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.
The 1970–71 season saw the Ford Sporting League, sponsored by Ford, take place for the first and only time, and also the start of the Texaco Cup (sponsored by Texaco) which was played until 1975.
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. It became known as the "Milk Cup" and has since adopted the name of its sponsors in this same way.
The following season in 1983 the Football League negotiated a sponsorship deal with Canon worth £3.3 million over 3 years. Cardiff City became the first second division club to sign a sponsorship deal and carried the “SuperTed” flash, which became an iconic collector's 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).
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. In 1998, Axa Insurance started their sponsorship of the competition for four seasons. 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. 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. 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. Emirates has been the sponsor since 2015, initially renaming the competition as 'The Emirates FA Cup', unlike previous editions. The Emirates sponsorship deal, originally scheduled to terminate in 2018, was later extended three times until 2021, 2024, 2028.
In July 2026, the Gambling Commission announced plans to crack down on unlicensed casinos promoting themselves via sports sponsorships, including deals with professional football clubs.
Summary of competition sponsorship deals SeasonPremier LeagueEnglish Football LeagueNational LeagueFA CupFA Community ShieldEFL CupEFL Trophy1982–83Did not existNo sponsorNo sponsorNo sponsorNo sponsorMilk Marketing Board(Milk Cup)No sponsor1983–84Canon(Canon League)1984–85Gola(Gola League)General Motors(1984:FA Charity Shield sponsored by General Motors1985–1987:General Motors FA Charity Shield)Freight Rover(Freight Rover Trophy)1985–861986–87Today(Today League)General Motors(GM Vauxhall Conference)Littlewoods(Littlewoods Challenge Cup)1987–88Barclays(Barclays League)Sherpa Van(Sherpa Van Trophy)1988–89No sponsor1989–90Wellpark Brewery(Tennent's FA Charity Shield)Leyland DAF(Leyland DAF Cup)1990–91Rumbelows(Rumbelows Cup)1991–92Autoglass(Autoglass Trophy)1992–93No sponsorCoca-Cola(Coca-Cola Cup)1993–94Carling Brewery(FA Carling Premiership)Endsleigh(Endsleigh League)No sponsor1994–95Littlewoods(FA Cup sponsored by Littlewoods)Auto Windscreens(Auto Windscreens Shield)1995–96Littlewoods(1995:Littlewoods Pools FA Charity Shield,1996–1997:Littlewoods FA Charity Shield)1996–97Nationwide(Nationwide Football League)1997–981998–99Nationwide(Nationwide Conference)Axa(1998–1999:The AXA sponsored FA Cup,1999–2002:The FA Cup sponsored by AXA)Axa(AXA FA Charity Shield)Worthington Brewery(Worthington Cup)1999–2000One2One(One2One FA Charity Shield)2000–01LDV Vans(LDV Vans Trophy)2001–02Barclaycard(FA Barclaycard Premiership)2002–03No sponsorMcDonald'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)2003–04Carling Brewery(Carling Cup)2004–05Barclays(2004–2007:FA Barclays Premiership,2007–2016:Barclays Premier League)Coca-Cola(Coca-Cola Football League)2005–06No sponsor2006–07E.ON(The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON)Johnstone's Paint(Johnstone's Paint Trophy)2007–08Blue Square(2007–10:Blue Square PremierBlue Square NorthBlue Square South,2010–13:Blue Square Bet PremierBlue Square Bet NorthBlue Square Bet South)2008–092009–102010–11npower(npower Football League)2011–12Budweiser(The FA Cup with Budweiser)2012–13Capital One(Capital One Cup)2013–14 Sky Bet(2013–2016:Sky Bet Football League,2016–2029:Sky Bet EFL)Skrill(The Skrill PremierThe Skrill NorthThe Skrill South)2014–15Autorama Group(2014–2015:Vanarama Conference,2015–2025:Vanarama National League)No sponsor2015–16Emirates(Emirates FA Cup)Heads Up(2020 Heads Up FA Cup Final)2016–17 No sponsor No sponsorCheckatrade(Checkatrade Trophy)2017–18Carabao Energy Drink(Carabao Cup)2018–192019–20Leasing.com(Leasing.com Trophy)2020–21Papa John's Pizza(Papa John's Trophy)2021–222022–23No sponsor2023–24Vertu Motors(2023–2024:Bristol Street Motors Trophy,2024–2026:Vertu Trophy)2024–252025–26Enterprise Rent-A-Car(Enterprise National League)2026–27No sponsor2027–282028–29No sponsor
Summary of Premier League front-of-shirt sponsorship deals Shirt sponsorship in English football clubs was pioneered by Coventry City in 1978 after they were sponsored by Talbot. 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. 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. Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers were fined £1,000 for wearing shirts with advertising in FA Cup games in January 1981. Nottingham Forest were fined £7,000 by UEFA for a similar offence in February 1981. By 1987, every league club had a shirt sponsorship deal. From the 2026–27 season onwards, gambling companies were banned as front-of-shirt sponsor but is still allowed as sleeve sponsor. 2026–27Club Sponsor Start date End date Value Arsenal Emirates 2006 2028 £50m per year Aston Villa Visit Rwanda 2026 ? £20m per year Bournemouth Vitality 2026 ? £?m per year Brentford Indeed 2026 ? £?m per year Brighton & Hove Albion American Express 2019 2031 £100m Chelsea USDC 2026 2027 £?m Coventry City Monzo 2026 2027 £?m Crystal Palace Temporal 2026 2025 £30m Everton CMC Markets 2026 2026 £30m Fulham SBOTOP 2023 ? £10m Hull City Corendon Airlines 2022 2027 £?m Ipswich Town Halo Service Solutions 2025 2028 £?m Leeds United Red Bull 2024 ? £?m Liverpool Standard Chartered 2010 2027 £50m per year Manchester City Etihad Airways 2009 ? £67.5m per year Manchester United Snapdragon 2024 2027 £60m per year Newcastle United KNOX Hydrate 2026 2029 £80m Nottingham Forest Marex 2026 2029 £25m Sunderland Vacant Tottenham Hotspur AIA 2013 2027 £40m per year
Summary of kit manufacturer deals Club Start Date End date Per year Manufacturer Arsenal 2018 2030 £75m Adidas Aston Villa 2024 ? £17m Adidas Bournemouth 2017 2026 £2m Umbro Brentford 2025 ? £4m Joma Brighton & Hove Albion 2019 2030 £5m Nike Burnley 2024 ? £1m Castore Chelsea 2016 2032 £60m Nike Crystal Palace 2022 ? £4m Macron Everton 2024 ? £24m Castore Fulham 2017 2024 £5m Adidas Leeds United 2020 2026 £5m Adidas Liverpool 2025 2030 £60m Adidas Manchester City 2019 2028 £100m Puma Manchester United 2015 2035 £90m Adidas Newcastle United 2024 ? £40m Adidas Nottingham Forest 2023 ? £6m Adidas Sunderland 2024 2029 £0.5m Hummel Tottenham Hotspur 2018 2033 £50m Nike West Ham United 2019 2025 £7m Umbro Wolverhampton Wanderers 2024 ? £4m Sudu
References
External links Branding, sponsorship and commerce in football Centre for the Sociology of Sport, University of Leicester (archived 21 June 2007)