We have talked previously about the strong link between drinking beer and football (see Football and Beer, the Perfect Mix) , and how the two pursuits go hand in hand. Well let’s have a look at shirt sponsorship with beer brands, from the iconic to the absurd…..
Football, of all the sports, is clearly the best sport for a brewery to get involved in. From drinking beers on the way to or back from a game, to buying a few cans to sit and watch the big match on the tele, or hanging out at the bar at your local clubhouse, yes football is where you tend to find the beer drinkers. You could argue that (binge) drinking, and not football, is in fact the national pastime (for Ireland and the UK at least!)
Beer gives the buzz, and the game seals the deal. Win, lose or draw, back to the pub for the pints to regurgitate the game, and dish the centre forward for missing what your granny could score or some shite like that. Having a beer really is a central part of the match day experience.
Anyway this football and beer malarkey is a dream for beer companies in the advertisement wars. Heineken sponsor the Champions League, Carlsberg the last Euros, while Budweiser sponsored the last World Cup. In The UK, Carling was a sponsor of the English Premier, we have the Budweiser FA Cup, and a huge number of teams are sponsored by beer companies. The relationship between major beer brands and football is now firmly established.
Get your brand associated with a high performing team or linked to a World Cup and the whole planet will notice, that kind of exposure is priceless in the marketing world. During a big football game expect a huge hike in the amount of beer sold. Budweiser reported that in the last World Cup year its sales increased by over 35%, no doubt in part to the football. But all beer companies see a significant spike in sales during a major international football tournament, whether they are a main sponsor or not. Imagine how many beers will be drowned next year for the World Cup in Russia, which is kind of funny as Russia currently has bans on alcohol sales in and around their football stadiums. Never mind how Budweiser are going to deal with that well known beer friendly nation Qatar in 2022!
So lets have a look at shirt sponsorship then. All teams have them these days, but it was back in 1973 where it all began (in Europe at least). Günter Mast, the nephew of Jagermeister creator Curt Mast, came up with the novel idea of putting the German liqueur’s signature stag and cross logo on to German Bundesliga team Eintracht Braunschweig’s shirt. Although not officially sanctioned at the start the Bundesliga eventually saw sense and let the team have their sponsor, no doubt seeing the benefits that extra revenue could bring to the game.
Nowadays shirt sponsorship is big business. In 2014 Manchester United signed a seven-year $559 million contract with Chevrolet, Bayern Munich gets $111 million per year from its jersey and stadium sponsorship deals with long standing partner Adidas, while Emirates Airline’s three major teams on its books- Real Madrid, Arsenal and PSG – are worth a combined $105 million annually. Yes shirt sponsorship is big business.
So lets have a look at some iconic football shirts that had beer sponsors……..
Budweiser
Falkirk and River Plate
Budweiser, the King of Beers, is the long-standing Official Beer of the FIFA World Cup
Budweiser have also sponsored The FA Cup since 2011
Chang
It is hard to believe but at the moment Everton are the only Premier League side that still sports a beer brand on their chest, sponsored by the Thai brewery since 2004
Carling
Celtic and Rangers, so they covered both sides of the divide in that city!
Carling was the first sponsor of the Premiership, from 1993-2001
Carling were also synonymous with the Carling Cup, sponsoring the league cup from 2003 to 2012
Carlsberg
Wimbledon, Liverpool, and Hibernian.
Liverpool are very strongly related with the Danish brewery, who have sponsored the team for eighteen long years from 1992 to 2010, ending 18 years of close cooperation.
Carlsberg are also a long-term sponsor of the UEFA European Championship, from Euro ’88 to right up to the last Euros 2016 in France.
They are also the “official beer of the England Football Team”, which explains a lot when you think of some of the more recent England performances.
Carlsberg also have sponsored the Chinese Super League, eager to cash in on a league that seems to be growing in both popularity and notoriety.
McEwan’s Lager
Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle, funnily enough both teams had the same sponsors during the early 1990’s. Lucky for the Scottish brewery, Rovers won the league in 1995.
