Manchester City’s Agüero, Foden, Sterling and others feature in new film highlighting the growing threat of global water shortages

‘The End of Football’ is Manchester City and Xylem’s latest effort to educate one billion people globally about urgent water challenges

Manchester City stars Sergio Agüero, Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling all feature in an emotive new short film that aims to bring home the reality of the global water crisis to football fans across the world. Released on World Conservation Day, ‘The End of Football’ is the latest campaign by global water technology company, Xylem (NYSE:XYL) and Manchester City, to drive awareness of escalating water challenges among the Club’s huge fan base.

For many football fans the reality of living with extreme water scarcity is now just one generation away. The latest UN data estimates that almost 5 billion people globally could be living in areas of water scarcity by 20501. The UK Environmental Protection Agency forecasts that, due to mounting pressures such as increased demand, aging infrastructure and climate change, parts of England could run out of water by 2045 – a warning echoed in a recent UK Public Accounts Committee report on the country’s water supplies2.

The End of Football film, featuring multiple Manchester City footballers, aims to capture the imagination of football fans by depicting a world without water. Filmed in the Club’s iconic Etihad Stadium, the video highlights the detrimental impact that water complacency can have on society, including football, as it tracks one girl’s journey as a Manchester City fan.

Patrick Decker, Xylem President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Water sits at the heart of human health and the sustainability of our planet. Through our partnership with City Football Group, we’re focused on mobilizing the global community to actively join us in safeguarding this precious resource. Together, we have a powerful opportunity to turn the tide on challenges like water scarcity and flooding and build a water-secure future.”

Pete Bradshaw, Head of Sustainability at Manchester City, said: “Xylem is doing incredible work to address water sustainability issues and Manchester City is proud to support them in this new campaign.”

Joseph Vesey, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Xylem, added: “Though the End of Football campaign was conceived and shot before the coronavirus pandemic brought a temporary halt to football, the message behind the campaign has never been more appropriate. With the support of the Club and its legions of fans, we have the power to elevate the conversation on water conservation and create a more sustainable future for all.”

Fans can learn more about water conservation through the Manchester City ‘Water Hero Playbook’, which contains simple, everyday actions on saving water – along with advice from public officials and industry – to protect our future and the future of football.

As part of its multi-year partnership with Manchester City, Xylem has partnered with the Club to deliver clean water towers, WASH education, and sports and leadership training to communities around the world. In less than two years, the partnership has already directly provided access to clean water and WASH education to over 10,000 children across India, Thailand, China, Australia and the United States.

Global sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE and its creative agency partner Brave developed and produced the End of Football campaign. As Xylem’s retained agency, SPORTFIVE has been helping the global water technology company and Manchester City FC to raise awareness of water complacency since 2018.

About Xylem

Xylem (XYL) is a leading global water technology company committed to developing innovative technology solutions to the world’s water challenges. The Company’s products and services move, treat, analyze, monitor and return water to the environment in public utility, industrial, residential and commercial building services settings. Xylem also provides a leading portfolio of smart metering, network technologies and advanced infrastructure analytics solutions for water, electric and gas utilities. The Company’s more than 16,000 employees bring broad applications expertise with a strong focus on identifying comprehensive, sustainable solutions. Headquartered in Rye Brook, New York, with 2019 revenue of $5.25 billion, Xylem does business in more than 150 countries through a number of market-leading product brands. For more information, please visit us at www.xylem.com.

About Xylem Watermark

Xylem Watermark, the company’s corporate citizenship program, was initiated in 2008, with a focus on protecting and providing safe water resources for communities around the world and also educating people on water related issues. In 2016, Xylem Watermark launched a three-year program focusing on employee volunteerism globally to drive rapid growth in employee engagement in providing social value within our communities.

About Manchester City Football Club

Manchester City FC is an English Premier League club initially founded in 1880 as St Mark’s West Gorton. It officially became Manchester City FC in 1894 and has since then gone onto win the European Cup Winners’ Cup, six League Championship titles, including four Premier League titles (2012, 2014, 2018, 2019), and six FA Cups. Manchester City FC is one of nine clubs comprising the City Football Group and counts New York City FC and Melbourne City FC among its sister clubs.

Under manager Pep Guardiola, one of the most highly decorated managers in world football, the Club plays its domestic and UEFA Champions League home fixtures at the Etihad Stadium, a spectacular 55,000 seat arena that City have called home since 2003. Today, the Stadium sits on the wider Etihad Campus, which also encompasses the City Football Academy, a state-of-the-art performance training and youth development facility located in the heart of East Manchester. Featuring a 7,000 capacity Academy Stadium, the City Football Academy is also where Manchester City Women’s Football Club and the Elite Development Squad train on a daily basis and play their competitive home games.

For more information, please visit www.mancity.com

About SPORTFIVE

SPORTFIVE is a global partnership marketing agency fuelled by the expertise, experience and privileged access of a global leader in sports, entertainment, media and lifestyle.

We help brands engage with their audiences and fans through partnerships, as we believe that partnering with things that people truly care about is the best way for brands to remain relevant and impactful.

About Brave

Brave is an award-winning creative agency that de-risks commercial decision-making by being creatively courageous, strategically forensic, digitally progressive, data smart and behaviour driven. We make progressive ideas feel safe – through a belief that creativity and data have a complementary relationship. We pioneered the use of biometrics through the development of our proprietary ‘Bravery Index’ tool. This has helped us optimise our work ever since, by letting us emotionally test, qualify and validate our campaigns for a greater chance of enjoying commercial success.

In 2017 Brave was acquired by SPORTFIVE , which provides a global footprint and access to the world’s most sought-after rights holders, talent, OTT (streaming) platforms/broadcasters and brands. Brave have taken the stage at prestigious events all over the world including; Cannes Lions, Advertising Week, IAB Engage, Eurobest and Dubai Lynx. For more information, find us at Brave.co.uk.

https://www.wateraid.org/uk/media/un-warns-around-5-billion-people-could-face-water-shortages-by-2050-wateraid-response
https://www.nao.org.uk/press-release/water-supply-and-demand-management/