Just months after criticizing the club over its connections with convicted rapist Ched Evans, heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill is to have her name removed from League One side Sheffield United's oldest stand, according to the LONDON TIMES. The club has opted to rename the Jessica Ennis-Hill Stand after a sponsorship deal with a local estate agency. Ennis-Hill, who had the Bramall Lane stand named after her following her Gold Medal triumph at the London Olympics in '12, "threatened to ask for her name to be removed at the end of last November" if the club re-signed Evans, who had recently been released from prison after serving half of his five-year sentence for the rape of a 19-year-old woman in '12. On Tuesday it emerged that the club had completed a three-year deal that gives Redbrik estate agency naming rights over the stand, "which is used to seat away supporters." Sheffield United Managing Dir 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
honored Jess Ennis-Hill's achievement at London 2012. We have started discussions with Jess and her team as to how she continues to
be recognized by the club going forward befitting of her achievements and
our hopes for her in Rio 2016" (LONDON TIMES, 6/16). In London, Tom Sheen reported the club "refused to comment" on how much the new deal with Redbrik was worth (INDEPENDENT, 6/16).
