Sky and Ford end their journey

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

One of the longest sponsorship associations, not just in sports programming but in British television has come to an end.

After 24 years together, British broadcaster Sky and major car giant Ford have ended their journey as a partnership. That was confirmed on Thursday on the announcement of the first round of live Premier League TV fixtures for the 2016/2017 season.

Sky now enters into new three-year deals with joint partners in Japanese car manufacturer Nissan and popular betting website bet365.com. Nissan will sponsor the weekend’s football matches, whilst bet365 will back the new Friday Night Football slot and the popular Monday Night Football timeslot.

Ford and Sky came together in 1992 for the birth of a new dawn in English football when the Premier League was born. Their partnership has been incredibly strong throughout the years, so it is both a surprising move and strange that no thanks were given on Thursday by either company on the termination of their agreement.

From next season, it will be bet365 Monday Night Football on Sky Sports

So, titles such as Ford Super Sunday and Ford Monday Night Football (pictured) are now consigned to the history books. The newly-titled Nissan Saturday Lunchtime Football gets underway on Saturday, 13 August as title holders Leicester City open their defence with a trip to newly promoted Hull City.

To mark the end of this association, here is a montage of Sky’s opening Premier League titles with the prominence of Ford sponsorship.

Super Sunday 1992-1997 – Title Music: Unknown