Football club affected if main sponsor Holden leaves Uncertainty: Jackson Potter, centre, of the Bulldogs. The Central District Bulldogs are the pride of a part of Adelaide that is tight-knit, poor and indivisible from car making. And along with everyone from Adelaide's north, the team is seeing that the consequences of Holden's closure could reach far beyond the company's 1700 employees. "Forty per cent of our sponsorship comes from Holden," said Kris Grant, who has been president of the Australian rules club for 36 years. We are very nervous. For the past 25 years, Holden has been the Bulldogs' major sponsor, in recognition of the number of its workers among team supporters. "Holden pays our wages," said player Ryan Williams during training at Elizabeth Oval, in the same suburb that contains the Holden plant. Mr Grant said he will meet Holden this week to discuss the future of sponsorship for the last four years of the company's operation in Australia. It is feared Holden's closure could set off a chain of economic consequences in and around Elizabeth that would further depress one of Australia's most depressed urban areas. One in three people in the area live below the poverty line. Some local manufacturers of car components that depended on Holden for business said they would pull out. People feel next will be truck drivers, tool makers, delis and shops. "I'm worried for the whole northern suburbs and all the people trying to make it," said Ian Odgers, a Holden engineer who has worked at the plant for 26 years and lived in Adelaide's north for 50 years. The head of Anglicare South Australia, Peter Sandeman, said there would be a rush for new jobs after Holden's closure, in which many unskilled workers would be left behind. The north needs jobs; it's as simple as that. The federal, South Australia and Victorian governments are negotiating an assistance package to stabilise their economies. After entering the league only a few years after Holden came to town, the Central Bulldogs struggled to shake a bad reputation that came with its home base and after several unsuccessful decades. They are a favourite team for Adelaide residents to hate. They have claimed nine of the past 12 SANFL premierships. "The town went nuts," Mr Grant said. It gave them something to hang on to. Holden's executive director of corporate affairs George Svigos said the company had no plans to end the club sponsorship. "We plan to continue our partnership for many years to come," he said. Meanwhile, the union representing Holden workers says it is bracing itself for a spike in suicide attempts and family breakdowns. Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union vehicle division national secretary Dave Smith urged the government to offer social support to affected workers and communities. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said the government should act "quickly and decisively" to mitigate the economic and social consequences of the planned closure. This would take a support package worth at least $650 million.