Two of Birmingham’s leading football teams have come together to celebrate a winning season for the city.

In a first for English football, visitbirmingham.com became a sponsor of Birmingham’s two clubs at the start of the 2008/09 season.

Aston Villa and Birmingham City set rivalries aside to take part in the visitbirmingham.com Table Football Challenge at the city’s Bullring shopping centre to mark the rise of the city as a top tourist destination.

Former Villa stars Cyrille Regis and Gordon Cowans and ex-Blues Ian Clarkson and Martin O’Connor were keen to get behind the campaign, which has contributed to an increase in web traffic of more than 20% since it launched.

Cyrille, who has spent his career playing for teams in the region, said: “I do like walking around the canals in the sunshine and the atmosphere around Brindley Place. Birmingham has a lot to offer.”

Martin, who was born and bred in Birmingham, said: “Vast things are happening in terms of buildings, development and things to do for families. It is a great place to be.”

Visitbirmingham.com is the official tourism website for the city, operated by its destination marketing agency, Marketing Birmingham. Through its sponsorship deal with Villa and Blues the brand has the potential to reach a global audience of 2.3 billion who follow football.

The campaign also aims to align both clubs more closely with the city to help improve its image as a top sporting destination, using the messages ‘Birmingham City – At the Heart of the City’ and ‘Aston Villa – Pride of Birmingham’.

Marketing Birmingham’s marketing director, Dave Hodgson, said: “The high profile of both football clubs has enabled our message to be shown across the world. Our branding has been in the media spotlight on programmes such as Match of the Day, Sky Sports and Setanta, with fantastic results.

“We are maximising every opportunity before the end of the season with a series of events that will demonstrate we are united when it comes to our affections for the city and show visiting supporters that Birmingham is more than just a place to come for 90 minutes on a Saturday.”