Sponsors And Football

I know this is not an original topic of discussion but is it just me or is anyone else bothered about the loss of real football stadiums names, etc. to sponsors? This post has been sparked by mention of the ‘Johnstones Paint’ cup which is quite laughable considering the Micky mouse nature of the tournament.

It is surely only a matter of time before every team in the land has a sponsored stadium and every trophy a sponsored name. The league cup in particular has been ruined by sponsored names (e.g. coca cola and Rumbelows being the worst). Imagine of the European cup was re-branded the ‘Stella Artois Champions Trophy’ or such like!

Some are just about acceptable but others are a real sell out. For example, pride park (as much as I hate to say it) does not sound too bad as it is the name of the business park and not a specific company. The Walkers/Galpharm on the other hand sound bloody awful and as for Sunderland choosing the stadium of light, well that is like Forest playing in the Maracana.

Liverpool are almost certain to change the name of their ground when they move. They would then have to change the sign over the dug out to ‘This is the Carlsberg Stadium’ – not quite so intimidating is it really?

Maybe I am an old fashioned fart but there is something ‘nice’ about saying ‘I am going to Highbury’ or ‘I’m travelling to Elland Road on Saturday’ as it actually means something to people (even if we don’t get to say it very often anymore). As teams change sponsors so much this will inevitably lead to the constant changing of ground names and a total loss of identity.

I for one hope the City Ground remains just that, and not the Capital One Stadium or some other ghastly commercial sell out.



Written by wemaybefamousagain