The Western Bulldogs Football Club is pleased to announce its long-standing partnership with Victoria University will continue for another five years.

The official announcement was made at the 2017 Charles Sutton Medal awards night at Crown Palladium on Wednesday night.

The five-year partnership extension includes exciting new initiatives, with Victoria University becoming the official AFL ball sponsor of the Bulldogs from 2018.

Victoria University has also become a partner of the Club’s AFLW team and Next Generation Academy, and the naming rights partner to the Club’s high performance team.

VU has held the naming rights of the Bulldogs’ home training base at the Whitten Oval in Footscray for the last five years, and will continue with this naming rights asset for a further five years.

“The Western Bulldogs have enjoyed a strong and productive relationship with Victoria University over a long period of time, and we are extremely proud of the partnership we have developed,” said Bulldogs’ CEO Gary Kent.

“We are excited about what the next five years will hold for us, and the opportunity to build on some of the great initiatives we have undertaken together.”

For more than three decades, the Western Bulldogs and Victoria University have worked hard to make a profound impact on the lives of its students and on the wider community in the west of Melbourne.

“I am incredibly proud that our strong connection between Victoria University and the Western Bulldogs will continue,” said Victoria University Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Peter Dawkins (AO).

“Our partnership with the Western Bulldogs is rich and multi-faceted; it includes educational support for players, collaborative research projects, workplace opportunities for our passionate students, and community activities.

“On the field, VU sports scientists helps current Western Bulldogs players hone their performance. Off the field we support them by providing the most comprehensive range of sport and exercise science facilities in the southern hemisphere.”

Victoria University continues to build its reputation as a global leader in sport by providing the most comprehensive range of sport and exercise science facilities in the southern hemisphere.

By working closely with elite athletes and with the Western Bulldogs on and off the field, VU plays a vital role in growing the country’s truly great researchers, practitioners and educators in the sport and exercise science fields.

At the 2017 Charles Sutton Medal, Tom Campbell was the recipient of the Victoria University Education Award, which is presented to a Bulldogs player who studies at tertiary level, achieved excellent results in their study and makes a positive contribution to the Western Bulldogs.

Campbell is studying a Bachelor of Business at Victoria University, and has also been working with entrepreneurs from the VU Hanger (Victoria University’s Start-Up Stimulator) to create an education app for players.

“We would like to congratulate Tom Campbell on winning the VU Education Award.  As part of our partnership, our players have been given an excellent opportunity to study with Victoria University and prepare themselves for life after football,” Kent said.