Sheffield United to drop Jessica Ennis-Hill’s name from stand

Sheffield United will drop Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill's name from its stadium's Bramall Lane stand after announcing a new sponsorship deal with a local estate agent.

Ennis-Hill, 29, the poster girl of Great Britian’s athletics team at London 2012, was honoured by her local club after winning heptathlon gold when it named the Bramall Lane stand the ‘Jessica Ennis-Hill Stand’.

But the club have agreed a new three-year sponsorship deal and Ennis-Hill’s name will now be replaced by Redbrik Estate Agency.

Ennis-Hill stated in November last year that she would want her name removing from the stand if the club re-signed convicted rapist and former player Ched Evans. She received abusive threats via Twitter as a result.

Sheffield United managing director Mal Brannigan said: "The introduction of Redbrik as the new Bramall Lane stand naming rights partner sees the name of the City's most famous Olympian replaced, three years after the club honoured Jess Ennis-Hill's achievement at London 2012.

“We have started discussions with Jess and her team as to how she continues to be recognised by the club going forward befitting of her achievements and our hopes for her in Rio 2016.”

Ennis-Hill said: “It was a real honour to have had the Bramall Lane stand named after me in 2012 in recognition of my Olympic achievements.

“However, I completely understand the need for Sheffield United to recognise the valuable contributions of its sponsors and want to wish the club and the team all the best for the forthcoming season.”

The club have refused to comment on how much the new deal was worth.

The club's head of commercial Paul Reeves added: "This is another significant new commercial relationship for the Football Club and we are delighted to be in a partnership with an exciting regional business in Redbrik, which has allowed us to formulate a deal that is structured to work for both parties and importantly one that brings new benefits for our supporters."