The best football shirt sponsors of the 90s

Football shirt sponsorship was big business by the 90s, with all manner of companies wanting a piece of the action.

A sponsor's logo can make or break a shirt, but these ones were all seriously iconic (FourFourTwo reckons so, anyway).

Let's get straight to it, shall we?

32. Parmalat (Parma)

In 2003, the collapse of Italian dairy corporation Parmalat would have profound implications for Parma – they were the club's main shareholder – but during the late 90s, they made for a fitting shirt sponsor during the Gialloblu's heyday.

Boasting the likes of Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram and Hernan Crespo, Parma won the 1998/99 UEFA Cup in Parmalat-emblazoned kit.

31. Bedford (Luton Town)

Headquartered in Luton and taking its name from the county town of Bedfordshire, van and truck brand Bedford gave the Hatters’ shirts a distinctly local feel.

The simple yet stylish font had been emblazoned on kits throughout most of the club’s 80s heyday – and the sponsorship just about ran into 1990, so it makes this list.

30. Panasonic (Marseille)

There’s nothing particularly remarkable about the logo of Japanese electronics brand Panasonic – but its appearance on some of Marseille’s iconic early 90s shirts really elevated it.

Of course, it helped that Panasonic’s chosen shade of blue matched up with that associated with the French Giants – who were crowned champions of Europe in 1992.

29. Kool (Gillingham)

In the late 90s, Gillingham were pretty cool: the Kent club enjoyed a series of strong campaigns in the third tier of English football, eventually winning promotion in 1999/2000.

And from 1997 to 1999, they had shirts to match, bearing the logo of... a brand of yoghurt (but you knew that, didn't you...).

28. Teka (Real Madrid)

Whether German kitchen appliance experts Teka meant for their logo to resemble a ball going just over the upright of a badly assembled goalframe, who knows (they definitely didn’t).

In any case, it looked especially good on Real Madrid’s Hummel and Kelme shirts from 1992 to 1998 – which featured a plentiful amount of purple we’d love to see more of these days.

27. Wet Wet Wet (Clydebank)

'It’s written on the wind shirt…’ Scottish soft rock legends Wet Wet Wet had already had two UK number one singles when they took over as the main sponsor of non-League Clydebank in 1993.

Until then, the band’s hometown club had never even had a shirt sponsor – and they’ll probably never have one as iconic as this.

26. Die Continentale (Borussia Dortmund)

By its very nature, insurance is thoroughly unexciting – but the companies providing it can always liven it up a bit with some snazzy branding.

And that worked a treat for German firm Die Continentale, whose giant, funky-fonted ‘C’ logo took pride of place on Borussia Dortmund’s European shirts for the 1995/96 and 1996/97 seasons (the Black and Yellows only went and won the Champions League in the latter).

25. Sharp (Manchester United)

Sharp were Manchester United’s first ever kit sponsor – and the Japanese electronics manufacturer had their logo plastered on shirts of the world’s biggest football club from 1982 until 2000.

Straightforward and striking, Sharp’s name became part of the United fabric (geddit?) as they swept up trophy after trophy under Sir Alex Ferguson – including their historic 1998/99 treble triumph.

24. Carlsberg (Liverpool)

When Carlsberg’s shirt sponsorship deal with Liverpool finally ended in 2010, it marked the conclusion of the longest such partnership in Premier League history.

The Danish lager started slapping its wordmark on Reds kits when England’s top flight rebranded in 1992, and they would be associated with some truly great Liverpool strips (and some not so great).

23. Lion (PSG)

For the 1998/99 campaign, PSG had two home cup shirts – one sponsored by French radio station RTL, the other by iconic Nestle chocolate bar Lion. We know which one we prefer.

Granted, the colours make it a bit incongruous with the rest of the shirt – but look at it! It’s like someone ironed a Lion wrapper to perfection and heat-pressed it on.

