When commercial and technical sponsors align From Blackburn Rovers with Lonsdale to Celtic with Umbro

Almost all football teams have both a commercial sponsor and a technical sponsor: although the technical sponsor (the supplier) determines the look of the uniforms - thanks to templates and the classification of clubs into tiers - the commercial sponsor is also very important from this point of view. Pirelli for Inter, PSV Eindhoven and Philips, Bayern Munich and Deutsche Telekom, Liverpool and Carlsberg, Schalke 04 and Gazprom are just a few examples of decades-long partnerships that have shaped a significant part of the aesthetic identity of these teams. In terms of aesthetics, there are also examples of teams adopting the same commercial and technical sponsor for one or more seasons. From the mid-'90s to the mid-2000s, it was a fairly common practice, but there are also rare cases that precede or follow this time frame. It's worth noting that double sponsorship usually involves suppliers contributing significantly larger amounts to the clubs' coffers compared to the classic "single" sponsorship.

Celtic with Umbro

In Serie A, the main team that comes to mind when recalling double sponsorship is Udinese with Totò Di Natale. The Lotto sponsor appeared in double version on the home and third jerseys during the 2008/2009 season. Only in some cases does double sponsorship result in a decent aesthetic outcome: this depends on the fact that logos do not always create a harmonious balance on the front of the shirt. Today, top clubs no longer adopt double sponsorship, a practice that has fallen out of use, obviously due to financial reasons: clubs - rightly so - prefer to earn sums of money, small or large, by applying one or more sponsors to different areas of the playing kit.