8 of the Most Ridiculous European Football Shirt Sponsors in History

One of the clearest signs of modern football's ability to generate mega bucks is the lucrative deals involved in shirt sponsorship. 

Along with TV money, top level clubs are able to draw in huge financial income simply from printing a company's name on the front of their shirt in exchange for vast sums of sponsorship money.

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The sponsorship phenomenon has even reached the level whereby it is common for clubs of Arsenal and Manchester City's stature to name their stadiums after their sponsors for even greater financial gain.

It is one of the more cynically business-minded aspects of the modern game, but one which has provided fans with a great deal of amusement down the years. Clubs have often made ill-advised sponsorship decisions, with many having achieved little more than making their shirt a laughing stock due to weird, wonderful and downright bizarre choices of sponsor.

Here is a look at eight of the most ridiculous football shirt sponsors from around the world.

Everton - Angry Birds

Though SportPesa are the Toffees' main sponsors, Everton have made use of the newly trending sleeve sponsorship opportunity as a fun way of printing a bizarre choice of brand on their shirts.

Whilst downloadable phone and tablet games are a big hit in the android phone generation, the bold logo on Angry Birds appears as random at best on the sleeves of Everton shirts.

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The club steered clear of the temptation to print images of the game's characters on the shirt, though the logo in worded format is still rather difficult to take seriously, and Marco Silva's side have struggled for consistent form in the shirt this season

Atletico Madrid - Columbia Pictures

On the face of it, teaming up with a major Hollywood film company as a sponsor would make for a good look on the front the shirt of a European heavyweight club.

However, in 2003/04, the problem for Atletico Madrid in being sponsored by Columbia Pictures was that the face of their shirt changed according to the company's latest big release.

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At one point, the club's shirt featured Spiderman 2. At others, Los Rojblancos sported the titles of White Chicks and Hitch as the focal point of their strips.

Much like the sponsor's appearance on the shirt, Atletico's form was no more consistent, as the La Liga side finished seventh in the league that season.

Getafe - Burger King

Another questionable choice from another La Liga side was Getafe's partnership with Burger King in 2009. 

Not only has football gone through a notable change in recent years whereby the promotion of alcohol and unhealthy food products is no more, but the logo stuck out like a sore thumb on the face of the Spanish outfit's strip.

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As sported by the likes of Roberto Soldado in his earlier years, the fast food-promoting jersey simply was not a good look.

Fulham - Pizza Hut

In keeping with the noughties fast food trend, Fulham's bold displaying of the Pizza Hut logo in 2001/02 was another example of a sponsorship which did little to add classy professionalism to a kit.

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Stars such as Louis Saha may have worn the kit for the Cottagers, but it unlikely to be a strip which Fulham fans have the fondest memories of.

However, the west Londoners finished 13th in the league that season; a position which Claudio Ranieri is unlikely to be able to inspire his current side to achieve this term with any amount of pizza.

Newcastle - Wonga

One of the more controversial sponsorship choices and one of the many questionable decisions made under Mike Ashley's ownership of Newcastle was the club's partnership with money loaning company Wonga in 2013/14.

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It was one of the many moves from the club which drew uproar from the Newcastle fans in recent years, and also saw some Muslim players being advised not to wear the shirt as long as it featured the company's logo, as a Muslim is not allowed to benefit from lending money under Sharia law.

The sponsorship may have been just another ill-advised decision on Mike Ashley's part, but at least the Magpies managed a top-half finish in the Premier League under Alan Pardew that season.

Wolves - Doritos

Wolves' current Premier League campaign has seen the club establish themselves as a real force of the top flight, but previous attempts have been blighted by less successful seasons and some questionable sponsorship and kit choices.

In 2003/04, the club's featuring of the Doritos logo on their shirt was one which, at best, was justified by a continuation of the club's colour scheme.

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The golden orange, white and red logo was in keeping with Wolves' traditional home colours but, in truth, it was very hard to take any shirt seriously with the logo of a light snack at the centre.

In keeping with the disastrous kit that season, Wolves were relegated in 2004 as they finished rock bottom of the Premier League under Dave Jones.

Portsmouth - TY

Portsmouth's deal with TY from 2002-2005 may have coincided with a period of success in the Premier League for the club, but it also made for a bizarre sponsorship with a toy company which did not stand the test of time.

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Fortunately for Portsmouth, their team during that time was of greater quality than the products promoted on their shirts.

Milan - Pooh Jeans

Some sponsors of Milan's past have become almost synonymous with the club's illustrious history, with certain kits drawing memories of some of the great players to have represented the Rossoneri during those respective eras.

From Paolo Maldini in the old Opel shirt to Kaka gracing San Siro in the previous Bwin kit, iconic sponsorship logos have become ingrained with the famous Milan strip.

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However, one more questionable partnership was that with Italian clothes manufacturer Pooh Jeans in 1981/82. There is not much wrong with the company in general terms, but any decision to print the word 'pooh' on the front of a football shirt was always likely to be a questionable one.

Club greats such as Franco Baresi may have been among those to represent the club during this spell, but the kit was far less memorable during this particular sponsorship.