22. Sony MiniDisc (Juventus)

Ultimately, Juve enjoyed much more success than the MiniDisc – which was on its way out by the turn of the 20th century – but it must have been nice to be sponsored by something quite

In 1992, Sony launched the MiniDisc to try and rival the cassette – and by 1995, they took advantage of their sponsorship deal with Juventus to push it.

21. JVC (Arsenal)

You don’t see much JVC gear around these days, but the Japanese company were big hitters in the video and audio entertainment game back in the 90s.

In 1981, they became Arsenal’s very first shirt sponsor – and they retained pride of place on the Gunners’ kits until 1999, taking in the club’s two Premier League titles and featuring on the classic ‘bruised banana’ away jersey.

20. 7up (Fiorentina)

One of Fiorentina’s early 90s shirts which bore the 7up logo is arguably the most infamous in history (look closely at the pattern either side of the collar on their 1992/93 away jersey; that led to it getting banned).

But the fizzy drink’s logo looked suitably sweet on La Viola’s home tops, its colours complementing the iconic purple very nicely indeed.

19. TDK (Crystal Palace)

Remember when you had to use blank video cassettes to record your favourite TV programmes? Maybe? Anyway, that’s what classic Crystal Palace shirt sponsors TDK used to make.

Their branding went very nicely indeed with the Eagles’ kits, during an era in which the South London club bounced between England’s top two divisions.

18. PlayStation (Auxerre)

Compared to its modern-day iterations, the original PlayStation is a Stone Age artefact – but it wasn’t all that long ago that it was the must-have, cutting-edge Christmas present.

And French outfit Auxerre looked pretty cutting-edge themselves with the logo slapped on the front of their shirts around the turn of the millennium.

17. Coors (Chelsea)

American lager Coors’ logo featured on arguably Chelsea’s worst kit of all time: their horrendous grey and orange mess of an away strip between 1994 and 1996.

But it adorned a couple of much more memorable Blues ‘fits, too, perhaps most notably the red-infused efforts from the 1994/95 season.

16. Opel (Bayern Munich)

The continental European equivalent of Vauxhall, car manufacturer Opel were Bayern Munich’s main sponsor for the entirety of the 90s, their snazzy logo and front appearing on some classic strips.

And it’s fair to say they got about: as if one European giant wasn’t enough, Opel also sponsored AC Milan and PSG’s shirts at the same time.

15. Muller (Aston Villa)

As the creator of a yoghurt called the Corner, it was only right that Muller got themselves into the football shirt sponsorship game.

Granted, the red background of their logo didn’t really work with Aston Villa’s traditional home colours of claret and blue – but goodness it worked on their green, black and red away strip from 1993 to 1995, a cult favourite.

14. Laver (Sheffield United)

Look at that font. Look at it! The sponsors made plenty of kits from the inaugural Premier League campaign of 1992/93 – but few had quite the impact of Laver at Sheffield United.

If the name looks familiar (they produce timber, by the way), that’ll because it was on the front of Brian Deane’s shirt when he scored the first ever Premier League goal on 15 August 1992 against Manchester United.

13. Quilmes (Boca Juniors)

Local company? Check. Snazzy lettering? Check. Beer? Check. Quilmes was just the perfect sponsor – and it took pride of place on the shirts of Argentine giants Boca Juniors during the latter 90s.

We’re particular fans of the Nike effort they wore at home between 1998 and 2000, which has us almost literally salivating.

12. Brother (Manchester City)

Two of the most famous brothers in the world – Oasis protagonists (or should that be antagonists?) Liam and Noel Gallagher – are massive Manchester City fans, so the printer Manufacturer was just the perfect shirt sponsor for the club.

And they stuck with City during their fall from the Premier League all the way down to the third tier – and back up to the second.

11. Walkers (Leicester City)

Within 20 years, they would be crowned champions of England in one of the most miraculous sporting stories of all time – but back in the late 90s, Leicester had a love affair with the League Cup.

