Aston Villa are to replace their shirt sponsor with the logo of a children's charity from next season, it has been announced.
Announcing the unique partnership at Villa Park, the club's head of community Duncan Riddle confirmed that commercial offers had been turned down before the free-of-charge tie-up with Acorns was finalised.
Villa, who finished sixth in the Premier League last season, agreed to promote Acorns' work on their shirts after the expiry of a two-year deal with an online gaming firm thought to be worth £2million.
Mr Riddle said Villa's American owner, Randy Lerner, manager Martin O'Neill and all their board members had been fully behind the decision to opt for a non-commercial partner.
"Yes, the shirts have monetary value, but they also have emotional value to fans and this is something to give back to them," Mr Riddle said.
David Strudley, the chief executive of Acorns, said he was amazed at and immensely thankful for Villa's "ground-breaking" generosity.
Speaking after Villa's announcement, Mr Strudley said everyone involved with Acorns, which offers year-round respite care, end-of-life care and bereavement services, was "over the moon" that Villa had agreed to help the charity raise its profile.
"Currently we look after some 600 children and their families, but we still need to reach out to probably more than 1,000 other children over the whole of the West Midlands," Mr Strudley said.
Mr Strudley described Villa's decision to help Acorns as extraordinary.
"They listened to us when we told them that we needed a platform - they really did want to help the community," the charity worker added.
Villa's staff and players were already involved in supporting Acorns work and several players, including England midfielder Gareth Barry, have visited its hospices.