Starling and Arsenal Teach You to Defend like a Pro on and off Pitch with David Seaman
Dark Horses has teamed up with Starling to launch the bank's three-season partnership with Arsenal FC. The partnership launches with a financial literacy campaign, fronted by Arsenal legend David Seaman, to help fans turn their football savvy into real-world financial wins.
Built around the new brand platform ‘Good with Money’, the campaign uses football analogies to explain financial concepts. Starling shows how football aficionados' ability to manage transfers and fantasy teams can translate into real-world money confidence, and how tactical planning can lead to success.
The hero film stars ex-Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman, delivering a tongue-in-cheek tactical masterclass using a Subbuteo-style team. His pitch-side strategy reframes Starling’s features, such as biometric login, spending insights, and card freeze, as defensive moves to protect your financial goals. App security settings become wing-backs, passwords play centre-back, and fraud alerts sweep up loose balls before they become howlers. A final nod to the Invincibles, and a playful wink at Seaman’s own legacy, keeps the tone fan-first.
The first instalment of Starling’s financial literacy series, ‘Defending against Cyber Crims’, explains how best to defend your personal banking information.
Starling will release more videos on its social media and YouTube channels in the coming months, covering topics ranging from transaction monitoring to understanding interest rates. The videos will feature past and present Arsenal players including Alessia Russo and Beth Mead, with the goal of helping people become ‘Good with Money’.
“From checking transfers to building a fantasy team, football supporters’ everyday habits translate perfectly into money management. Now, we want to empower more people to take on those habits. Together with beloved Arsenal legends, our financial literacy series will use the cultural currency of football as a platform to get people in the UK rethinking their relationship with their money.” said Michele Rousseau, chief marketing officer at Starling.
