Football League fizzing after new deal

The English Football League today announced a new three-year sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola which has “eclipsed” their previous agreement with the soft drinks company.

Coca-Cola began its partnership with the League at the beginning of the 2004/05 campaign, and the new contract runs until the end of the 2009/10 season.

League chairman Brian Mawhinney would not reveal the financial details of the deal, but said: “The previous sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola was the largest with which the League has been involved.

“This has now been eclipsed by the new sponsorship.”

Mawhinney continued: “It is hard to convey how important this new contract is for the Football League.

“It is a win-win situation. We are making good progress.”

Mawhinney also insisted the League could continue to prosper despite the ever-increasing wealth and profile of the Barclays Premiership.

New television revenue means the top flight clubs will be even richer from next season, but Mawhinney remains comfortable with the direction in which the Football League is heading.

He said: “When running the Football League, you are always conscious of the elephant in the room, which is the Premiership.

“They are bigger than us, they have more money than us, and they are going to have even more money than we do.

“It is not without its problems, but it is bigger. So how do we differentiate between them and us?

“It is probable that about 16 million fans will go through the turnstiles at our grounds this season, and that shows we are not an irrelevance.”