When it comes to shirt sponsorships, size doesn’t matter; but placement does
Today sponsorships are just another element in any soccer team jersey, but 40 years ago it was something frowned upon. Do you know which was the first soccer club that dared to do it in a European league? It was the Eintracht Braunschweig, from Germany. They placed the logo of popular liqueur Jägermeister on the front of their shirts. The German football association denied the club’s request, but the team just replaced their traditional logo with the Jägermeister stag. Pretty clever if you ask me.
The first English team that had a shirt sponsor was Kettering Town, from the English Southern League, that was sponsored by Kettering Tyres. When league officials ordered them to remove the brand’s name from their uniforms they removed just the four last letters and said that “Kettering T” stood for Kettering Town. The league didn’t buy it and the club had to remove the rest of the brand’s name after being threatened with a hefty fine. Just one year later jersey sponsorship was approved in English football.
No Comment