They may now be the richest club in the world, but Manchester City will be desperately hoping that Etihad, their new shirt sponsors, don’t go the way of their predecessors - because the source of City’s new wealth, Abu Dhabi, owns both the club and the airline.

Before Etihad, City’s shirt sponsor was Thomas Cook, whose parent company Arcandor has just filed for bankruptcy protection. Prior to that, exactly the same thing happened to First Advice, whose parent company The Accident Group went into administration in 2003 – and infamously fired its staff by text – leaving City without a sponsor in 2003-04. First Advice replaced Eidos, who are still going but whose share price collapsed almost immediately after they signed up with City – owing to a dramatic drop in year-on-year profits rather than the sponsorship announcement, I hasten to add.

Somehow, though, I suspect City are now as safe as you can be. Off the pitch at least.

By Tim Crow on June 10th, 2009

Tags: Default, Football, Football Sponsorship

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