Melrose Reveals Shirt ‘Sponsor’ In Support of Doddie Weir

This name awareness branding has been made possible by a local businessman, who wishes to remain anonymous. He has commercially underwritten the sponsorship for an undisclosed sum and generously donated the main branding rights to Doddie’s charity.

Doddie Weir OBE is one of the most recognisable and respected personalities in rugby. As well as his 61 caps for Scotland, Doddie played lock-forward for Melrose between 1991 and 1995. In June 2017 Doddie revealed he was suffering from Motor Neuron Disease (MND). Never one to think solely of himself and borne of frustration at the lack of effective treatment for MND sufferers, Doddie and his Trustees quickly set up the registered charity MY NAME’5 DODDIE Foundation (https://www.myname5doddie.co.uk/). The charity raises awareness and, more importantly, money to fund research to find effective clinical treatments and eventually a cure for MND.

Mike Dalgetty, Director of Rugby at Melrose, said: “We are eternally grateful to our generous donor, and respect his wishes to remain anonymous. Doddie is a hugely admired and much-loved personality on the world rugby stage. And he’s also one of us. He is and always will be a son of Melrose Rugby. All his rugby family are with him. So, we’re delighted to be able to help him raise awareness for his MND charity ‘MY NAME’5 DODDIE’. As awareness of this awful disease increases, important clinical research will be funded. Hopefully one day soon a cure for MND will be found.”

Doddie Weir said: “The support we have received from the rugby family has been extraordinary. It has meant a great deal to me, Kathy and our family and the trustees of MY NAME’5 DODDIE Foundation.

“To have the Foundation’s logo displayed on the Melrose jersey is just fantastic. It represents everything I know about the club. It has a good heart and the players, administrators, and supporters are determined to show they are with us and behind us.”