There are few things that date a football shirt quite like the brand name across the front.
For Fulham, the 21st century has produced a remarkably varied collection.
Some became inseparable from great Fulham teams. Some simply looked right. Some were so strange that they became iconic by accident. And some we’d probably rather never see again.
So, from Demon Internet through to the current ClickHouse era, here’s my ranking of Fulham’s major shirt sponsors based on one very simple question:
Which ones felt like Fulham?
16. SBOTOP
Three seasons on the front of the shirt, but a faceless betting brand that never developed the affection associated with Fulham’s earlier sponsors and, with its offshore corporate structure, felt particularly detached from the club’s identity. Plus, everyone associates it with Leeds and West Ham anyway.
11-15: Marathonbet, BetVictor, Dafabet, Grosvenor Casinos, W88
Questionable operating structures, suspect ownership and zero transparency. All of these felt more like a commercial arrangement than part of the club’s identity.
10. Betfair
I have a personal affiliation having worked there. Historically significant as the first betting company to appear on the front of an English football shirt, but lacking the iconic feeling of other sponsors on this list. Given a slight moral pass as at the time it was a betting exchange before a Sportsbook was introduced.
9. ClickHouse
The new arrival for this season, it’s a clean technology brand that feels like a potential return to the Demon and dabs.com tradition, although it is far too early to know its legacy. It could end up iconic - let’s see.
8. Visit Florida
Completely bizarre, completely unrelated to SW6 and somehow completely Fulham perhaps due to links with Florida residents - the Khans. Associated with our first play-off appearance since our 2014 relegation.
7. Pipex
Another wonderfully British early-2000s internet brand, closely associated with the period immediately before the Hodgson revolution.
6. dabs.com
Peak early-2000s Fulham, the perfect sponsor for the Chris Coleman era and the Malbranque, Boa Morte, Saha and Diop years. Bonus points for adorning the iconic Puma shirt with the single black sleeve.
5. FxPro
This gets a huge nostalgia boost from the football played under it.
Three seasons, from 2010 to 2013, means it had enough time to become properly embedded in Fulham’s identity. It was there through the aftermath of the Europa League final and the continued Premier League success under Mark Hughes and Martin Jol.
And then there were the players in the (rather snug) Kappa kits: Dempsey. Dembélé. Hangeland. Ruiz.
The logo itself was relatively restrained, too. It didn’t completely dominate the shirt. And it was red. But most importantly, if you see an old Fulham shirt with FxPro on the front, you immediately know the era. That’s what we’re looking for.
4. World Mobile
This is probably the controversial inclusion.
World Mobile only lasted one season as Fulham’s principal shirt sponsor, in 2021/22, but aside from adorning a title-winning kit, I’m putting it this high for two reasons:
1) It’s actually ethical. World Mobile builds a decentralised, community-owned mobile and internet network designed to connect underserved populations, particularly in regions like Africa and Asia. And unlike some sponsors, the company actually felt vaguely compatible with the direction Fulham was heading in. Technology, connectivity and a modern global brand made sense for a club increasingly presenting itself internationally.
2) That largely black away shirt was gorgeous. The black Adidas shirt with the subtle pattern, white details and World Mobile branding is one of those Fulham kits that has aged incredibly well. I still wear it and many others do too.
3. Demon Internet
This one technically begins in 1998, but it absolutely belongs in any conversation about Fulham’s 21st-century shirt history. Demon Internet was on the shirt as Fulham were promoted as Division One champions and then gave way to Pizza Hut in 2001.
It has aged brilliantly. The logo screams late-90s and early-2000s internet culture, while simultaneously being attached to one of the biggest changes in Fulham’s modern history.
Before the gambling era, before the global tech giants and crypto companies, there was Demon Internet. And the simple black and white logo looks fantastic on those old shirts.
2. Pizza Hut
If LG is the sponsor most associated with a great Fulham team, Pizza Hut might be the most iconic, while announcement of a fast food brand raised more than a few eyebrows. The 2001/02 season was our first in the Premier League - Jean Tigana. Louis Saha. Luis Boa Morte. The first trips to Old Trafford, Anfield and Highbury. And then there’s the logo itself fitting seamlessly with our colour scheme on both the home kit and on our red and black away striped kit - it just works on a Fulham shirt.
There’s something wonderfully early-2000s about seeing that Pizza Hut logo sitting in the middle of a Fulham shirt. It is instantly recognisable, instantly nostalgic and instantly connected to the moment Fulham arrived in the Premier League.
A one-season wonder, but what a season to have it.
1. LG
There really isn’t much of a debate for me. LG is the quintessential modern Fulham shirt sponsor. From 2007 to 2010, the LG logo sat on the front of the shirt during one of the most important periods in the club’s history. The shirts themselves looked fantastic, the logo was clean and instantly recognisable, and the partnership became intertwined with the Roy Hodgson era.
The Great Escape. Seventh in the Premier League. The run to the Europa League final. Think of that Fulham team and you can almost picture the LG logo automatically: Schwarzer. Hangeland. Murphy. Konchesky. Dempsey. Zamora.
LG doesn’t just feel like a sponsor on those shirts. It feels like part of the shirt. That’s the highest compliment a sponsor can get.
Maybe LG is fine, even Pizza Hut is okay. In Brazil, they want to ban sponsors of the betting website type.