BASINGSTOKE Town Football Club (BTFC) is gearing up to welcome another sponsor as it takes steps forward on its journey to community ownership.

Inchcape Toyota, in Houndmills, has teamed up with the Southern Premier League club to become a community partner for the 2017-18 season.

The partnership will see Inchcape provide the community department of BTFC with a co-branded Toyota Hiace van.

Based in Edison Road, the Basingstoke branch of the franchise car retailers has previously been a sponsor of the club.

Andy Hollis, general manager, said: “I’m so happy to be working with BTFC again.

“I’m a keen sports fan and the move to community ownership is such a positive step to enable the club to move forward and become stronger.”

To maximise the partnership, Inchcape and BTFC will work closely together to spread awareness of the club and its community offerings, including joint presence at events in and around the town.

This is the latest development in the new-look football club, which is going through a transitional period since chairman Rafi Razzak announced he would bring an end to his financial support to the club.

As previously reported, protests and campaigners fought to keep football in Basingstoke despite there being no interested parties in buying the club from Mr Razzak at the time.

The change involves the club’s planned move from its Camrose home to the Hampshire FA’s base in Winklebury.

Will Wilkinson, volunteer head of digital and marketing at BTFC, said: “The club relies on the generosity of companies to provide facilities and capabilities that it could not otherwise afford. The van will enable the community team to visit more of the local community and reduce the need to use their personal vehicles to transport equipment around the town.”