South Wales Scorpions Rugby League Club have announced their first ever front of shirt sponsorship deal, and it’s all thanks to Millennium Magic.

TWS Equipment Services from Caerphilly will sponsor the Scorpions for a £8,000 a year in a three year deal and their proprietor Trevor Smithies says that it was only thanks to Millennium Magic and more specifically the match programme, that he knew about the Scorpions in the first place.

“I went to Millennium Magic last week to watch the main games,” he said. “I was just looking through the programme and I noticed an article written about South Wales Scorpions. Until that day I didn’t know that there was another Welsh Rugby League side, I thought it was only the Crusaders, so it came as a bit of a shock. I visited the website, saw the contact numbers, rung up Mark Rowley and set up a meeting.”

TWS is a family run business that has been established for seven years. They pride themselves on supplying high standard of repair and maintenance for construction and industrial machinery, including engine repair and overhaul, transmission and all types of hydraulic, electrical and auto electrical diagnostics.

“First of all I was only going to sponsor the team for a year,” Smithies adds, “But when I met up with Mark Rowley and Phil Davies the other day, I decided to sponsor them for three years.

“I’m putting two companies in. The other is Caerphilly Power Tools Services which we’ve agreed to put on the shirts as well and I’m doing it for £8,000 a year.”

Smithies, who attended the Scorpions' 70-6 pre-season friendly win over Valley Cougars yesterday, has also been invited to be on the board of directors and will attend as many Scorpions matches as he can.

“This year I basically want to get to know the team,” he said. “I’ll follow them the best that I can, work commitments allowing, and hopefully get more involved with the club as well.”

Scorpions’ chairman Phil Davies is happy to have secured a sponsor, especially one like Trevor Smithies who wants to take an active role in the running of the club.

“I’m delighted that Trevor has come on board as our first ever main shirt sponsor,” Davies said. “And when he said that he wanted to take a hands on role too then I had to hesitation in inviting him to be a director.

“This whole exciting story has shown us how grateful we are for Millennium Magic being on our doorstep. Without that event, and Ian Golden’s programme article, then we wouldn’t have had this shirt sponsorship that we’ve been looking for. It’s now onwards and upwards for the club and we’re looking forward to our opening competitive game of the season at The Gnoll on Sunday 6th March when we take on Dewsbury Rams.”

For more information on TWS Equipment Services, please go to http://www.twsequipmentservices.co.uk/.

South Wales Scorpions’ season tickets for 2011 include free entry to the Challenge Cup game against Dewsbury Rams on Sunday 6th March (kick-off 3pm). Priced at £35 for concessions and £80 for adults, they can be bought by going to www.scorpionsrl.com