Football Fans #OwnTheArch at Wembley

Football fans are being given the chance to claim bragging rights before a ball is kicked at Wembley this Sunday for the Capital One Cup Final as the Football League launches a first-of-its-kind social media campaign.

In the build-up to the big game supporters of both Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are being invited to tweet #ChelseaAtWembley or #SpursAtWembley with the hashtags signalling a vote for the arch to be turned blue or white respectively on the night before the event.

The innovative social media vote is the first time the iconic arch has been utilised in this way to let fans decide how the national stadium looks ahead of a major Cup Final.  It will also be the first time it has ever been lit up in a football club’s colours.

The League will be tracking the use of the two designated hashtags throughout the week and the one that receives most use on the social network before 6pm on Saturday 28 February will be declared the winner and the arch will be lit up in that club’s colours the night before the Capital One Cup Final.

“The Football League is always looking at innovative ways to bring fans closer to the action and this vote really does allow fans to play a visible part in the build-up to the Final,” explains Drew Barrand, marketing director at The Football League. “We are delighted to be able to bring this unique first to Wembley and are looking forward to seeing what colour the arch will be.”

Updates on the #OwnTheArch vote standings will be provided via the @CapitalOne_Cup Twitter account throughout the week, with the arch itself lit up to show the latest standings from Thursday evening. 

“Twitter is the place where people come to share in the biggest moments in the football calendar, in fact eight of the 10 most-Tweeted-about UK moments in 2014 were football-related,” adds Alex Trickett, head of sport, Twitter UK. “It will be incredible to see fans from the UK and around the world reaching for their devices to light up the Wembley arch this weekend.”

As well as fans of the two finalist clubs, supporters of other teams can get involved and vote as to who they think will win the trophy by tweeting the relevant hashtag.

The #OwnTheArch Twitter vote is part of a range of activity taking place around the Final that will help to make it the most socially-engaged League Cup Final ever.

Supporters can submit motivational messages for the two teams via the Capital One Cup official Facebook page, with one message for each team being selected to be displayed in the tunnel as the last thing the teams see before they walk out at Wembley.

On match day itself, supporters around the world not lucky enough to have a ticket for the match will be given the chance to have their photo featured on the giant screens at Wembley with fans encouraged to post a #FinalSelfie on Instagram and Twitter.

A record number of over 200 territories will show the game this year.