English football sponsorship

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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.

Contents

Sponsorship deals

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] Emirates Airline has been the sponsor since 2015, initially renaming the competition as 'The Emirates FA Cup', unlike previous editions. [12] The Emirates sponsorship deal, originally scheduled to terminate in 2018, was later extended three times until 2021, 2024, 2028. [13]

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 existNo sponsorNo sponsorNo sponsorNo 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) [14]
1993–94 Carling Brewery
(FA Carling Premiership) [15] [16] 		Endsleigh
(Endsleigh League) [17] 		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) [18] 		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) [19]
1999–2000 One2One
(One2One FA Charity Shield)
2000–01 LDV Vans
(LDV Vans Trophy) [20]
2001–02 Barclaycard
(FA Barclaycard Premiership) [16] [21]
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) [22]
2004–05 Barclays
(2004–2007:
FA Barclays Premiership,
2007–2016:
Barclays Premier League) [16] [23] [24] [25] 		Coca-Cola
(Coca-Cola Football League) [26] [27]
2005–06 No sponsor
2006–07 E.ON
(The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON) [10] [28] 		Johnstone's Paint
(Johnstone's Paint Trophy) [29] [30] [31]
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) [32] [33] [34]
2008–09
2009–10
2010–11 npower
(npower Football League) [35] [36]
2011–12 Budweiser
(The FA Cup with Budweiser) [11]
2012–13 Capital One
(Capital One Cup) [37]
2013–14 Sky Bet
(2013–2016:
Sky Bet Football League, [38]
2016–2029:
Sky Bet EFL) [39] 		Skrill
(The Skrill Premier
The Skrill North
The Skrill South) [40] [41]
2014–15 Autorama Group
(2014–2015:
Vanarama Conference,
2015–2025:
Vanarama National League) [42] 		No sponsor
2015–16 Emirates
(Emirates FA Cup) [43] [44]
Heads Up
(2020 Heads Up FA Cup Final) [45]
2016–17 No sponsor [46] No sponsor Checkatrade
(Checkatrade Trophy) [47]
2017–18 Carabao Energy Drink
(Carabao Cup) [48] [49]
2018–19
2019–20 Leasing.com
(Leasing.com Trophy) [50]
2020–21 Papa John's Pizza
(Papa John's Trophy) [51]
2021–22
2022–23 No sponsor
2023–24 Vertu Motors
(2023–2024:
Bristol Street Motors Trophy,
2024–2026:
Vertu Trophy) [52]
2024–25
2025–26 Enterprise Rent-A-Car
(Enterprise National League) [53]
2026–27 No sponsorNo sponsor
2027–28 No sponsor
2028–29 No sponsor

Summary of Premier League front of shirt sponsorship deals

Shirt sponsorship in English football clubs was first pioneered by Coventry City in 1978 after they were sponsored by Talbot. [54]

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. [55] Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers were fined £1,000 for wearing shirts with advertising in FA Cup games in January 1981. [55] Nottingham Forest were fined £7,000 by UEFA for a similar offence in February 1981. [55]

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

2025–26
Club 		SponsorStart dateEnd dateValue
Arsenal Emirates 20062028£50m per year [56]
Aston Villa Betano20242026£20m per year [57]
Bournemouth BJ8820242026£8m per year [58]
Brentford Hollywoodbets 20192026£2.36m per year [59]
Brighton & Hove Albion American Express 20192031£100m [60]
Burnley 96.com20242026£?m [61]
Chelsea No sponsor
Crystal Palace NET88 20242025£10m per year [62]
Everton Stake 20222026£10m per year [63]
Fulham SBOTOP 2023?£10m [60]
Leeds United Red Bull 2024?£?m [64]
Liverpool Standard Chartered 20222027£50m per year [60]
Manchester City Etihad Airways 2009?£67.5m per year [60]
Manchester United Snapdragon 20242027£60m per year [60]
Newcastle United Sela 2023?£25m per year [60]
Nottingham Forest Bally's Corporation 20252026£8m [65]
Sunderland W882024?£?m [66]
Tottenham Hotspur AIA 20132027£40m per year [60]
West Ham United BoyleSports 20252026£12m [67]
Wolverhampton Wanderers Debet 20242026£10m [68]

Summary of kit manufacturer deals

ClubStart DateEnd datePer yearManufacturer
Arsenal 20182030£75m Adidas [69] [70]
Aston Villa 2024?£17mAdidas [71]
Bournemouth 20172026£2m Umbro [72]
Brentford 2025?£4mJoma [73]
Brighton & Hove Albion 20192030£5m Nike [74]
Burnley 2024?£1m Castore [75]
Chelsea 20162032£60mNike [76]
Crystal Palace 2022?£4m Macron [77]
Everton 2024?£24mCastore [78]
Fulham 20172024£5mAdidas [79]
Leeds United 20202026£5mAdidas [80]
Liverpool 20252030£60mAdidas [81]
Manchester City 20192028£100m Puma [82]
Manchester United 20152035£90mAdidas [83] [84]
Newcastle United 2024?£40mAdidas [85]
Nottingham Forest 2023?£6mAdidas [86]
Sunderland 20242029£0.5m Hummel [87]
Tottenham Hotspur 20182033£50mNike [88]
West Ham United 20192025£7mUmbro [89]
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2024?£4mSudu [90]

