When the Premier League first statrted in the 1992/1993 season 22 team took part. They all had one front shirt sponsor - but what happened to these companies from the inaugural season? Here I take a look at each teams sponsor, how long they lasted and if they're still in business now.
This was a time before gambling and crypto sponsorship and a sleeve sponsor was unheard of!
Arsenal - JVC
There's something classic about most of the Premier League sponsors of this season. Arsenal and JVC just seems to work together. JVC started as Arsenals first eve sponsor in 1986 and stuck with them until the 1998/1999 season after which they were replaced by SEGA.
JVC is an electrical goods manufacturer whoa re still round today, although possibly not as big as they were in the 1990s. In 2008 they merged with Kenwood to become JVC Kenwood.
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As a side note, if you have a JVC boom box from 1992 they can be worth over £500!
Aston Villa - Mita Copiers
Mita Copiers only lasted one season in the Premier League. They has been Aston Villas sponsors since Henson made their shirts in 1985 - Although these just had "Mita" on the front.
Aston Villa changed their sponsors regularly in the 1990s. Mita were replaced my Muller for 2 seasons, then AST Computers for 2 seasons, before finishing the 1900s with LDV vans. I do not think of any of them as classic 90s Villa, mainly because they changed so much. Muller was probably the most memorable of the bunch, in my opinion.
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Mita Copiers, unsurprisingly, produced photo copiers but the company is no longer around as it originally was. In 2000 it was bought out and by Kyocera Document Solutions which it now trades under. They are Japanese owned and operate under this name in the UK where they provide "digital business document optimisations".
Blackburn Rovers - McEwans Lager
McEwans lager is the classic Blackburn sponsor and the shirts scream Shearer! In the early 1990s the junior shirts still had alcohol sponsors on, unlike the modern shirts. They won the Premier League in the 1994/1995 season with McEwans Lager on the front with Shearer as the top scorer with 34 goals to win his first golden boot award.
McEwans lager is still around today although the brand has changed hands a number of times over the years from the original owners who sponsored Blackburn Rovers.
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Scottish and Newcastle breweries sold out to Heineken in 2008. Heineken then sold the brand on in 2011 to Wells and Young. Wells and Young then sold Marston's in 2017 who still operate the brand today.
Chelsea - Commodore
In the inaugural Premier League season Chelsea's shirts were adorned with "Commodore" on the home, away and third. This was the only PL season they saw them have Commodore on all shirts. In the next season the home and third shirts swapped to "Amiga". This was still the same company just one of their products.
Amiga was a highly popular computer in the 1990s with the most amazing football computer game ever - Sensible Soccer!
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In April 1994 Commodore International filed for bankruptcy and their assets and brands were liquidated to other companies. They were replaced by Coors in the 1994/1995 Premier League season.
If you have a Commodore computer from this season then they are worth a lot more than the Chelsea shirt from this season!
Coventry City - Peugeot
Peugeot was the Premier League sponsors of Coventry City for 5 seasons in total. In the first 2 seasons they were manufactured by Ribero. Ribero sports are still going as are Peugeot obvisoly.
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Coventry City had some fantastic shirts in the 1992/1993 season!
Crystal Palace - Tulip Computers
As you can tell from the list so far, computer companies had all the money for sponsorship in the early 1990s when home computers were taking off. This was another shirt from manufacturers Ribero. Tulip Computers only lasted one season as the Palace sponsors in the Premier League before being replaced by tape manufactures TDK in the 1993/1994 season - when Palace were in division 1.
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Tulip Computers described themselves as "Computer Cloners". Tulip eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2009. In a Premier League twist, Tulip bought the Commodore name in 1997. They launched some Commodore computer and games in 2000 and eventually sold the Commodore brand on a few years later.
Everton - NEC
Another computer company and a classic Everton sponsor. NEC had 3 seasons with Everton as the main spoors and one final season s the away shirt sponsor. They had 4 season as the sponsor in Division 1 before the Premier League was formed. They were replaced by Danka.
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The NEC corporation is still going strong. Again if you have a 1992/1993 NEC computer they can be worth over £1,000 - much more than the shirt!
Ipswich Town - FISONS
*I had to Google Fisons to find out what they did! Fisons was an Ipswich based pharmaceutical company founded in 1843in Ipswich. During the time it was Ipswich Town sponsors it was a PLC in the UK. The name isn't recognisable anymore as they were bought out by Rhone-Poulenc in 1995.
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Leeds United - Admiral Sportswear
In the 92/93 season Leeds hit that amazing point where the manufacturer was also the sponsor. Admiral had a number of clubs around the 1970s to the1980s including Manchester United. This seasons Leeds shirt was a little plan but the away shirt and the third shirt were amazing.
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Admiral only made this Leeds shirt and sponsor for one season before being replaced by Asics and Thistle Hotels. They did return to Leeds for 3 seasons from 2005.
What is great about Admiral is they understand their history. On their website you can buy official remakes of their retro shirts, these are great quality and cover a number of classic shirts and teams.