Athletics legend and marketing expert says event “deserves more profile, a big sponsor and big coverage in the media”
Alan Pascoe, European and Commonwealth 400m hurdles champion and one of the most respected voices in the sport, believes it is “tragic” that the English Schools does not have a title sponsor in its centenary year.
He does believe, however, that the event still has the potential to attract serious interest from businesses who would be keen to support the most talented athletes in the country.
As an athlete Pascoe won multiple medals in the 1960s and 1970s, including Olympic 4x400m silver in 1972, but he later became a hugely successful athletics marketing man and among other things helped forge the English Schools sponsorship deals with Milk and TSB in the 1980s and 1990s.
On Saturday (July 12) he was proud to attend the parade of ex-champions and current athletes at the 2025 championships in Birmingham to mark the event’s centenary.
But he said: “It’s tragic they don’t have a decent sponsor as they can’t afford to do the development work.”
The 77-year-old added: “This is the pathway to the international team and my view is that every one of these kids should be communicated with on a regular basis, which of course is quite possible now. And every three months on a regional basis there should be a get-together, where they can train in squads with other people at a similar level, and made to feel important and that the sport is right behind them. I don’t think enough of that is going on.”
In addition to Milk and TSB, the English Schools has enjoyed sponsorship deals in the past 20 years with Sainsbury’s, Aviva and New Balance. But during fallow years when there is no sponsorship they have often struggled to find the money to stage one of the biggest athletics events on the calendar.
The English Schools has had some success lately by getting individuals or companies to sponsor some of the events on the schedule. It has led to athletes like Dina Asher-Smith and Keely Hodgkinson supporting some of the events.
In addition to ongoing sponsorship problems, the English Schools is also wrestling with the planned introduction of new age groups for young athletes in the UK. In coming months they will debate whether to maintain their own age groups in 2026 or fall in line with UKA and most of the rest of the world.
READ MORE: English Schools golden oldies enjoy parade moment
Pascoe says that around 20 years ago one of the most prominent officials at the then IAAF caught sight of one of the English Schools spectator programmes. “He didn’t believe you could run a meet like that,” says Pascoe, due to the sheer number of disciplines and competitors involved over two days.
“It deserves more profile, deserves a big sponsor and deserves big coverage in the media,” Pascoe adds.
On his own experiences, Pascoe didn’t reach the final at his first English Schools but finished fifth and then third before winning senior boys high hurdles titles in 1966 and 1967.
“It was transformational to me,” he said. “The second time I came here was when I realised that I could do quite well as an athlete. I was a council house kid and we didn’t really have family holidays other than with relatives so being billeted out was exciting.
“The experience was transformational and also the competition because it was fierce. And the one thing we wanted to do above all was win the national schools or get a medal depending on what level you were at.
“I think the depth was better in those days as well because more schools did athletics in a formal way. The top end at these (2025) championships is very good but below the top eight it tends to fade away a little.”
READ MORE: 100 years of the English Schools
What’s his advice to current English Schools athletes? “Firstly stick at it because it’s a great sport and you meet lots of interesting and great people who you stay in touch with through the rest of your life. It makes a great difference to your work and educational opportunities because people and businesses respect the discipline that goes into being a serious sportsperson.”
READ MORE: English Schools 2025 coverage
He added: “It’s 30C out there and the sun is shining so it’s great to get out and stretch your body so my advice is to stick with it, even on the grim days in November when it’s pouring with rain. Just make the most of it.”
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