Virgin Mobile 'Strikes' again

• Virgin Mobile sponsors Warbury Warriors - the team with the biggest home gate in football


• World's first sponsorship of a Sun cartoon

Sir Richard Branson, chairman of Virgin Mobile, is currently negotiating a massive deal with Eric Openshaw, chairman of Warbury Town Football Club. Branson aims to secure a coveted sponsorship deal with the most famous football club in Britain - the Warbury Warriors, stars of The Sun's cartoon strip, Striker.

Sun readers can see the agreement being confirmed with a handshake between the two on Saturday 28th April. From Monday 30th April, Nick Jarvis and the Warbury boys will be sporting their new Virgin Mobile kit, when the sponsorship kicks off.

"This is a unique case of the virtual meeting the real," says Steven Day, Virgin Mobile's corporate affairs director. "What better than the world's biggest virtual network sponsoring the world's biggest virtual team; it's an ideal partnership. The Warbury Warriors have 3.9 million followers every single day - making it the biggest home gate in football!"

Launched in The Sun in November 1985, Striker became the world's first cartoon strip to be created in sophisticated 3D imaging. From Monday, the strip will be boosted from 1/3 to a 2/3 page feature using new CGI (computer graphic imaging). This new technology makes the characters so life-like you could almost believe they were real.

To support this sponsorship deal, limited edition Virgin Mobile-sponsored Warbury Town football kits and exclusive Striker phone covers will be available, as well as an ongoing series of virtual and real-life promotions and competitions throughout the year for both Sun readers and Virgin Mobile customers. Virgin Mobile customers will also be able to receive football scores and team gossip from VirginXtras.