They also sponsored Rangers North of the Border
Coors
Before Chelsea had so many fans, Coors from the US sponsored the west London club
Newcastle Brown Ale
Newcastle United were sponsored by their hometown brew between 1995 and 2000.
Holsten
The Spurs were sponsored by German beer company Holsten on two separate occasions. First, between 1983 and 1995, and then again between 1999 to 2002.
Guinness
Cork City and the classic Guinness QPR shirt
Labatt’s
This Canadian brewing company had its logo on Nottingham Forest’s shirts from 1994 to 1997.
Lowenbrau
1860 Munich and the well known German brew Lowenbrau
Smithwicks
Derry City and Glentoran, (Northern) Irish clubs, Irish beer
Harp Lager
Notts County 1994-1996 with what looks like a farmers shirt!
Quilmes
Boca Juniors and Quilmes
Bass Pale Ale
Derby centenary shirt ’84, and Bass
Birra Peroni
Napoli and Peroni
Strongbow Cider
Hearts and Leeds United
Foster’s Lager
Norwich, shit team, shit beer
Tyskie
Wisla Krakow and Polish favourite Tyskie
Estrella Galicia
Deportivo Lugo, who play in the Spanish Second Division and Estrella Galicia
Black Death Vodka
Scarborough Athletic. Sadly this shirt was banned by those joyless bastards in the English FA, in 1990. But not to worry as the club did manage to sell a load of them on retro football shirt sites, so it wasn’t all bad for the club.
Heineken
Correct me if I am wrong but I dont think Heineken sponsor any actual team shirt, but they do sponsor a shit load of sporting events, from Rugby to Tennis.
In Football they are the top sponsor of the UEFA Champions League, having sponsored the top club competition in the world since 2005,
They also sponsor the Major League Soccer, hoping to capitalise on the ever growing popularity of “sacca” in the USA, in a 5 year deal worth $50 million.
Life here goes way back, to prehistory in fact, as the ruins of a settlement from the Bronze Age (about 1000 BC) were found in the town. The Romans also passed through, but the first mention of the town was in 1248 as “Arowe” in the Middle Ages. The town developed over time and on the 2nd of March 1798 the town was actually declared the capital of the Helvetic Republic, a precursor to a unified Switzerland, and home to Switzerland’s first Houses of Parliament. But it didn’t last too long as a few months later the capital was moved to Lucerne.
Aarau is mostly well known for is its painted gables and beautiful eaves, a special feature of the old town of Aarau, from which the town is often regarded as the “town of beautiful Gables”, as good as you can find anywhere else in Switzerland. The old town, Laurenzenvorstadt, government building, cantonal library, state archive and art museum are all listed as heritage sites of national significance, all dating back to the 16th century when the town underwent considerable extension. On the other hand The “Schlössli” (small Castle), the Rore Tower and the upper gate tower have remained nearly unchanged since the 13th century, with the castle the oldest building left standing in the city, circa 1200.
But perhaps the most interesting thing I found about the city is that it has a horse racing track. I didn’t even know the Swiss were into that kind of thing! Apparently its meant to be one of the nicest tracks in the whole of Europe and has been on the go since 1921, but is it any good for racing on? Who knows, but I know as we are in Switzerland you definitely dont want to be backing fucking losers all day that is for sure……..
The Penny Farthing Pub is a traditional British Pub situated not too far from the main train station, easily found as you make your way from the station into the city. 
Thought it was closed as the doors looked slammed shut, but joy they were open. Early about 12. or so, but still a few other souls in the bar. The bar has a good selection of beers from the UK and Ireland, and some interesting Scottish whiskies as well. Ordered a Brooklyn Brewery lager, a first timer for me, which was on tap, and poured by a friendly bar lady. Pint looked good but wasn’t impressed with it, nothing to the quality of the pint poured but found it hard to drink. Not a Brooklyn fan I guess. 
The decor has some references to the Penny Farthing bicycle of the 1870’s with photos and an actual bike itself on one of the walls, which was pretty cool to see. Of course the pub was also decked out with a dart board and plenty of TV screens for sports for the more modern customer!
There are a few of these Mr Pickwick Pubs dotted around Switzerland. They are quintessential British style pubs.
