ON April 25 it was announced that Flybe's main sponsorship of Norwich City Football Club would draw to a close at the end of June. It would be entirely appropriate to take this opportunity to thank Flybe and reflect on the highlights of a highly productive relationship which has seen Flybe complement and add to Norwich City Football Club's award winning community programme, one of the key sponsorship objectives when the two-year deal was signed in May 2006 at Norwich Airport by Delia Smith, and Simon Lilley, Flybe's Marketing Director.

The signing was quickly followed in June 2007 with the launch of the new kits modelled by players Craig Fleming and Darren Huckerby at a special fashion show at Carrow Road all in front of an audience of supporters and representatives from community football clubs especially invited by the club and Flybe.

The 2006-07 season also saw Flybe both sponsor fellow Championships clubs, Birmingham City and Southampton and kicking-off a mini-league between all three clubs. Fans were invited to participate in a competition to predict the scores of all league games between the three Flybe sponsored teams. The winner was City fan Malcolm Farrow who won the overall prize of a VIP day out at Carrow Road.

In March 2007, City's under-16 Academy side hosted their Celtic counterparts in a friendly match at Carrow Road. Flybe provided the flights to Norwich for the Celtic side who went on to be beaten 3-1 by the Canaries in a showpiece match that attracted over 4,000 spectators.

April 2007 saw the launch of the new red away shirt at Norwich Airport. City stars Darren Huckerby, Jason Shackell and Chris Martin modelling the new kit on the steps of a Flybe plane.

In May 2007, the Club received an invitation to Manchester United's training ground to play against their Academy. Flybe flew teams from the under 12, under 13 and under 14 age groups to United's Carrington training ground to face their equivalent age groups in a series of matches.

In June 2007,1,500 young footballers from the region took to the pitches at Heartsease High School in Norwich for the Flybe Community Cup tournament. The 6-a-side competition saw 185 teams with children between the ages of 7 and 16 enjoying a unique football weekend.

July 2007 saw the Club announce the Flybe Canary Express initiative, the cornerstone of our Yellow and Greener environmental campaign. Local coaches transported fans from over 100 destinations in Norfolk and North Suffolk for a Flybe subsidised return fare of just £4.50 encouraging supporters to leave their car at home and make a significant environmental contribution.

The same month saw another Flybe sponsored football club, Exeter City, host Norwich in a pre-season friendly. Flybe flew the City squad down to St. James' Park, Exeter where the home side beat the Canaries 2-1.

Flybe continued to highlight their good work in the community by offering a local football team the chance for their players to 'be pros for a day'. The competition promoted in the EDP attracted plenty of interest from several teams. Branford Arms, a local pub side, were eventually selected to take part in the day at Colney. Former Canaries, Bryan Gunn and Jerry Goss, took a training session followed by a match against local media representatives - Branford Arms running out 7-4 winners.

The Flybe half time challenge was launched in August for every home game throughout the 2007/2008 season. Flybe presented the winner at each game two return flights to one of its European destinations. The overall winner went on to receive the prize of a weekend in Jersey.

In December 2007 Flybe took youngsters from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Quidenham Hospital on a special flight with Santa with players David Marshall, Jamie Cureton, Luke Chadwick, Mark Fotheringham, Simon Lappin and Chris Martin and Community Ambassador, Jerry Goss. The children, joined by their families, were all given goody bags and were thrilled to meet their heroes.

March 2008 saw City celebrate with their supporters who had provided the Club with the highest number of season ticket holders in the Football League for the third consecutive year. A special edition Flybe home shirt featuring the names of season ticket holders' names was worn at City's home 5-1 victory against Colchester United.

In April Lillian Kemp, was named Flybe Fan of the Season for the 2007/2008 campaign. Flybe ran the competition through the Pink 'Un and received over forty nominations but Lillian won with an overwhelming number of votes and joined Player of the Year, Dion Dublin on the Flybe table at the Player of the Season Awards Dinner.

April finished with the 2008 Flybe Community Cup at Carrow Road. Flybe gave sixteen schools the chance to play in a 6-a-side tournament on the hallowed turf. All the schools had to do was to explain in less than 50 words why they should be selected to take part in the tournament. After an exciting tournament that featured 128 players, Blofield Primary School won the final beating Sheringham Primary School on penalties.

The past two years have been extremely beneficial for both parties with all the sponsorship objectives being achieved. Flybe's commitment to the Club's various community programmes has been an outstanding feature of over the two seasons and everyone at Norwich City Football Club would like to thank everyone at Flybe for their magnificent support and wish them every success for the future.