Following the shock news that Inter are parting ways with Pirelli, we rank the greatest shirt sponsors of all time
(Image credit: PA Images)
We say goodbye to Inter's iconic partnership with Pirelli this summer. While the footballing world mourns the loss of a long-lasting union, we revisit some of the greatest shirt sponsors in the history of the beautiful game.
Counting down from 10 to one...
10. Bayern Munich and T-Mobile
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 2002-present
The Bavarian giants have been donning shirts with T-Mobile slapped across them for so long now, we bet you can’t even remember the last sponsor they had, can you?
While far less eye-catching or steeped in one nostalgic era as some of the other great sponsors in this list, it makes the grade for both sheer longevity and inoffensiveness. In an era of garish, attention-seeking splodges across the middle of otherwise beautiful kits (see Manchester United’s current deal with Chevrolet, for example) T-Mobile have kept things clean and respectable for almost 20 years.
During that time, Bayern have been one of the most dominant forces in European football, winning 13 Bundesliga titles and two Champions Leagues. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Philipp Lahm, Michael Ballack, Arjen Robben, Franck Ribery and Robert Lewandowski are just some of the powerhouses to have sported a shirt adorned with the white T-Mobile logo. In short, it has been a phenomenal bit of marketing for the German mobile communications firm and we can’t imagine those successes without it front and centre.
Oh, and it was Opel, in case you were wondering...
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9. Boca Juniors and Quilmes
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1995-2001
In 1995 Boca Juniors signed sponsorship deals with Nike and Quilmes, the latter an Argentine beer brewed in the province of Buenos Aires. Both deals would prove to be iconic as Boca quickly became synonymous with the two brands.
Beer companies always make for cool sponsors (see Chelsea’s deal with Coors and Tottenham’s association with Holsten in the 90s), but Quilmes is the best of the lot. Not only is the beer a local brand, which adds an authentic touch, but it also looked incredible scribbled onto the front of those famous blue and yellow jerseys. Less about the players who wore these shirts and the success enjoyed during the deal, and more about the pure aesthetic. Muy bonito!
8. PSV Eindhoven and Philips
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1981-2016
We know what you’re thinking: “Wait, Philips isn't actually the PSV sponsor these days?”
We had the same reaction too. Indeed, Philips hasn’t been the club’s shirt sponsor for over five years. The red and white stripes of PSV were so perfectly complemented by the clean Philips logo, and for such a long time, that we’d almost just assumed it was part of the kit itself.
The 80s and 90s were a particularly golden era for Dutch football, and the likes of Philip Cocu, Luc Nilis, R9 and Ruud Van Nistelrooy all sported Eindhoven colours during this glorious heydey for the club. Philips still sponsors PSV’s stadium, but it just doesn’t feel right that they’re not emblazoned across the shirts themselves anymore.
7. Newcastle United and Newcastle Brown Ale
(Image credit: Getty)
Years active: 1994-2000
Newkie Brown, texture like sun. Name a more appropriate shirt sponsor for any club at any time in history and we’ll sign over the deeds to FFT Towers without hesitation..
Newcastle Brown Ale is undisputedly the most beloved and recognisable brand ever to come from the North East - directly behind Newcastle United, that is. So the fact the two came as a package deal in the club’s most glorious Premier League era was a thing of true beauty.
Aside from the fact that Newkie Brown's a delicious alcoholic beverage from the local area, it also boasts champion branding. The home shirt's blue star on mustard disc was iconic, and it added an extra splash of warmth and character to those famous black and white stripes.
It might not have been the longest sponsorship deal, lasting only six years in the late 90s, but it packed a lot in: Keegan’s entertainers, the infamous “I would LOVE it” rant, Shearer, Ferdinand, Asprilla, Ginola, Batty and more. Howay, the lads!
6. Ajax and ABN-AMRO
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1991-2008
The only vertical sponsor in world football at the time of the partnership's origin in 1991. ABN-Amro is a Dutch bank based in Amsterdam, the city from which Ajax hail and, in terms of football kit fashion terms, they were genuine trailblazers.
In a way, the decision to go vertical always made sense, given Ajax's traditional style - blocks of white running down either side of a central column of red. The brand's decision not to interrupt the feng shui is admirable, and, while those outside of the Netherlands might not be able to recall the brand off the top of their head, they unanimously remember that it ran vertically, giving a recognisable aspect to an otherwise forgettable logo.
The 90s were a wise time to sponsor Ajax, with increased kudos and media focus arriving with the club's Champions League heroics under Louis van Gaal.
ABN-Amro was there before an 18-year old Patrick Kluivert sank Milan in injury time in the 1995 European Cup final, and remained long into the days of Rafael Van Der Vaart, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and even Daley Blind.
