Newcastle United fans will be delighted by the news that the famous Tyneside ground will again be referred to as St James’ Park (pictured).
The Magpies announced a four-year sponsorship deal with loan company Wonga on Tuesday, who also have deals with Blackpool and Hearts.
Wonga will replace Virgin Money as shirt sponsors from next season and purchased the naming rights to the stadium in the process – forcing the revert in name.
It had controversially been known as the Sports Direct Arena since November last year.
Here are five other examples of stadiums that have received the sponsorship treatment in recent years:
Manchester City – City of Manchester Stadium to Etihad Stadium
Premier League champions Manchester City moved into their new home at Eastlands for the start of the 2003-04 campaign.
Previously, the ground had been the centrepiece for Manchester’s successful bid to host the 2002 Commonwealth Games.
It was initially better known as the City of Manchester Stadium and holds a seating capacity of 47,805. Only Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United have bigger stadiums.
The first public football match at the stadium was held in August 2003 when the mighty Barcelona were beaten in a pre-season friendly.
Much travelled striker Nicolas Anelka scored the first ever goal in the stadium.
In July 2011, the stadium was renamed as the Etihad Stadium as part of a 10-year agreement with Etihad Airways, the sponsors of City’s kits.
Although this might be seen as a money-driven move, the agreement also means investment will go into new training facilities and relocating the club’s youth academy.
It will take time for that to bear fruition but City are in a good place. When they moved, they were a mid-table Premier League side at best but now, they are the best team in the land.
Wigan Athletic – JJB Stadium to DW Stadium
Opened in 1999, the JJB Stadium as it was known to begin with hosts home Wigan Athletic football matches and rugby league games for Wigan Warriors.
The pitch might be one of the worst to play on and with a capacity of 25,138; it is one of the smaller Premier League grounds.
However, there is plenty of space to play football on it and no-one can argue of the modern day feel to the place.
In March 2009, Wigan chairman Dave Whelan acquired a number of fitness clubs from sports retailer JJB Sports, who recently went bust on the high street thanks to the economic recession.
Whelan’s new business was setup, called DW Sports Fitness and he decided to rename the stadium to the DW Stadium from August 2009.
Having owned the stadium at the time, he passed this role onto Wigan Football Company Limited, an independent brand.
With a strong chairman/manager relationship, some attractive play (both football and rugby) and a solid foundation built, the DW Stadium has become one of Wigan’s biggest landmarks.
Leicester City – Walkers Stadium to King Power Stadium
Leicester City said goodbye to Filbert Street in 2002 and with it, relinquished their status in the Premier League.
Their new home was opened in July 2002 by Leicester icon Gary Lineker and was named as the Walkers Stadium, the crisp company that Lineker has promoted for the best part of two decades.
The initial naming right deal was to last for 10 years although that agreement was suspended in 2007.
Talk of renaming the stadium to the Walkers Bowl infuriated fans, who signed petitions to reject the move, claiming it to be too ‘American.’
The Foxes fans were never keen on the naming of the ground after a crisp label and the rights were sold to King Power, a company owned by new club owner Vichai Raksriaksorn for the start of 2011-12.
The Walkers Stadium name has been consigned to the history books and will be one of the least memorable ones to receive the sponsorship treatment.
Bradford City – Valley Parade to the Coral Windows Stadium
League Two side Bradford City have had several official names for their elderly ground Valley Parade.
Still affectionally known as that by the fanatical Bantams supporters, it is officially known as the Coral Windows Stadium today.
Built in 1886, Valley Parade has witnessed some memorable days and was also the setting for one of the worst British sporting disasters in history.
On 11 May 1985, it was meant to be a day of celebration as Bradford City were enjoying promotion to Division Two and paraded the Third Division trophy before kick-off.
Five minutes before half-time of the game with Lincoln City, TV commentator John Helm spotted flames from the old wooden main stand.
The stand went up in a raging inferno in less than five minutes and the stand was completely gutted 10 minutes later.
56 people died and around 265 were injured in the shocking disaster which stunned English football.
Valley Parade took time to be rebuilt and was reopened in December 1986, with Bradford playing home games at Leeds Road, Elland Road and Odsal Stadium in that time.
The ground has been renamed a number of times in the past. It was known as The Pulse Stadium and whilst in the Premier League in 1999-00, the Bradford & Bingley Stadium.
Since July 2007, it has been known as the Coral Windows Stadium but the supporters will also prefer it to be known as Valley Parade.
With the club lurking just outside the play-offs in League Two and into the last 16 of the Capital One Cup, perhaps the good times are finally coming back to the people of Bradford.
York City – Bootham Crescent to KitKat Crescent
Home of York City since 1932, Bootham Crescent is hosting Football League games again, after an eight-year exile in the Conference.
Purchased from York Cricket Club, it is a small ground but offers visiting clubs a very intimidating atmosphere.
It has also hosted American football matches in its previous history and during World War II; the main stand was converted into an air raid shelter.
In 2005, the ground was renamed as KitKat Crescent following a new sponsorship deal with the makers of Nescafe coffee and Aero chocolate, Nestle.
Although this deal came to a conclusion two years ago, the name of the ground hasn’t been changed and that hasn’t bothered York fans, who witnessed their side finally regain promotion through the Blue S quare Bet Premier play-offs in May.
As you can see, the impact of sponsorship just from these examples has been significant on football but it does offer more ways to write a ground’s name and as far as fans are concerned, the naming rights don’t always deter the way they call their ground.
From a purist point of view, money talks but it is nice to be able to totally refer Newcastle’s ground again to just St James’ Park.
By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
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