Football clubs and cars Images

Cars and football. Football and cars. Two things that go together like bread and butter eh? You don’t think? Well tough, because if there’s one thing new money and young men result in, then it’s shiny new metal. Footballer want cars and car manufacturers want the reflected sheen of our virtuous, clean-living footy stars.

So we’ve compiled a gallery of this most marketable of genre crossovers. Keep your eyes peeled for some of the most baffling tie-ups in automotive marketing in our footballer and cars gallery.

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Arsenal - Citroen

Citroen has been sponsoring Arsenal FC for a few years now, creating numerous promotional projects to support youngsters. Insert ‘Arsenal signs French star’ joke here.
Aston Villa - Fiat

Fiat is currently sponsoring Birmingham based football club Aston Villa as part of a four-year agreement which started in 2010. Fiat has also previously served as the official vehicle supplier for the England national football team and Wembley Stadium.
Atletico Madrid - Kia

South Korean automaker Kia has sponsored numerous football clubs, including most notably Spanish side Atletico Madrid.
Kia has been the club’s kit sponsor since 2005, although this deal is reported to end by the 2011/2012 football season. During its sponsorship arrangement, Kia supplied Sorento SUVs to the club’s entire player squad for driving to the training ground.
Barcelona - Audi

Audi’s football sponsorship programme extends to Spain where it is backing one of the world’s biggest clubs and in multi-European Champions, FC Barcelona. The deal currently runs till 2014 and, according to the club, Audi will be its official car ‘anywhere in the world’.
Bayern Munich - Audi

In its home country, Audi sponsors Germany’s most successful club, FC Bayern Munich, and even holds a minority share in the team. In 2011, a pre-season football tournament was hosted at Bayern Munich’s playing ground called the Audi Cup.
England National Team - Vauxhall

In January 2011 Vauxhall agreed a lucrative four year deal with the Football Association to become the main sponsor of the England national football team.
The ex-England manager Fabio Capello has previously managed the Italian football team AC Milan, a club which had a long sponsorship with Opel, which like Vauxhall is a brand name owned by General Motors.
Fiorentina - Toyota

Japanese car giants Toyota sponsored several clubs in the previous decade including Italian side ACF Fiorentina. The Florence based team promoted models such as the iQ at its training ground.
Manchester United - Audi

Since 2004, Audi have been one of numerous commercial sponsors held by Manchester United. The German manufacturer’s backing is ever present at the club’s stadium Old Trafford. This is most noticeable looking at the pitch dugout where everyone sits on Audi Recaro sport seats.
Norwich City - Lotus

In the summer of 2011, Norwich City football club announced a five year sponsorship with sports car division Group Lotus. The company is heavily involved in other sports as well, including Formula One where it got into a naming row with rival team boss Tony Fernandes, who happens to own a rival football club, Queens Park Rangers.
Southampton - Mercedes

Mercedes-Benz is currently sponsoring English Championship league side Southampton FC. As part of the deal Mercedes supplies cars and coaches to some of the club’s staff. The agreement started in 2011; the same year both Southampton FC and Mercedes celebrated their 125th year anniversary.
Sunderland - Nissan

Nissan, which has a production factory in the city of Sunderland, delivered one of its Leaf electric cars to the local football club for use in its existing fleet in December 2011. The Nissan Leaf will start production in the Sunderland plant in early 2013.
Tottenham Hotspur - Nissan

Back in 2006 Nissan signed a deal with Tottenham Hotspur’s commercial division to provide the club with 32 vehicles. The fleet included the Note MPV, the Primera pick-up truck and the Murano SUV, as well as the Kubistar van.
Wolfsburg - Volkswagen

German football club VfL Wolfsburg has been associated with local car giant Volkswagen since the beginning of its existence.
Volkswagen headquarters are based in this city and the football club grew out of a multi-sports club for local workers with the manufacturer.
The club remains under full ownership of Volkswagen, as evident by the stadium name (Volkswagen Arena) and the ‘VW’ logo on the kit.
World Cup 2010 Teams - Hyundai

Throughout the FIFA 2010 World Cup, each participating team where provided with cars and a luxury coach built by tournament sponsor Hyundai, for use as transport within the host nation South Africa. Hyundai was also a major sponsor for the 2002 and 2006 World Cup tournaments.
Everton/Wayne Rooney - Ford

Back when Wayne Rooney was starting out his playing career at Everton, the striker’s choice of motoring was very modest, particularly compared to the luxury cars footballers commonly acquire.
Shortly after passing his driving test in August 2003, a sponsorship deal landed him a little Ford SportKa which boasted a whopping 93bhp. More recently – and to the chagrin of many – Rooney became a brand ambassador for Mercedes. Go figure.