The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal may have been blessed with some memorable sponsors down the years, but every Premier League club could say the same.
Shirt sponsorship was first pioneered in English football by Coventry City back in 1974 and it’s possible to observe the evolution of society by the companies attaching themselves to top-flight clubs.
We’ve taken a look through the archives and chosen each current Premier League club’s most iconic shirt sponsor since 1992. Any complaints will be forwarded to our junk folder.
Arsenal
Fly Emirates, O2 and Sega were all strong contenders, but we couldn’t ignore JVC.
Adorning Arsenal shirts between 1981 and 1999, the electronics company were the club’s sponsor during three title-winning campaigns – making them the successful in the club’s history.
More importantly, they looked brilliant with block writing as Ian Wright and Dennis Bergkamp banged in the goals during the 90s.
Aston Villa
Despite only sponsoring the club for a season, we couldn’t look beyond Muller as Aston Villa’s most iconic sponsor.
Seeing Dwight Yorke strut around in the 1993-94 kit made us really want a yoghurt. Don’t know why.
Bournemouth
Difficult one for Bournemouth, whose Premier League sponsors have largely been exploitative betting companies, so we’re going back to their League Two days with this beauty.
It’s very parochial, very Power League and carried the club during their administration era. What’s not to like?
Brentford
Brentford were absent from the top flight between the late 1940s and 2021, meaning many neutral supporters will be unfamiliar with their kits from yesteryear.
We selected KLM from a fairly long list of sponsors. The Dutch airline saw their logo on the club’s shirts, such as the one worn by Gary Bilssett, between 1984 and 1995, with advertising around the ground advertising their services to aircraft at nearby Heathrow.
Brighton
Skint Records. Fatboy Slim. The Rockafeller Shank.
Yeah, pretty cool.
Burnley
Burnley haven’t been blessed with many eye-catching sponsors, so we’ve decided to nominate one of their longest-lasting.
Endsleigh sponsored the club between 1988 and 1998, during which Burnley were generally stuck in the middle tiers of the Football League. The less said about Chris Waddle’s managerial reign the better.
Still, pretty smart.
Chelsea
Another tricky one. Cases could be made for Autoglass, Coors and Fly Emirates, but it was hard to look beyond Samsung.
Associated with the club between 2005 and 2015, the mobile company were the quintessential emblem of Chelsea’s imperial phase and was worn by legends such as John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba.
A sponsor which indicated Chelsea were richer and almost certainly better than you. Which they usually were.
Crystal Palace
Palace had to be represented by TDK, as worn by future England manager Gareth Southgate below.
Another electronics company represented by block capitals, images of Palace running out with a strange little triangle on their shirts are as 90s as pogs and Mr Blobby.
Everton
It’s 2005 and you’re playing Everton at home. You’ve dominated possession, but have fallen to a Tim Cahill header from a set-piece.
David Moyes does a little delighted jig on the touchline while Cahill does his David Haye routine on the poor and unsuspecting corner flag. You feel robbed.
Everton were an established irritant to the Premier League’s elite while sponsored by Chang Beer, a beverage popular at curry houses up and down the country.
We like the pair of elephants sitting under a tree and wish more top-flight clubs had animals on their shirts.
Fulham
One look at this picture takes us back to the days of terracing at Craven Cottage, Louis Saha scoring worldies and The Premiership on ITV.
Leeds United
To a generation of supporters, Leeds United will always be associated with Strongbow.
During their sponsorship, Leeds lived the dream (Champions League semi-finals, spending loads of money, great football at Elland Road) and the ruinous after-effects (bankruptcy, relegation, Peter Risdale).
Sounds just like a night out on the cider.
Liverpool
We could have gone for Candy. We probably should have gone for Candy.
But the allure of the white Carlsberg logo on those famous red shirts was too hard to resist.
The Danish beer sponsored the club during the 1990s and 2000s, closely associated with those nights in Dortmund, Istanbul and Cardiff, and is generally considered one of the great all-time sponsors.
Manchester City
The current iteration of City may be a trophy-winning juggernaut, but we reckon about 5% of their fans secretly pine for the days of Paul Dickov up front, away days at Macclesfield and generally being a bit sh*t.
Brother represented that era perfectly. Worn by cult heroes like Georgi Kinkladze, the lower-case font dovetails perfectly with the Kappa sleeve sponsors. We miss the days of Premier League clubs in Kappa kits.
Put simply, this shirt would still bang on the streets of Chorlton and Withington today.
Manchester United
Vodafone came a close second, but Sharp feels essential to the history of United.
Think of United at their most dominant and Sharp shirts are central to your memories. A strong, attacking-football-associated word doesn’t hurt either.
Newcastle United
Hard to think of anything more Newcastle than Alan Shearer celebrating a goal in a Newkie Brown shirt.
Nottingham Forest
Forest spent 23 years in exile from the Premier League, so we’re plumping for Capital One as their most iconic sponsor.
Worn between 2003 and 2009, the club carried this sponsor during their League One purgatory. Few thought they’d see European football back at the City Ground after Yeovil did them over.
Sunderland
Any fans with memories of Kevin Phillips and Niall Quinn, and their frightening little and large partnership, will remember the distinctive gold V on the front of the club’s shirts.
Tottenham
Holsten, just like Teddy Sheringham and Jurgen Klinsmann, had two spells with Tottenham and remains the club’s most iconic sponsorship deal.
That said, let’s not talk about the quality of the actual beer.
West Ham
Straight toss-up here between Dr. Martens and Dagenham Motors, both of which are more West Ham than jellied eels and underachievement.
But Paolo Di Canio, West Ham’s most iconic player over the last three decades, never wore a Dagenham Motors shirt and that settles the argument.
An endearing reminder of Harry Redknapp’s team of inconsistent freewheelers.
Wolves
They only sponsored Wolves for two seasons between 2002 and 2004, but the Doritos logo just worked on the old gold shirt.
And those two years included promotion to the Premier League, a famous Cup win over Newcastle and beating Manchester United at Molineux before relegation in 2004.
Plus, the colour of Wolves’ kit calls to mind a chilli heatwave Dorito. Everyone’s a winner.
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