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Sports Podge
Sports Podge came out of a casual conversation over a pint with James Worrall, an ex client of mine at the FA who I had introduced to Soccerex. He asked if I thought the podge council lunch concept would work for the sports industry and we decided that between us we knew enough people in sport to put the wheels in motion and give it a try. Langan's was our choice of venue and we hired the upstairs room in 2006 when 80 guests attended, the capacity.
The sports version of podge became so popular that we moved it to The Arts Club in year 2, 3 and 4 and to the Institute of Directors now to accommodate 250 guests across a range of sports including football, cricket, athletics, rugby, cycling, swimming and boxing. A mix of sports bodies, clubs, sponsors, charities and celebrities. Amongst these have included Boris Becker, Ed Moses, Victoria Pendleton, Matt Prior, Mark Foster, Dame Kelly Holmes, Joe Calzaghe, Alan Shearer, Sharron Davies, Terry Venables, Laurie McMenemy, Martin Bayfield, Bob Champion, Mick Fitzgerald, Clare Balding, Brian Moore, John Barnes, Lawrence Dallaglio, Judy Murray, Sam Allardyce, Tessa Sanderson CBE, Mark Hunter MBE and many other great names from the sports industry.
The same rules apply, we split the bill between everyone in the room, move everyone around between courses and a design, digital agency and art college theme every lunch. All podge lunches have their own website.
The 2015 lunch was held at the IOD in May, The theme was cycling and Cubo Group & Tommy collaborated with the School of Communication Arts to take on the design and digital mantle.
Read more here.
The 2016 lunch will be held on Friday 6th May, at the Institute of Directors, Pall Mall. It will be a celebration of the 50th anniversary of England winning the world cup.