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Corporate sponsorship of major English football competitions dates back to the early 1980s.
The first competition to be a negotiate a sponsorship deal was the League Cup, negotiating a deal in 1982 with the Milk Marketing Board. It became known as the "Milk Cup" and has since adopted the name of its sponsors in this same way.
The following season in 1983 the Football League negotiated a sponsorship deal with Canon. Since the formation of the breakaway FA Premier League in 1992, the competition has struck up its own sponsorship deals separately from the Football League (though it was unsponsored in its first season).
The last major English competition to negotiate a sponsorship deal was in fact its oldest, the FA Cup. The competition was sponsored by AXA Insurance for four seasons starting in 1998. It was always carefully named, being the "AXA-sponsored FA Cup", or the "FA Cup sponsored by AXA", and never the "AXA Cup". The FA Cup has not had a sponsor in subsequent seasons, but instead shared the team of sponsors of the Football Association.
From the 2006-7 season, the FA Cup will be sponsored by energy company E.ON, and will be known as "The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON".*
Summary of competition sponsorship deals
| Season | FA Premier League | The Football League | FA Cup | League Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982-1983 | Milk Marque (Milk Cup) | |||
| 1983-1984 | ||||
| 1984-1985 | ||||
| 1985-1986 | ||||
| 1986-1987 | Today (Today League) | Littlewoods (Littlewoods Challenge Cup) | ||
| 1987-1988 | ||||
| 1988-1989 | ||||
| 1989-1990 | ||||
| 1990-1991 | Rumbelows (Rumbelows Cup) | |||
| 1991-1992 | ||||
| 1992-1993 | ||||
| 1993-1994 | Carling (FA Carling Premiership) | Endsleigh (Endsleigh League) | ||
| 1994-1995 | ||||
| 1995-1996 | ||||
| 1996-1997 | ||||
| 1997-1998 | ||||
| 1998-1999 | AXA (AXA-Sponsored FA Cup) | Worthington (Worthington Cup) | ||
| 1999-2000 | ||||
| 2000-2001 | ||||
| 2001-2002 | Barclaycard (Barclaycard Premiership) | |||
| 2002-2003 | ||||
| 2003-2004 | Carling (Carling Cup) | |||
| 2004-2005 | ||||
| 2005-2006 |
"English football sponsorship"