5. Liverpool and Carlsberg
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1992-2010
Eighteen years remains the longest shirt sponsorship deal any Premier League club has held with a brand. Carlsberg were on the Liverpool kit from the start of English football’s cash-strewn era, and may have stayed on board for so long in the desperate hope of actually seeing the club lift a Premier League title. Alas, the Danish beer brand gave up in 2010, and Liverpool would go on to scratch their itch with the far-less sexy Standard Chartered on their strips.
Still, Carlsberg is a gorgeous logo to have on a shirt, and beer is always a winner. They may have missed out on the league title, but they were there for plenty of drama. The Spice Boys, "Collymore closing in!", the 2001 treble, Istanbul, Gerrard, Owen, McManaman, Fowler and Rafa. For many, the 90s and early 00s will always be the years that football peaked. Carlsberg’s sponsorship of the Reds played its own small part in that.
4. AC Milan and Opel
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1994-2006
Counter-intuitively, the most iconic brand to sponsor a team from the fashion-hotspot of Milan built its legacy based on so much more than style.
German car manufacturers Opel also enjoyed stints sponsoring Bayern Munich and PSG in the 90s, but it’s their association with AC Milan that still sets hearts racing. 1994 to 2006 was a period of huge on-field success and agonising heartbreak for Italy’s greatest footballing export.
During the 12-year period of Opel’s sponsorship, Milan claimed four Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia and two Champions Leagues. Players such as Baresi, Maldini, Nesta, Cafu, Pirlo, Shevchenko, Kaka, Seedorf and Stam dominated at home and on the continent.
But they were vulnerable too. If Liverpool’s greatest night came in Carlsberg-clad clobber, then Milan’s lowest ebb fell on that same fateful evening. The most feared collection of players on the planet sobbed into an Opel embossed jersey, wondering how on Earth fate had inspired against them like this.
Think of Ancelotti’s great Milan side of the early-00s, and Opel wafts into consciousness like a deftly-weighted cross-field pass from a clean-shaved Andrea Pirlo.
3. Manchester United and Sharp
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1982-2001
Manchester United's early years under Sir Alex Ferguson were centred around Sharp (and we’re not talking about the Lee variety). The comeback at the Nou Camp, bust-ups with Arsenal, grey shirt-gate, Fergie time, the Class of ‘92, one kung-fu kick and a relentless stream of bus parades: Sharp was there through it all.
The partnership came into being as the Japanese electronics company had a factory in the Newton Heath area of Manchester as early as the 1970s. Both brand and club had ambitions to take over the world and so, way back in ‘82, a union was formed. It could be argued that perhaps no other sponsorship deal has ever covered such a glorious spell for a football club.
Keane, Beckham, Cantona, Giggs, Hughes, Robson, Schmeichel, Neville, Scholes... the list of iconic Manchester United players to don a Sharp-fronted shirt is unrivalled.
2. Fiorentina and Nintendo
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1997-1999
So short but oh, so sweet! There is no sponsorship deal on this list that ran for less time than Fiorentina and Nintendo’s, but there is probably none so stylistically revered.
Marking the launch of the N64 console in Europe, Nintendo spent two years emblazoned across the jerseys of Florence’s Serie A representatives. Make no mistake, this union makes the grade on style and style alone. Fiorentina’s acid-purple kits, manufactured by hipster’s choice FILA, were already the coolest thing in football. Add the most game-changing computer console of the decade and you’ve got a match made in heaven.
Images of a greasy-haired and barrel-chested Batigol marauding through Catenaccio systems immediately spring to mind, and with it, a single nostalgic tear doth fall.
Hear this: nothing this artistic has ever or will ever come out of Florence… and yes, we’ve heard of the Mona Lisa.
1. Inter and Pirelli
(Image credit: PA Images)
Years active: 1995-present
When Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli announced that its shirt sponsorship deal with Inter would be ending at the close of this season, a wave of emotion washed through the footballing community. In an increasingly money-obsessed industry, that reaction was telling.
Pirelli and Inter have been an inseparable duo since 1995 - a lifetime ago in the world of football. During that time, Inter have won countless Serie As and the Champions League. Players as far removed as Paul Ince, Javier Zanetti, Francesco Toldo, Wesley Sneijder, Adriano and Romelu Lukaku have represented the twin institutions since that time.
It’s not just longevity that marks Pirelli out, either. The aesthetic is also a key reason for its admiration in the tomes of shirt sponsorship legend. Those iconic black and blue stripes have been delightfully partnered by the clean, stylish and instantly recognisable logo for as long as we can remember; that elongated P, those stubby little sidekicks taking shelter beneath. Almost always white on the home kit, it also lent itself superbly to the occasional mood change: black, blue, even gold, when prevailing styles required a shift.
Pirelli lost their contract as Inter seek an improvement on the £10m-a-year deal that ends this year. We only hope greed doesn’t drive them into the arms of an unattractive rebound. We've all been there...
Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, he’s been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany's national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngster’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keegan’s playing career.
