Dwight Yorke with Epson Malaysia’s Daisuke Hori (Credit: The Star)
The UEFA Champions League-winning former Manchester United footballer Dwight York dropped in to Malaysia recently for a youth outreach event organised by Epson.
The OEM, who has a sponsorship arrangement with the English club, is specifically promoting youth football as part of its global support of the sport, in accordance with its regional CSR (corporate social responsibility) strategy of encouraging youth development in the markets it is in, reports The Star.
Epson Malaysia’s #ILOVEUNITED event made the most of the sponsorship deal with United, and hosted a meet-and-greet session between Yorke, who scored 65 goals for the club in 147 appearances between 1998 and 2002, and youth players from Tunas Lagenda Football Club. The company also ran a social media competition in advance of the event, offering fans the chance to meet their hero.
The Managing Director of Epson Malaysia, Daisuke Hori, explained that the event gave Malaysian youngsters, and Manchester United fans in general, the opportunity “to enjoy the spirit of football right here in Kuala Lumpur.”
“More importantly,” he continued, “we are giving our own budding players from TLFC an opportunity to meet Yorke and be equally inspired to dream big and excel. We hope this will motivate them to pursue their dreams even further.”
The event also saw demonstrations of some of Epson’s latest products, including its L-series Ink Tank printer line.
One fan, Muhamaed Kashfil Azim, was thrilled with the chance to meet Yorke, who also played for Aston Villa, Blackburn Rovers, Birmingham City, Sydney FC, and Sunderland, as well as making 74 appearances for Trinidad and Tobago, including at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
“The event has been good for me from the very start,” said Azim. “We hope Epson will bring more legends down to Malaysia. We loved the interaction with Yorke as he was sporting and down to earth.”
Epson Malaysia’s other initiatives at supporting the development of grassroots youth football in the country include sponsoring and organising last October’s Epson Youth Cup Under-19 Football Challenge, which saw six local youth clubs from the Klang Valley competing, with MIFA-SASYA taking the trophy.
