Wheatus sponsors Nunnery Wood Phoenix youth football team

US rock band Wheatus is sponsoring Nunnery Wood's under-13 Phoenix football team in Worcester, with players now wearing shirts carrying the group's logo. BBC News reported the partnership on Tuesday after coach Graham approached the band about supporting the youth side.

The agreement grew out of a friendship rather than a conventional sponsorship approach. Graham and his son Bertie met the band at Gloucester Guildhall in 2023. Graham subsequently kept in contact with bassist Matthew and later asked whether the musicians would be interested in backing the team.

Frontman Brendan B Brown told the BBC that helping children take part in sport was the reason for providing support. He described Graham and Bertie as part of the band's extended family and said Wheatus was now in a better position to contribute financially than it had been previously.

Phoenix's recent football achievements include a Plate trophy at the Meadow Park Tournament in Stoke Prior. In its July 2026 account, Nunnery Wood recorded that the then-under-12 side reached the final in hot conditions. The match finished 0-0 before Phoenix won the penalty shootout 4-3, securing the trophy after a competition the club described as featuring strong opposition. The club also congratulated the players, coaches and supporters for their part in the success.

The club's earlier records also document how the Phoenix team began. An October 2022 announcement identified them as a newly formed under-nine side whose players had previously attended Saturday afternoon development sessions. Their first league match took place on 1 October that year, marking the move from those sessions into organised team competition in the MJFL.

Wheatus is not the only new sponsor supporting one of Nunnery Wood's junior teams this season. The club announced in July that Specsavers would back its under-11 Asteroids for 2026-27. In that announcement, Nunnery Wood explained that sponsorship helps provide playing kit, equipment and opportunities for young footballers, setting out the practical role such support plays across its grassroots teams.