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In terms of English football, you must go back to 1976 to find the first time a football club had a sponsor on their shirt. Non-league club Kettering Town FC led the way and the practice soon spread to other clubs around the country. Initially this led to several issues with the cancellation of the match between Aston Villa and Brighton and Hove Albion in 1980for example. Both teams refused to play without sponsors on their shirts.
However, sponsorship of football shirts and the sport in general is more organised now and football clubs have a huge variety of options when it comes to having a sponsor for their team. Currently one of the most popular industries in terms of football sponsors is betting. Whether it be a sponsor on the shirt of the team, around the pitch on the advertising boards or the name of a stadium, bookmakers and casinos can be seen throughout world football.
Playing games at an online Casino on Mobile devices has become very popular and these companies like to back Premier League football clubs in terms of sponsorship. AFC Bournemouth are a good example and their shirt is sponsored by Mansion, who have both an iOS and Android app available to download. Other Premier League clubs who are sponsored betting companies include Aston Villa, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United and Norwich City.
However, some of the best and most memorable football sponsors come from all forms of business. A good example is the Everton sleeve sponsor which is Angry Birds. This is a popular mobile app game featuring cartoon birds which are propelled into the air in an attempt to blow up pigs on the other side of the screen. Who would have thought something like this would make a Premier League football sponsor?
Moving to Spain and Getafe’s 2009/10 shirt was sponsored by Burger King. Fast food and professional football are not a good mix but perhaps the most memorable thing about this shirt was the fact that the face of the ‘Burger King’ was printed on the inside. So, whenever a player scored a goal and decided to pull the shirt over his head, fans were met with an image of the ‘Burger King’.
Staying in Spain and in the early 2000’s, Atletico Madrid signed a sponsorship deal with movie studio Columbia Pictures. Rather than just have the name of the movie studio on their shirt, it was used to promote upcoming films. Therefore, the logo on the Atletico Madrid shirt would change throughout the season to reflect the latest movie being released by Columbia Pictures.
Finally, we come to the first football club in Europe to have a sponsor on the shirt, Eintracht Braunschweig. The German team made the innovative move to put a sponsor on their kit in 1972 and chose local liquor company, Jägermeister. The resulting shirt and sponsor combination has gone down in cult history and remains one of the best football sponsors to this day.
Written by Ketan Patel
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