Event branding for sports clubs

Start with the gazebo

The gazebo is the largest printed surface a club will own and the thing people walk towards. Ours is a 3m x 3m pop up on an anodised aluminium frame with hexagonal legs and a criss-cross truss, which is light enough for two people to put up before kick-off and does not rust when it travels wet.

There are three frames. The Eco square-leg is £476, the hexagonal-leg Standard is £510, and the Deluxe is £664 in a slightly tighter 2.8m x 2.8m footprint. All three arrive with the printed canopy, the frame, a carry bag, pegs and guide ropes, so nothing else is needed to put it up.

Walls are separate. A 3m full wall (3m x 2m) is £99 and closes a side completely, which gives you a printed back wall for photographs and somewhere to keep kit out of the weather. A half wall (3m x 1m) is £65 and closes the bottom half, counter style, for a registration or membership desk.

Height is what reads from the far touchline

A banner at ground level disappears behind the first row of spectators. Flags carry the club name above head height, which is why a pair either side of the gazebo does more than any amount of signage at eye level.

Telescopic flags run from 2m to 5m tall. The common club choice is the 0.6m x 3m at £88 single-sided. The same flag printed both sides is £148, and it is worth the difference only where people approach from both directions, such as a flag beside a path rather than against a fence.

Flags are sold without a base, which catches people out. On grass a ground spike is £9. On a hard surface, a water bag is £9 and an indoor crossover stand is £27. Buy the base with the flag, not after the first match day.

The pieces that finish a pitch

Pull up banners are the quickest way to add a printed panel next to a table or a doorway. The Eco is £66 at 0.8m x 2m and travels in a single tube.

Horizontal pop ups sit low and wide, which suits the front of a table or the edge of a pitch. They run from the Mini at 1.2m x 0.7m for £76 up to the Large at 2.7m x 1m for £149.

For the pitch itself, fence branding buys the most print for the money on this page. A 2m x 1m panel is £30 and a 10m x 1m run is £162, which works out around £15 to £16 a square metre against roughly £41 for a pull up banner. A Slimline Crowd Barrier at 2m x 1m is £182 where you need to hold a line as well as brand it, and a Pop Up Goal at 1.85m x 1m is £184 for training and junior sessions.

Branded director's chairs are £70 each and event bins start at £65, which is the difference between a club corner that looks organised and one that looks temporary.