US rock band Wheatus, best known for their 2000 hit Teenage Dirtbag, have become the front-of-shirt sponsors of Nunnery Wood U13s Phoenix, a grassroots youth football team in Worcester.
The band say they did it to help remove the financial barriers that stop young people taking part in sport. Frontman Brendan B Brown said: "Just knowing that a little bit of funding is out there making it possible for a bunch of kids to get on the pitch, that's really enough for me." He added: "We weren't always in a position to donate funds to anything - lately that's changed."
The partnership grew out of a friendship. Coach Graham Blundell, a fan since the band's debut album in 2000, won tickets to meet Wheatus at Gloucester Guildhall in 2023 and took his son Bertie, then nine, who was too young to attend the gig until the band pulled some strings. Graham stayed in touch with bassist Matthew Milligan afterwards and, as he put it, "cheekily asked if they fancied sponsoring the team, and they said yes."
Brown said agreeing took little thought: "We have fans who are no longer fans, they're more like family members, and Graham is one of those guys." The band's logo now sits on the team's new kits, which Brown described as "rad and totally awesome".
The sponsorship runs for the next two seasons and covers the cost of new kit and other essential expenses. Graham said the previous kit was two seasons old and that, with parents paying monthly subs, the support "helps keep these clubs going and helps the children do a sport they enjoy".
Brown has also teased a reward if the team does well: "If they really do very well, they do deserve at least an acoustic performance in the locker room."
For the sport for good sector, it is a small reminder that the barrier to taking part is often simply the cost of kit and subs, and that sponsorship from an unexpected quarter can be enough to keep a team on the pitch.
Source: BBC Hereford & Worcester, 20 October 2026
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c6j9kwmkd7gwo
Two-season detail and kit costs: Worcester News, https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/sport/26653670.nunnery-wood-u13-phoenix-sponsored-us-band-wheatus/