Julian Shirley moved to the states from London, England with his wife and two children back in 2015. Working at Signet he was asked to come to the Fairlawn headquarters as SVP Omnichannel/Ecommerce. What a year it has been for Signet, 2020 was one of their best in nine years much of it due to their new online website just in time for the pandemic. Timing is everything.
Executive Arrangements enjoyed helping the Shirley family find thier bearings, a neighborhood and connected them to community over several days. They were a delight to work with. You’ve heard of British humor, they’ve got it down.
A perk of moving to the Greater Cleveland/Akron area for Julien was being able to attend Browns games in person. He’s been a fan since he was in secondary school in England! Being a loyal fan paid off this year, the first time in 18 years that the Browns made the playoffs, won the wildcard game making it into the next round vs Kansas City.
Julien tells his story best.
“My dad came over on a business trip and watched a game. He managed to get me a game ball from Cleveland. American football was just getting some airtime on TV in the UK for the first time.
Before then no one had really heard of it or knew much about it. My school friends and I all supported different teams. Most of them went for the Bears (think ‘85 Bears era), Washington or the Cowboys. But, I was Browns all the way!!
I’ve been a fan ever since and went to a game the first weekend we landed in America! I have had season tickets for my son Toby and I ever since. Toby has been rooting for the Browns since he was 4 years old and is now 9.
Myles Garret you’ve got a fan and friend in Toby!
Toby comes to every game with me, we sit in the family section of the stadium and he’s 100% the next generation of Browns fan! With our family and other visitors from the UK coming over regularly we’ve also ensured several more Browns fans across the ‘pond’.”
Thank you to Julien, his son and his dad, three generations of Browns fans that never gave up on our team in the lean years. In addition to their family back in Britain, the North Cotswolds Backers are one of two fan groups in the U.K., with the oldest active group, the British Bulldawgs Browns Backers.
Thank you to our Cleveland Browns who gave us a something to look forward to on Sunday afternoons, who had an exciting winning season and who also invested in our communities during a year of uncertainty and challenges. One of the silver linings to 2020 and WE WILL BE BACK.