When car brands and football collide: The best and worst ways the beautiful game has joined forces with motor companies
For years car brands have associated themselves with football, sometimes with hilarious results. There have been many winners over the years, but there were some losers too
IF you're a car brand, it goes without saying you want a football club or player to promote your business.
Over the years, we've seen Thierry Henry, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and even Norwich City shareholder Delia Smith fronting an endorsed message from a car manufacturer.
But it doesn't always work out for the best.
Sure, Henry's effortless catchy phrase "Va Va Voom" became iconic and resonated with housewives and football fans all over the land.
However, Accrington Stanley work with Volvo covered AstroTurf seemed more of a crime against cars than anything else.
The England football team and Pierluigi Collina...
Vauxhall were the the go-to sponsor for the home nations - England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
Having sold their business to Peugeot though, they're cutting ties with the England football team after the 2018 World Cup.
So, you won't have England managers like Fabio Capello awkwardly showing off the latest motor the car manufacturers are trying to sell.
Legendary Italian ref Pierluigi Collina also signed a massive deal with Vauxhall-Opel (both owned by General Motors) for their 'Take Control' campaign.
That became a scandal in Italy because it was said to have been a conflict of interests, with AC Milan being sponsored by Opel.
Collina effectively resigned from the game after that, which was a crying shame.
Even Luton Town got in on the act to promote Vauxhall's famous Movano van by using it as a changing room in 2012.
"Va Va Voom"
When Thierry Henry was lighting up Highbury with some stunning displays he also became an advertiser's dream.
The French striker was the face of Renault Clio in the early 2000s, coining the phrase Va Va Voom which had housewives in a tizzy.
He also got to try his hand, quite literally, at a bit of puppetry.
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"Weirdly, things changed with the Va Va Voom advert," Henry.
";Suddenly, I had 60 year-old women coming up to me and asking, ‘Can you say Va-Va Voom for me?’
"That’s when I knew i was accepted. I felt like I belonged here."
It was the first time Renault had recruited a celebrity to endorse their brand after the infamous 'Nicole? Papa!' campaigns.
Coventry Talbot, anyone?
Coventry City have long been associated with car brands, including Peugeot and Subaru.
But in the early 1980s, one particular car brand nearly had them dropping 'City' from their name to something completely different.
When former Midland-based car company Talbot got involved with the Sky Blues in 1981 it was the first kit sponsorship deal in the football league.
The pioneer behind that deal was none-other-than Jimmy Hill, who was the club's chairman at the time.
Hill wanted to change the club's name to Coventry Talbot to highlight that partnership.
However, that failed and then he tried to integrate the'T' symbol of the brand onto the club's home shirts, which was banned by TV stations.
Then there's Man United...
The Red Devils are big business. After all, they're the biggest sports franchise in the world.
So it's only logical that the best car companies in the world would clamour to have some of their stars fronting their ad campaigns.
Currently, United have an astonishing £53 million-per year deal with Chevrolet that runs till 2021.
Before the American can manufacturer, United were associated with Germans Audi in 2004 who provided 20 cars for players and staff.
Incidentally, Sir Alex Ferguson often drove the 'company car' to training session, whether it was a Audi or Chevrolet.
But don't feel sorry for Audi losing out on Jose Mourinho's men...
They may have lost United, but they gained Real Madrid and Barcelona to their impressive client list.
In recent months, Audi has had the two greatest players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi promoting their motors.
They have exclusive deals with those European giants, as well as Bayern Munich so all the players got free cars. Lucky!
And there's their very-own Audi Cup, which in 2017 featured the likes of Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, Napoli and Bayern.
From one Swedish export to another...
In 2014, Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed a massive deal with Volvo to front their ads for a reported fee of around one million pounds.
Clearly a match made in heaven, it almost looked like the Man United striker was auditioning for a role in a James Bond film.
In one promo, Zlatan even thanked the Swedish people for his support announcing his retirement from the international set-up.
And the below ad was even scored by Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer.
It was THAT big a deal. Mind you, he still drives a Porsche to training.
And then the 2010 World Cup got Smart...
As a promotional tool for South Africa 2010, Smart cars decided to stage a game of car football... with Smart cars.
There were crashes galore as two teams of four went head-to-head, for real, in a game that was labelled 'England v The Rest of the World.'
The idea was taken from a Top Gear challenge, and in fairness, showed that Smart cars can take a battering.
However, it can go oh so wrong...
Step-forward, Accrington Stanley.
In 2013, the Lancashire-based club covered a 1993 Volvo 940 in an AstroTurf, as well as put on hubcaps that looked like footballs.
It was all done for a charitable cause, for the Monte Carlo or Bust rally, but it certainly isn't a 'pimp your ride' moment.
Finally, there's Delia...
'Let's be havin' you,' must have been the defiant cry of Delia Smith when Norwich City inked a three-year deal with Proton and Lotus in 2003.
The Canaries were so keen on the local-based business they had a showroom at their Carrow Road stadium, which was next door to Delia's restaurant.
Never has the idea of turning up to watch football, then drive home with a new car been simpler.