English football sponsorship

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Corporate sponsorship of major English football competitions dates back to the early 1980s, although minor competitions such as the Watney Cup and Texaco Cup were sponsored during the early 1970s.

Sponsorship deals

The first tournament for

Watney Mann which was played from 1970 to 1973.[1]

The 1970-71 season saw the

Ford Sporting League, sponsored by the Ford Motor Company, take place for the first and only time, and also the start of the Texaco Cup (sponsored by Texaco) which was played until 1975.[2]

The first major English competition to negotiate a

League Cup, negotiating a £2 million deal in 1982 with the National Dairy Council.[3][2] It became known as the "Milk Cup" and has since adopted the name of its sponsors in this same way.[4]

The following season in 1983 the

Football League negotiated a sponsorship deal with Canon worth £3.3 million over 3 years.[2] Cardiff City became the first second division club to sign a sponsorship deal and carried the “SuperTed” flash which became an iconic collectors item and replica shirts are still sold to this day. Since the formation of the breakaway Premier League in 1992, the competition has struck up its own sponsorship deals separately from the Football League (though it was unsponsored in its first season after a $17.1 million agreement with Bass Brewery was vetoed by Arsenal, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest[5]
).

The last major English competition to negotiate a sponsorship deal was in fact its oldest, the

AXA Insurance started their sponsorship of the competition for four seasons.[2][7] It was always carefully named, being the "AXA-sponsored FA Cup", or the "FA Cup sponsored by AXA", and never the "AXA Cup". From 2002–03 through 2005–06, the FA Cup did not have a dedicated sponsor, but instead shared the team of sponsors of The Football Association.[8][9] From 2006 to 2011, the FA Cup was known as "The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON" due to a deal with energy company E.ON.[10] From the 2011–12 season to the 2013–14 season, the FA Cup was sponsored by Budweiser Beer and known as the FA Cup with Budweiser.[11]

Summary of competition sponsorship deals

Season
Premier League English Football League National League FA Cup FA Community Shield EFL Cup EFL Trophy
1982–83 Did not exist No sponsor No sponsor No sponsor No sponsor Milk Marketing Board
(Milk Cup)[4]
No sponsor
1983–84 Canon
(Canon League)
1984–85 Gola
(Gola League)
General Motors
(1984:
FA Charity Shield sponsored by General Motors
1985–1987:
General Motors FA Charity Shield)
Freight Rover
(Freight Rover Trophy)
1985–86
1986–87 Today
(Today League)
General Motors
(GM Vauxhall Conference)
Littlewoods
(Littlewoods Challenge Cup)[4]
1987–88 Barclays
(Barclays League)
Sherpa Van
(Sherpa Van Trophy)
1988–89 No sponsor
1989–90
Wellpark Brewery

(Tennent's FA Charity Shield)
Leyland DAF
(Leyland DAF Cup)
1990–91 Rumbelows
(Rumbelows Cup)[4]
1991–92
Autoglass

(Autoglass Trophy)
1992–93 No sponsor Coca-Cola
(Coca-Cola Cup)[12]
1993–94 Carling Brewery
(FA Carling Premiership)[13][14]
Endsleigh
(Endsleigh League)[15]
No sponsor
1994–95 Littlewoods
(FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods)[6]
Auto Windscreens
(Auto Windscreens Shield)
1995–96 Littlewoods
(1995:
Littlewoods Pools FA Charity Shield,
1996–1997:
Littlewoods FA Charity Shield)
1996–97 Nationwide
(Nationwide Football League)
1997–98
1998–99 Nationwide
(Nationwide Conference)[16]
AXA
(1998–1999:
The AXA sponsored FA Cup,
1999–2002:
The FA Cup sponsored by AXA)[7]
AXA

