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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

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The first tournament for English Football League clubs to sell its naming rights was the Watney Cup, sponsored by brewer 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 sponsorship deal was the 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 FA Cup. The competition was sponsored by Littlewoods for four seasons, starting in 1994 in a deal with £14 million.[6][2] In 1998, 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

[edit]
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
2025–26 No sponsor
2026–27 No sponsor
2027–28 No sponsor
2028–29 No sponsor

Summary of Premier League front of shirt sponsorship deals

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Shirt sponsorship in English football clubs was first pioneered by Coventry City in 1978 after they were sponsored by Talbot.[51]

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]

2024-2025
Club 		Sponsor Start date End date Value
Arsenal Emirates 2018 2028 £50m per year[53]
Aston Villa Betano 2024 2026 £20m per year[53]
Bournemouth BJ88 2024 2026 £8m[53]
Brentford Hollywoodbets 2019 2025 £4m per year[53]
Brighton & Hove Albion American Express 2019 2031 £100m[53]
Chelsea N/A N/A N/A N/A[53]
Crystal Palace NET88 2024 2026 £?m[53]
Everton Stake 2022 2026 £10m per year[53]
Fulham SBOTOP.net 2023 ? £10m[53]
Ipswich Town +–=÷× Tour 2021 ? £?m[53]
Leicester City BC.Game 2024 ? £?m[53]
Liverpool Standard Chartered 2022 2027 £50m per year[53]
Manchester City Etihad Airways 2009 ? £67.5m per year[53]
Manchester United Snapdragon 2024 2027 £60m per year[53]
Newcastle United Sela 2023 ? £25m per year[53]
Nottingham Forest Kaiyun Sports 2023 2025 £m[53]
Southampton Rollbit 2024 ? £?m[53]
Tottenham Hotspur AIA 2019 2027 £320m[53]
West Ham United Betway 2019 2025 £10m per year[53]
Wolverhampton Wanderers Debet 2024 2026 £?m[53]

Summary of kit manufacturer deals

[edit]
Club Start Date End date Per year Manufacturer
Arsenal 2018 2030 £75m Adidas[54][55]
Aston Villa 2024 ? £17m Adidas[56]
Bournemouth 2017 2026 £1.5m Umbro[57]
Brentford 2019 2025 £1.5m Umbro[58]
Brighton & Hove Albion 2019 2024 £3m Nike[59]
Chelsea 2016 2032 £56m Nike[60]
Crystal Palace 2022 ? £4m Macron[61]
Everton 2024 ? £20m Castore[62]
Fulham 2017 2024 £2m Adidas[63]
Ipswich Town 2022 2026 £10m Umbro[64]
Leicester City 2018 2024 £4m Adidas[65]
Liverpool 2020 2025 £45m Nike[66]
Manchester City 2019 2028 £72m Puma[67]
Manchester United 2015 2035 £75m Adidas[68][69]
Newcastle United 2024 ? £30m Adidas[70]
Nottingham Forest 2023 ? £10m Adidas[71]
Southampton 2024 2028 £m Puma[72]
Tottenham Hotspur 2018 2033 £30m Nike[73]
West Ham United 2019 2025 £7m Umbro[74]
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2024 ? £m Sudu[75]

References

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  1. ^ Ballard, John; Suff, Paul (1999). World Soccer The Dictionary of Football. Boxtree Ltd. p. 635. ISBN 0-7522-2434-4.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ballard, John; Suff, Paul (1999). World Soccer The Dictionary of Football. Boxtree Ltd. pp. 556–7. ISBN 0-7522-2434-4.
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  57. ^ "AFC Bournemouth sign new Umbro deal". AFCB. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
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  61. ^ "Crystal Palace announce kit deal with Macron - News". Crystal Palace F.C. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
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  64. ^ "UMBRO BECOME OFFICIAL KIT SUPPLIER". www.itfc.co.uk. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
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  67. ^ "Puma signs record-breaking $860 million partnership with Manchester City". CNBC. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 21 August 2024.
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  70. ^ "'Newcastle bleeds Adidas': The inside story of the club's new £30m kit deal". inews. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
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  74. ^ "West Ham and Umbro agree 'long-term' kit deal extension". SportsPro. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  75. ^ "Wolves end Castore deal, expected to switch to new Sudu brand". SportBusiness. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
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