CHARLTON UPBEAT LEADS THE TEAMS OUT AT THE VALLEY

Inspirational Charlton Upbeat Billy Birchmore led the Addicks and Northampton Town onto The Valley last Saturday afternoon, as part of the #EFLStories campaign.

Billy, who has been a member of the much-loved Upbeats for six years, took home an incredible 10 medals and broke a world record in the 200m freestyle swimming at the inaugural Trisome Games in Florence, Italy, last month.

Representing Team GB, he was both captain and flag bearer, and won an amazing four golds, three silver and three bronze medals, which also saw him win the ‘top swimmer’ award.

Leading the 2 teams out before kick-off, Billy got a standing ovation from the Charlton fans as they got behind his achievement, acknowledging his fine efforts in the pool.

To mark the start of the new football season, the EFL launched its #EFLStories campaign to tell the stories of all the people who help make the EFL what it is - a football experience for everyone. 

Across the opening two weekends of the season, 72 people will have the privilege of delivering their club’s new Mitre match ball to the pitch at the first home game of the season. With #EFLStories ball presentations taking place across all three divisions of the Sky Bet EFL, each person nominated for this honour has been put forward by their favourite EFL club.

All #EFLStories can be viewed at eflstories.com and Charlton fans at home and abroad are being invited to submit the reasons why they love the game to the site. With the campaign continuing throughout the 2016/17 season, the EFL will be sharing a variety of the stories, photos and videos across social media.

Drew Barrand, EFL Marketing Director, said: “Everyone who attends an EFL game or works behind the scenes at one of our 72 clubs has a story to tell about what football means to them.

“Following this season’s rebrand to the EFL, the #EFLStories campaign has been created to demonstrate the breadth and depth of what the EFL offers. Be it high drama, great games, communities uniting or innovating the game, the EFL really does offer something for everybody as this collection of captivating stories show.”

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