Fibrus has renewed its sponsorship of Workington Town.
The rugby side’s chairman Graeme Peers said the firm’s had been instrumental in the club’s recent resurgence, helping to steady finances, grow community programmes and expand the club well beyond the men’s first team.
The club has unveiled its new kit for the 2026 season as Fibrus agreed to renew its sponsorship deal for another 12 months.
Now 48, Graeme first watched Town in the early 1980s, although he admits he was never a massive supporter back then and often followed Carlisle United with his Blues-supporting father, he said.
He added: “I used to go to two or three games a season over a long period of time. I wasn’t deeply involved, but I’d go regularly enough.”
His involvement changed around seven years ago when a friend joined the board. Within two years he joined the board and by early 2024 was appointed interim chairman.
“I’m still in the role now and it’s more or less permanent, I suppose,” he said. “I couldn’t say that I set out to be chairman but, like most organisations, opportunities arise or people back you to do certain roles and the rest of the board did, and I’m quite comfortable speaking in public and things like that so it was a natural fit.”
Having previously worked at Sellafield, Graeme now works directly for the club and oversees substantial areas of day-to-day management.
“It isn’t a traditional chairman role,” he said. “It’s more like a working chairman. I’m hands-on — dealing with commercial activity, partnerships, sponsors, meetings, stadium planning and supporting the staff.
“It’s an excellent working partnership with Fibrus. It started with an enquiry from a Fibrus staff member and evolved into sponsorship of the men’s and ladies’ kits, and support for the general infrastructure of the club.”
The partnership, now extended into a third year to October 2026, has underpinned significant growth.
“We’re in a position where we can invest in things,” Graeme said. “The return on that investment has been tenfold. All our wider revenues are up.”
That investment, alongside other sponsorships, has enabled Town to expand into a multi-sport organisation: a women’s rugby league team, a women’s football team and full junior pathways from age five upward, plus netball teams and the rebooted Workington Town Community Trust.
He said: “There were some tricky financial times in early 2022 before they came on board. Their support allowed us to recover quickly. We wouldn’t have been where we were in the league table last year without them.”
Town finished second last season, narrowly missing out on the title.
Restructuring from the RFL now means the club joins a merged 21-team division featuring the likes of Widnes, Oldham, Barrow, Whitehaven and Sheffield.
“We see ourselves as a middle-band club,” Graeme said. “The aim is to push towards the top ten and the play-offs. We’ve recruited a squad to do that.”
The biggest long-term change is the Workington Sports Village project, on the site of Workington Reds’ Borough Park ground, which Graeme describes as vital for the town’s sporting future.
Craig Middlemiss and Gavin Fleming from Fibrus met up with Town players at Derwent Park on Saturday to celebrate the sponsorship renewal and to see the new strip. It is a retro remake from the 93/94 season when Town won the Second Division Championship and Divisional Premiership trophy with victory over London at Old Trafford.
Craig said: “Being both a delivery manager at Fibrus and a passionate Workington Town fan, I’m proud that we’re supporting the club again this year.
“I’m really pleased to see our company getting behind the club. Supporting local sport is so important for the community, and it’s brilliant to be part of that from the inside. Up the Town!”
Colin Hutchinson, MD of Fibrus, said: “When we began our sponsorship of Workington Town we were hopeful of a lasting, mutually beneficial partnership and it has proved to be exactly that.
“We are delighted to be renewing our support for another year and are excited to watch Town make more progress next season in the new league structure.”
- Workington Town players will be meeting fans this Saturday. Town and Fibrus will have a stall at the Christmas lights switch-on with new shirts and giveaways for fans.
