Plymouth Argyle’s players still have not returned home after their FA Cup tie against Manchester City on Saturday. The club’s commitment to make environmentally conscious travel choices means they are travelling on to play Hull on Tuesday evening.
Football-related travel generates 56.7 tonnes of CO2e per season for Premier League clubs alone, with 85 per cent of emissions attributed to flying. Plymouth are one of 14 clubs who have signed up to a new charter committing to greener behaviour.
“It does feel big,” Katie Cross, CEO of Pledgeball, tells Sky Sports. “We first launched this in 2023 with just six clubs, and the aim was to reduce the number of domestic fights happening within English football. We needed it to be a groundswell.”
Cross adds: “Having 14 clubs now, including a large number of Championship clubs, very happy to sign the charter, is a real reflection on the importance that is been given to sustainability, and particularly from individuals within those clubs.
“These are individuals who have personal appetite to really drive sustainability. Football business is very difficult. It doesn’t prioritise sustainability, it doesn’t really allow for it. So if you want to drive it, it has to generally come from a personal place.”
Plymouth, under chairman Simon Hallett, were always likely to be at the forefront of this initiative. Cross describes them as “an amazing club in terms of culture” with a revenue model that is very different to the norm – not every decision is a commercial one.
“It has been a bit of a journey for us over the last few years,” Christian Kent tells Sky Sports. Kent is Plymouth’s head of conferencing and events. “I am very proud of the progress we have made, we have pretty much halved our emissions in two years.”
He explains: “We are doing things like solar panels and rainwater harvesting, but then there are the small touches. We have gone digital with tickets. We use electric vehicles. Small steps can make a big change. We are working towards net zero.
“If you look at a sport like Formula 1, who are the biggest polluters in terms of the sporting world, they have made a big statement of being net zero by 2030. So if a sport like Formula 1 can do it, there is no reason why football cannot be the same.”
Why are Plymouth taking the lead on this? “Obviously, playing in green is really important to us,” jokes Kent. But it is about creating a culture, one that comes from the top of the organisation, from Hallett, chief executive Andrew Parkinson, and the rest.
“You need it from the board all the way down through to every member of staff. The whole team has to come together. Everyone here plays their part and lives those values. We want to be sustainable not just financially but in an environmental sense.”
Joe Edwards, Plymouth’s captain, is among those who have embraced the club’s values. Now 34, he joined six years ago from Walsall. He knows the location makes travel a hot topic. “It is a challenge but that is what makes it so special,” he argues.
“This is a unique club and it is fantastic to be involved in something like this. It comes from the top but it feeds through to us as players. We know we are affecting the carbon footprint so we want to take responsibility for that and play our part as well.”
