The escorted tour operator will work with Wigan Warriors on a range of initiatives to help celebrate the history of the club and the community.

As part of the 15-month partnership, the Shearings logo will also appear on the reverse of the rugby team jersey for the 2018 season and will also have exclusive official rights to organise any supporters’ tours.

Kris Radlinski, executive director of Wigan Warriors, said: “Everybody knows of Shearings and to partner with a great Wigan company that has such a large and local workforce who all support the Warriors is a great coup for the Club.”

Richard Calvert, chief executive at Shearings, added: “I’m absolutely delighted for Shearings Holidays to be named as the Official Travel Partner of Wigan Warriors.

"Shearings Leisure Group is a national company with a team of over 2600 employees located across all of the UK, but is immensely proud of its Wigan roots and to be headquartered in Wigan.”