References

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  3. ↑ Nawrat, Chris; Hutchings, Steve (1995). The Sunday Times Illustrated History of Football. Reed International. p. 245. ISBN   1-85613-847-X.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Sharkey, Peter (11 November 2002). "Why League Cup is vital to survival". Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 15 March 2013.
  5. ↑ "Sport Shorts". Sun Journal. Lewiston. Associated Press. 4 August 1992. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 "F.A. Cup Soccer Gets A Sponsor". New York Times . 2 September 1994. Retrieved 13 August 2006.
  7. 1 2 "Axa wins FA Cup". BBC Sport . 23 July 1998. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  8. ↑ "FA breaks AXA link". BBC Sport. 1 March 2002. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  9. ↑ Tongue, Steve (29 September 2001). "Sponsor's fury over FA Cup". The Independent . Archived from the original on 23 August 2010. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  10. 1 2 "FA announces new Cup sponsorship". BBC Sport. 3 February 2006.
  11. 1 2 "FA Cup to be sponsored by Budweiser beer". BBC News . 16 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "FA Cup get first title sponsor following deal with Emirates Airline". BBC Sport. 30 May 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "The FA Cup extends its global partnership with Emirates for four more years". The FA. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  14. ↑ "Football: Coca-Cola sign Cup deal". The Independent. London. 1 August 1992. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  15. ↑ Haylett, Trevor (20 February 1993). "Football: Carling backs Premier League". The Independent. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  16. 1 2 3 "A History of The Premier League". Premier League. Archived from the original on 3 October 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
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  18. ↑ "New sponsorship deal for Conference". BBC Sport. 17 April 2001. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  19. ↑ Bond, David (3 April 2002). "Worthington to end Cup sponsorship". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  20. ↑ "Three More Years for the LDV Vans Trophy". chesterfield-fc.co.uk. Chesterfield F.C. 17 November 2004. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
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  31. ↑ "Johnstone's Paint Trophy a firm fixture until 2015". football-league.co.uk. The Football League. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  32. ↑ "Conference announces new sponsors". BBC Sport. 11 April 2007. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
  33. ↑ "Blue Square Extend Sponsorship of the Football Conference". Football Conference. 1 April 2010. Archived from the original on 5 April 2010. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
  34. ↑ "Blue Square Extend Sponsorship of the Football Conference". thelambs.com. Tamworth F.C. 2 April 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2011.
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  39. ↑ "Sky Bet signs five-year title partnership extension with EFL". EFL. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  40. ↑ "Skrill is the new title sponsor for the Football Conference Leagues". Skrill. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
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  42. ↑ "National League Title Sponsorship Rebrand Announced". National League. 29 January 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  43. ↑ "FA Cup get first title sponsor following deal with Emirates Airline". BBC Sport. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  44. ↑ "The FA Cup extends its global partnership with Emirates for four more years". The FA. 1 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  45. ↑ "2020 FA Cup final renamed Heads Up FA Cup final to promote mental health". BBC Sport. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  46. ↑ "Premier League closes door on sponsorship from 2016-17". ESPN FC. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  47. ↑ "EFL Trophy: Checkatrade check in as Trophy title sponsor". English Football League. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  48. ↑ "EFL Cup to become Carabao Cup next season". The Guardian. Press Association. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
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  50. ↑ "Leasing.com Trophy: EFL agrees three-year sponsorship deal for competition". BBC Sport. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
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  52. ↑ "Bristol Street Motors drives EFL Trophy into new era". EFL. 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
  53. ↑ "Enterprise becomes new sponsor of National League". BBC Sport. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
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  57. ↑ Bresaola, Riccardo (22 April 2024). "Aston Villa confirm Betano as new shirt sponsor". Sportcal. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
  58. ↑ Connell, Sean (14 August 2024). "Betting firm BJ88 pays 185% above market value to secure AFC Bournemouth sponsorship". The Sponsor. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
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  63. ↑ Hunter, Andy (9 June 2022). "Everton sign betting sponsor deal two years after terminating similar contract". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 16 August 2025.
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  65. ↑ Murray, James (8 August 2025). "Nottingham Forest to land £8m windfall after deal agreed". Football Insider. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
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  87. ↑ "Sunderland Announces Hummel Kit Deal - 24-25 Home & Away Kits Leaked". Footy Headlines. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
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