You got to love the media spin, they always find a way to turn stories negatively against Liverpool.
Such is the case with the Carlsberg sponsorship, “Carlsberg dumping Liverpool” read one headline, bollocks.
Carlsberg without a doubt has been a great sponsor for 17 years and is probably one of the longest running shirt sponsorships in the world. However things have changed a lot since the days when the original contract was signed.
First of all there is the issue of alcohol sponsorship in sports, there is a huge movement to ban alcohol advertising in sports like they did with tobacco. Some countries such as France & Norway already have such bans and it will not be long until this ban is imposed across Europe which will of course leave Liverpool playing with a sponsor-less shirt for many games.
Then there is the issue of the Leppings Lane sponsorship, Carlsberg sponsors the Leppings Lane end of the Hillsborough stadium. Of course this really does not go down well for many Liverpool supporters, sponsoring the very spot where 96 brothers & sisters lost their lives.
The third issue of course is money, Carlsberg probably have the best sponsorship deal in the world. They pay around £2.5 million per season, while the Manure & Chelsea sponsors pay around £10 million+. I quite honestly can not see a beer company paying £10 million per year on a shirt sponsorship.
So one thing is probably certain is that our 2010/11 shirt will have a new sponsorship.