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Flybe.com sponsors Norwich City

Sponsorship in football has grown enormously since it's earliest days until now it seems as if it has always been with us. Every club in the land seems to have a sponsor of one sort or another, which is in effect a form of advertising for the product or Company providing the sponsorship.

With so much football on television, this free form of advertising has supposedly therefore great advantages for the sponsors, putting their name in front of perhaps millions of people.

It also has advantages for the football clubs, giving them the extra money to spend on ground improvements or maybe better players. Some clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and the like will of course experience no problems in gaining sponsors, in fact some Companies would in all probability give their eye teeth to have their names on these club shirts.

But what of the smaller clubs, unless they have a measure of success then their television coverage is going to be limited. Some newly formed Companies will perhaps look to a moderately successful club, say of the likes of Norwich City who have recently been in the Premier League and have now gained the sponsorship of the no frills airline Flybe who are based at Norwich Airport.

Flybe are of course wanting their name to become well known, so what better way than to have it emblazoned on football shirts of the players and supporters alike.

Sponsorship isn't only confined to the clubs, one of the first organisations to gain sponsorship was the Football League in 1982 in the shape of the League Cup then Known as the Milk Cup as it was sponsored by the Milk Marketing Board. Strangely enough one of the early winners of that competition was Norwich City playing in the final at Wembley Stadium, and if Flybe had been formed at that time their exposure would have been very great indeed.

One thing is certain, sponsorship is here to stay, and it would seem to the benefit of clubs and advertisers alike.

Article by Frank Hiscox