

The legacy plan is united by Birmingham 2022’s vision to be the Games for Everyone. Its objectives will be delivered against the Games’ five missions: to bring people together, improve health and wellbeing, help the region grow and succeed, be a catalyst for change, and put us on the map. 

Across nine legacy programmes, the plan sets out a bold vision for how the Commonwealth Games can transform the region and unite communities across the West Midlands, the country and the Commonwealth with a message of hope and recovery following the pandemic. The plan includes:

·         State-of-the-art legacy facilities at the Alexander Stadium and Sandwell Aquatics Centre for community use after the Games 

·         1,400 homes in the first phase of the Perry Barr Regeneration Scheme, with hundreds more in future phases;

·         A procurement spend of around £350 million to benefit businesses across the UK 

·         35,000 jobs and opportunities available, with the first Commonwealth Jobs and Skills Academy offering a blueprint for reaching disadvantaged groups;

·         200,000 hours of volunteer training for 12,500+ people, with a framework for developing skills and employability that could be replicated by future Games;

·         “Commonwealth Active Communities”, a £4 million Sport England fund to harness the power of the Games to support inactive people to become more active;

·         A six-month, UK-wide Cultural Festival reaching 2.5 million people and prioritising underrepresented communities, offering and a blueprint to support the long term growth of the arts and culture sector;

·         A £6 million Commonwealth Games Community Fund from Birmingham City Council to help communities build pride, respect and cohesion by celebrating the Games their way;

·         An ambition to directly engage with one million children and young people through a learning programme, with classroom resources on the Games offered to children across the UK and the Commonwealth; 

·         A £23.9 million programme to highlight the wealth of opportunities available in the West Midlands, as well as promoting England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland , around the world, enhancing the country’s profile as a destination for tourism, trade and investment and supporting post-pandemic recovery. The Queen’s Baton Relay will travel across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland before arriving in England, with communities across the UK encouraged to take part

·         The first Commonwealth Games to incorporate, measure and evidence the social value impacts and benefits of hosting the Games, offering a model to future host cities.

To mark the launch of the Legacy Plan, the Birmingham Poet Laureate and Birmingham 2022 Legacy and Benefits Committee member Casey Bailey has written a poem called “Dive In”, capturing the excitement and the opportunity that Birmingham 2022 bringing to the city, the region, the country and the Commonwealth. Birmingham 2022 is the biggest sport and cultural event in the UK since 2012, and the biggest ever held in the West Midlands. With 19 sports, including 8 para-sports, over 11 days of competition, the Games features the largest integrated para-sport programme at any Commonwealth Games, and will award more medals to women than men for the first time.

Research by the Commonwealth Games Federation in 2020 found significant economic benefits for Commonwealth Games host cities, including a £1 billion uplift for Gold Coast in Australia in 2018. 

Commenting on the legacy plan, John Crabtree, Chairman of Birmingham 2022, said: “The Games is a truly unique moment to showcase our great city and region to the world. It will help us to draw all our neighbours together after the most challenging of times, with a sense of unity and purpose. The Games’ partners are embracing this once in a generation occasion with both hands to ensure the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games leads our recovery with a legacy of renewal, growth, hope and inspiration.

“We are determined that the connections, friendships, and opportunities that the Games will provide us with, will continue to flourish and thrive. As individuals, as neighbours, as communities and as a region we must seize the Games moment as our catalyst to a happier, healthier, and more prosperous future.”

Nicola Turner MBE - Director of Legacy (Cross-Partner), Birmingham 2022, said: “More than ever, it feels like 2022 will be an important year. From cleaner air to new jobs I’m seeing so many possibilities for how the Games can help the West Midlands become a fairer, greener, healthier and more prosperous place. Planning for the legacy starts now and, fuelled by the Games for everyone vision, we intend to make the most of it.” 

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Ian Ward, said: “From day one, as we started developing the bid to host Birmingham 2022, I have emphasised that the Commonwealth Games will be more than 11 days of spectacular sporting action. Sitting alongside the council’s own vision for the city, the Legacy Plan outlines exactly how we and the other Games Partners will make this a reality.

“The Games are clearly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to improve the lives of local people by generating business, delivering much-needed regeneration, being bold by promoting the city on the global stage and bringing our communities together. We will do everything we can to set the standard for future major events in Birmingham, across the Commonwealth, and beyond.”

Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport and Tourism, said: "As the biggest sporting and cultural event ever held in the West Midlands, Birmingham 2022 is a global advert for the best of the UK that will leave a significant legacy. The games will create tens of thousands of jobs, volunteering opportunities and a boost to businesses in the West Midlands and beyond. It will help our country build back better from the pandemic and have a hugely positive impact on people’s lives.”

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street, said: “One of the main reasons I fought so hard to help secure the Commonwealth Games for the West Midlands was the jobs it would create for local people – and that is exactly what the legacy plan sets out to do. 35,000 job and skills opportunities is an incredible number, and given the effect on livelihoods the coronavirus pandemic has had, it is mission critical we reach that number to help get people back into work as part of my two-year Mayoral jobs plan.

“Along with 1,400 new homes, a big step towards carbon neutrality by 2041, and a huge boost to West Midlands’ trade, the Commonwealth Games is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the region that will deliver far more than a few medals.”

Bruce Robertson CGF Vice President said: “We know that the Commonwealth Games has consistently provided an economic boost of over £1 billion for previous host cities, along with an array of positive social and environmental benefits.  It is now the turn of Birmingham and the West Midlands to create an amazing new legacy. 

“I am particularly excited about Birmingham 2022 being the first carbon-neutral Games and the innovative approach to driving social value through procurement.  Birmingham 2022 will set a brilliant standard for all future editions of the Games.  It will be for the people of the West Midlands to deliver a successful legacy from Birmingham 2022 and I have every confidence they will do just that, achieving something very special that benefit future generations.”

Commonwealth Games England Chair, Ian Metcalfe, said: “As a born and bred Brummie, I am delighted that Team England`s athletes, coaches and support staff will be central actors in the delivery of a successful Games Legacy. I firmly believe that a major part of the story to tell our children will be of an inspirational Team England, the most diverse English sporting team to compete anywhere in the world. A story not just of their medal winning feats, but of their unity and togetherness – a Team England which represents us all. What a legacy this will be.”

Zaina Mistry, a coach at the City of Birmingham Rockets Basketball Club, said: “Birmingham and the West Midlands is so diverse, and I think the legacy of the Commonwealth Games will be to show that no matter who you are or where you’re from, you can take part and get involved. That is the message I am giving to the young people I coach every week.

“This is such a great opportunity for Birmingham; the Games will open up a lot of doors for young people in sport, seeing world class athletes on their doorstep and inspiring them to achieve. It will provide the young girls and boys I coach with role models they can look up to.”