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The best and worst, and the current state, of strip sponsorship


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Jump to the TL:DR to avoid my rambling pish...

I don't think anyone has looked at a strip and said, "you know what, that could really be improved by a huge sponsorship logo right in the middle".  Yet here we are in an age when almost every team who plays the game has some sort of sponsorship, from the top of the Premiership to the local Sunday pub league. This thread is to highlight the best and the worst, and to discuss what should or shouldn't be allowed in terms of sponsorships.

I know that some clubs offer strips for kids that don't have the sponsorship on it, as the sponsor may be something that isn't suitable for them; such as gambling and/or alcohol, and I'd like that to be the norm where people can choose whether to have that club sponsor or not, even if there was a slight surcharge. Pop onto the St Mirren online shop and they are selling this season's top for £15 (very good value of course!) but even though SkyView are by no means a controversial sponsor I'd be tempted to pay £20 without it. What's more, sometimes a company's logo is so fucking big it's an embarrassment (or JD sports, "King of Trainers" bullshit design being a perfect example), and I'd definitely have paid extra to get rid of that shit at the time. There is also the religious and cultural aspects to think of. I can't imagine certain fairly strict Islamic countries happy to see their kids running around in shirts advertising alcohol for example.

These days it seems to be no end of betting companies, and while I'm not wishing to come over all Helen Lovejoy, I do feel clubs should do more regarding the message they send out through their sponsor choice. It's some time since cigarette advertising was acceptable, but is junk food like McDonalds all that different? It might just be another revenue stream but, for example, Hearts having Save the Children is an eminently better choice than some faceless Chinese betting company.

On the flip side, we can see local companies sponsoring teams lower down the league with some hilarious designs on show, while some strips multiple sponsors all over the shirt.

A word, I suppose, should be said about the way the OF are handled. While not the case now, companies seemed to be locked into "both sides" for fear of a backlash from the one of them. I certainly remember the identical CR Smith branding on both OF strips. Then we had the case where Celtic were sponsored by Magners while Rangers sponsored by Blackthorn, yet both are owned by the same company, so the same thing but with a slight twist.

 

TL;DR ...

What are the best/worst sponsors you've seen? Which companies, or sectors, should or shouldn't be allowed to sponsor shirts. Would you pay a little extra for a non-sponsored shirt?

 

 

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3 minutes ago, Lyle Lanley said:

Can we include shorts sponsors? 

BARTERCARD UK PARTNERSHIP ANNOUNCED - Hibernian FC

Abso-fucking-lutely we can! ...and sock sponsors if there are any!

I was going to add that into the main post but it was looking a tad wordy already.

 

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One prime example, and one that has already had a lot of mocking (from all sides - including the St Mirren support!) is the JD Sports number I mentioned in the main post.

81FA7E79-7C21-4161-83A2-EB1E59F32B13.png

 

While not the worst sponsor in terms of sector (that said, maybe they had Chinese child labourers sowing shoes just like Nike, et al, do). The size and placement of the logo is fucking shocking.

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3 minutes ago, Melanius Mullarkey said:

The Alan Storrar font still raises a chuckle.

Genuinely baffles me how it managed to actually become our kit that season.

Like surely someone at some point down the line could see it was abysmal?

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5 minutes ago, RandomGuy. said:

The "egg" ruined what could've been a decent top IMO

soccer-pre-season-friendly-st-johnstone-v-burnley-mcdiarmid-park-perth-GC1C74.thumb.jpg.70792ecd4fd7d81bfb6b0c4040c040ad.jpg

While the wee saltires was tinpot as f**k. 

St.Johnstone-Strip-2016-17.jpg.2efe2fe757328c5b9abe98ceaca6fb88.jpg

Those are indeed utter shockers. They are reminiscent of a pub league sponsor, especially the bottom of the two. I get that companies might not have the money to develop a logo that looks good on a shirt as opposed to a sign above the entrance to their shop, but you'd have thought the club would maybe have stepped in to help.

In many ways similar to our JD debacle, you do wonder who signs these off with a "yeah, that looks fine".

 

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1 minute ago, BFTD said:

DUs84SBXkAA2ub0.jpg

While there is obvs the joke about the sponsor name, but that shirt looks pretty good. Happily have that (sans sponsor, of course) as our away kit next season, even if the collars look like they'd take someone's eye out.

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24 minutes ago, Phillips455 said:

Best shirt sponsor design. Still an overall bad sponsor morally (Paddy Power for those unaware).

Not sure about the lad on the right, but definitely the one on the left would go on to play for a much better team.. ;)

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The misspelling blacked out S in Business is a nice touch. Was prominent on advertising hoardings and all, iirc.

image.png.3db3fc48252ec8a0747a257feaed4c11.png

image.png.10dbeaa9b5c5366719711451ad15b23d.png

other than that first thing coming to mind (so I guess it's effective then!) - Ayr Utd sponsored by Bitcoin Cash sticks out, has also generated a few news items that have cropped up. edit: ha, i was on the right lines that its not the "main" Bitcoin that sponsored them, but Bitcoin SV, Bitcoin Cash is a different one.

They had that photo of the painted on top on a nude woman that's floated around on P&B a few times and all.

Your thread is now a magnet for bots. I am sorry about that :( 

By way of apology:

image.png.ee0454630839d2cec0a3fcce3485b09a.png

Edited by Thistle_do_nicely
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1 hour ago, Ric said:

One prime example, and one that has already had a lot of mocking (from all sides - including the St Mirren support!) is the JD Sports number I mentioned in the main post.

81FA7E79-7C21-4161-83A2-EB1E59F32B13.png

 

While not the worst sponsor in terms of sector (that said, maybe they had Chinese child labourers sowing shoes just like Nike, et al, do). The size and placement of the logo is fucking shocking.

Even worse than the shirt, was Greg Wylde wearing it. 

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1 hour ago, RandomGuy. said:

Genuinely baffles me how it managed to actually become our kit that season.

Like surely someone at some point down the line could see it was abysmal?

The thing is with all these abominations, there must have been other options that were deemed worse. Baffling nonetheless.

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