And they reached the 1997 and 1999 finals (winning the former) with their shirts bearing the name of locally based crisp titans Walkers (who managed to get through three logos in as many years).

10. Pirelli (Inter Milan)

Inter Milan’s main sponsor from 1995 all the way up until 2021, multiple generatioms of football fans will associate the Nerazzurri with Pirelli.

The deal had a strong local flavour, too: the renowned tyre manufacturers with the unnecessarily elongated ‘P’ started up in Milan way back in 1872.

9. ABN AMRO (Ajax)

Ajax have been trendsetters in many ways over the years, but do the iconic Dutch club ever get enough credit for making a VERTICAL SHIRT SPONSOR look so damn cool? No, they do not.

Clearly, they couldn’t have had the name of Dutch bank ABN AMRO slicing up that famous fat red stripe (to be fair, it probably wouldn’t have fitted anyway) – so they got creative and… just wow.

8. Dr. Martens (West Ham United)

The shoemaker – who had become synonymous with skinheads and punks in the 1960s in Britain – became the Hammers primary sponsor between 1998 and 2003.  

With Harry Redknapp at the helm and the unforgettable summer of 1999 culminated in the club winning the Intertoto Cup. It was also a time when the likes of Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe came through the Hammers academy and into the first team. Glory days for West Ham and DMs!

7. Candy (Liverpool)

Liverpool are on the list again and this time, instead of Danish beer, it’s Italian washing machines (ooooh). Candy sponsored arguably the Reds’ greatest shirt of all time: their snazzy-patterned home shirt from 1989 to 1991.

The grey away kit wasn’t bad either – and that seriously stylish typeface only elevates both designs, to be honest.

6. Skint (Brighton & Hove Albion)

Considering how brilliantly Brighton have done in recent years, it doesn’t feel in bad taste to find a little humour in the fact they were sponsored by Skint amid their 90s financial crisis.

A local record label once home to DJ and Seagulls fan Fatboy Slim, Skint had its name slapped across the front of Brighton’s shirts from 1999 to 2008.

5. Motta (AC Milan)

Ooh, that’s nice; that’s really nice. Ten years after being sponsored by Pooh Jeans (tee-hee), AC Milan went very Italian indeed by teaming up with Motta – who make bits and bobs for baristas.

And, as you can see, it was a match made in heaven. It’s a shame the deal only lasted two seasons (although Milan did pretty well, winning the Scudetto in both of them and the Champions League in one).

4. Viz (Blyth Spartans)

Viz is a British institution – and how honoured Blyth Spartans’ players of the early 90s must have felt to walk out wearing shirts advertising the (in)famously crude comic.

Not that it should come as much surprise that such a partnership came about: in 2018. the Northumberland non-Leaguers signed a commercial deal with Visit North Korea…

3. Nintendo (Fiorentina)

The Nintendo logo was a great addition to every Fiorentina shirt on which it appeared – but it looked especially resplendent on the collectors’ holy grail, La Viola’s red third jersey from 1998/99.

It was worn just once – as Gabriel Batistuta and co. lost 2-0 at Hernan Crespo’s Parma – but that only makes it all the more legendary.

2. Mars (Napoli)

Would Napoli’s Mars-adorned shirt, manufactured by Ennerre (who?), have been as utterly iconic had Diego Maradona not inspired them to the 1989/90 Serie A title while wearing it?

No – but that did happen, and we think it’s high time that gorgeous lettering took pride of place on Mars bar wrappers again. (This lesser seen away top wasn’t bad either!)

1. Newcastle Brown Ale (Newcastle United)

Whether it was ‘just’ the big blue star containing a silhouette of the Newcastle upon Tyne skyline, or what looked like the label off an enormous bottle of the stuff, Newcastle’s sponsorship by Newcastle Brown Ale aka Newcy Brown was just about the most iconic of the 90s.

Shearer… Ferdinand… Beardsley… Keegan… This one brings back some serious memories of a special era.