(AXA FA Charity Shield)
Worthington Brewery
(Worthington Cup)[17]
1999–2000 One2One
(One2One FA Charity Shield)
2000–01 LDV Vans
(LDV Vans Trophy)[18]
2001–02 Barclaycard
(FA Barclaycard Premiership)[14][19]
2002–03 No sponsor McDonald's
(2002–2006:
The FA Community Shield in partnership with McDonald's,
2007–2013:
The FA Community Shield sponsored by McDonald's,
2014–2021:
The FA Community Shield supported by McDonald's)
2003–04 Carling Brewery
(Carling Cup)[20]
2004–05
Barclays
(2004–2007:
FA Barclays Premiership,
2007–2016:
Barclays Premier League)[14][21][22][23]
Coca-Cola
(Coca-Cola Football League)[24][25]
2005–06 No sponsor
2006–07 E.ON
(The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON)[10][26]
Johnstone's Paint
(Johnstone's Paint Trophy)[27][28][29]
2007–08 Blue Square
(2007–10:
Blue Square Premier
Blue Square North
Blue Square South,
2010–13:
Blue Square Bet Premier
Blue Square Bet North
Blue Square Bet South)[30][31][32]
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11 npower
(npower Football League)[33][34]
2011–12 Budweiser
(The FA Cup with Budweiser)[11]
2012–13 Capital One
(Capital One Cup)[35]
2013–14 Sky Bet
(2013–2016:
Sky Bet Football League,[36]
2016–2029:
Sky Bet EFL)[37]
Skrill
(The Skrill Premier
The Skrill North
The Skrill South)[38][39]
2014–15 Autorama Group
(2014–2015:
Vanarama Conference,
2015–2025:
Vanarama National League)[40]
No sponsor
2015–16 Emirates
(The Emirates FA Cup)[41][42]
Heads Up
(2020 Heads Up FA Cup Final)[43]
2016–17 No sponsor[44] No sponsor
Checkatrade
(Checkatrade Trophy)[45]
2017–18 Carabao Energy Drink
(Carabao Cup)[46][47]
2018–19
2019–20 Leasing.com
(Leasing.com Trophy)[48]
2020–21
Papa John's Pizza
(Papa John's Trophy)[49]
2021–22
2022–23 No sponsor
2023–24 Vertu Motors
(Bristol Street Motors Trophy)[50]
2024–25 No sponsor
2025–26 No sponsor
2026–27 No sponsor
2027–28 No sponsor
2028–29

Summary of Premier League front of shirt sponsorship deals

Shirt sponsorship in English football clubs was first pioneered by

The first English club to secure a sponsorship deal was Derby County, they only wore the football tops featuring the Saab sponsor once for a photo shoot.

Issues arose with teams wearing sponsored shirts in the early 1980s.[2] The scheduled broadcast of a match between Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion on 22 October 1980 was cancelled as both teams refused to play without sponsors on their shirts.[52] Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers were fined £1,000 for wearing shirts with advertising in FA Cup games in January 1981.[52] Nottingham Forest were fined £7,000 by UEFA for a similar offence in February 1981.[52]

By 1987, every league club had a shirt sponsorship deal.[2]

2022-2023
Club
Sponsor Start date End date Amount Per year
Arsenal Emirates 2018 2024 £200m £40m[53]
Aston Villa Cazoo 2022 ? £m £m[53]
Bournemouth Dafabet 2022 2024 £m £m [53]
Brentford Hollywoodbets 2019 2025 £m £m [53]
Brighton & Hove Albion American Express 2019 2031 £100m £8m [53]
Chelsea
3
2020 2023 £120m £40m[53]
Crystal Palace
Cinch
2022 ? £m £m [53]
Everton Stake 2022 ? £m £10m [53]
Fulham W88 2022 2023 £m £m [53]
Leeds United SBOTOP.net 2020 ? £m £6m [53]
Leicester City FBS 2021 2024 £m £m[53]
Liverpool Standard Chartered 2022 2027 £250m £50m [53]
Manchester City Etihad Airways 2009 ? £m £68m [53]
Manchester United TeamViewer 2021 2026 £235m £48m [53]
Newcastle United Sela 2023 ? £m £25m [54]
Nottingham Forest N/A ? ? £m £m[53]
Southampton Sportsbet.io 2021 2024 £m £m [53]
Tottenham Hotspur
AIA
2019 2027 £320m £40m [53]
West Ham United Betway 2019 2025 £60m £10m[55]
Wolverhampton Wanderers AstroPay 2022 2023 £m £m [53]

Summary of kit manufacturer deals

Club Start Date End date Per year Manufacturer
Arsenal 2018 2024 £50m Adidas[56]
Aston Villa 2022 ? £3m Castore[57]
Bournemouth 2017 (extended 2021) 2026 £m Umbro[58]
Brentford 2019 2025 £1m Umbro[59]
Brighton & Hove Albion 2019 2024 £3m Nike[60]
Chelsea 2016 2032 £56m Nike[61]
Crystal Palace 2022 ? £m Macron[62]
Everton 2020 2023 £10m Hummel[63]
Fulham 2017 2023 £m Adidas[64]
Leeds United 2020 2025 £10m Adidas[65]
Leicester City 2018 2023 £4m Adidas[66]
Liverpool 2020 2035 £45m Nike[67]
Manchester City 2019 2028 £72m Puma[68]
Manchester United 2015 2025 £75m Adidas[69]
Newcastle United 2021 ? £5m Castore[70]
Nottingham Forest 2020 ? £m Macron[71]
Southampton 2021 2026 £m Hummel[72]
Tottenham Hotspur 2018 2033 £30m Nike[73]
West Ham United 2019 2023 £5m Umbro[74]
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2021 2024 £1m Castore[75]

References

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  2. ^ .
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External links