Have some decent fare on tap here, but I ordered some Valaisanne Zwickelbier (bière de cave), a lager from Sion. I had never tried it before but on the recommendation of the barman I went for it. I tell you he wasn’t wrong, it was delicious, so good in fact that I had ordered another one straight after the first, this breaking my one pint one pub rule. Heck there were fuck all pubs in the town anyway!!
Place was busy enough for the middle of the day. 
An interesting one this, easy to pass as it is has very small frontage. Bierstübli, the smallest bar in Aarau, is in the heart of the town, a tiny bar with some very rustic settings inside. Altogether I counted about 8 seats and four bar stools in this box of a bar! 
As its a small bar I guess it can be easy to meet new friends, but alas at just after opening time, midday, I was the only customer! Also the bar man smoking from a pipe, was wondering why this strange looking foreigner with a bad haircut and a smirk was in his bar. This was most definitely a local bar for local people. 
The bar is well stocked in beers though, selling 15 different types of beer. I went for a Cardinal Rousse, a 5.2% ale from Sion, which was fine and a Boxer Old, a pale lager from Yverdon-les-Bains (west Switzerland) another 5.2% beer, again a fine beer. On an empty stomach these beers definitely did the business. Good that you can get beers that otherwise you might not try.
As it was myself and the bar man in a very quiet and small environment, I decided to lighten the mood by picking a few tunes on the Jukebox, all 1950’s to early 1960’s stuff…….I struggled to find something good but I did…..Chuck Berry for example, early Beatles stuff, Elvis (cant beat a bit of Elvis!)
Not finding many bars in the town for my beer crawl I got desperate and ventured into OscarOne, a hip looking Lounge, CockTail and Wine Bar. I say desperate as these are really not establishments I feel comfortable in! I’m not hip or cool enough for these kind of places, I’m an ordinary fella who has simple pleasures……football and beer, not really into strobe lighting, fancy cocktails and showing off my new designer gear, if I had any!
Anyway, got served eventually, got a Franziskaner Weissbier, which was pretty difficult to stomach, but that’s just me, as I’m not a great fan of Weissbiers.
In 1985 Aarau won the Swiss Cup for the first time, coached by Ottmar Hitzfeld, yes that Ottmar Hitzfield, two time CL winner with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. There for 4 seasons it was here that he first tasted success as a manager.
They have played in European competition on 5 different occasions, but never getting past the first round of the various competitions they entered. They did however give the mighty AC Milan a good run for their money in the Champions League, only going out 1-0 on aggregate to the same team that eventually went on to win the competition by hammering Barcelona 4-0 in the final. Not bad! 
Good game with a cracking atmosphere. I must say I enjoyed my time seeing FC Aarau. 
The company was founded in 1877 by Johann Gottfried Glauner who reactivated the former monastery brewery. In 1880 the company was passed onto his son, Carl Albert Glauner and in 1906 the company was renamed to Alpirsbacher Klosterbräu. The company was and is continuously held by the Glauner family that is now in its fourth generation of ownership.
Bottle with a cool flip top, lets open the beer from the Black Forest. 
Nice big mouthfuls. Tasted wheat, grain, malts, altogether not a bad taste at all and very smooth.
Bush, a Belgian beer brand and the flagship product of the Dubuisson Brewery, located in Pipaix, a village near the Belgian town of Leuze-en-Hainaut in the Walloon Region of the country. 
It’s Amber Bush, created in 1933, is one of the oldest “special” Belgian beers and the most popular, and strongest, among Bush beers. Other selections include Bush Blonde, Christmas Bush and Luxury Bush.
A lot, and I mean a lot, of gas on the pour, a bit of a mess truth been told. Full of carbonation, resulting in a massive head and a beer that took a long time to settle.
Smooth enough, all things considering (all the carbonation)
Brewed in Douai, a small city in the north of France, by the Gayant Brewers.
Coming in a very interesting shiny can that had a lot of distinctive black lettering. Stands out, even if its not obvious what exactly it all means!
But no real discernible after taste. All in the front taste.