One side to prosper from Christmas gifts was the Vietnam national team who will now be sponsored by Nike.

Vietnam Sponsored by Nike

The VFF (Vietnam Football Federation) signed a US $5 million 5-year kit deal with Nike, which started on January 1st 2009, right after the VFF ended its contract with Li Ning, a Chinese sportswear company.

The national team will have new kits provided by the giant American manufacturer from today when they gather to prepare for the 2011 Asian Cup’s qualifying match against Lebanon.

Vietnam are the latest Asian National team to be sponsored by Nike following similar arrangements with Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Further teams to benefit from a new sponsorship deal agreed over Christmas include Irish side Cork City and Italian giants Udinese. Whereas Cork City signed a contract with Hummel, Serie A side Udinese announced a new shirt sponsorship deal with Romanian car manufacturer Dacia, owned by France’s Renault.

Emirates Extend Hamburg Shirt Sponsorship

Further festive good will greeted German team Hamburg SV, who jointly announced with Emirates Airlines that they have renewed and extended their current shirt sponsorship deal for a further three years, until 2012. In addition to being the club’s main shirt sponsor, Emirates will also receive prominent presence on perimeter boards, along with branding on the player’s tunnel and an exclusive ticket and hospitality allotment.

Unfortunately for fellow German club Borussia Dortmund there was not as much Christmas cheer due to the announcement that their long running sponsorship deal with Nike will terminate at the end of the current domestic season.

West Brom Sponsorless

Similarly West Brom went without any presents this Christmas and thus according to chairman Jeremy Peace, the club shirts are likely to remain sponsor-less until the end of the season.

Peace insists a small amount of the income lost on sponsorship deals has been negated by extra sales of shirts, which have become popular collectors’ items for supporters. Additionally he maintains that he is unwilling to set a precedent for under-valuing the value of the Baggies’ shirts by striking a cut-price deal.

Zenit St Petersburg New Shirt 2009/10

Into the New Year and in with a new Zenit St Petersburg home strip. The football club from Saint Petersburg have released their designs for their 09/10 home shirt in association with Puma. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914 according to some Russian sources), Zenit are currently the richest club in the country, due to the sponsorship from Gazprom.

For full details on all the shirt news to occur over the Christmas period click on over to www.FootballShirtCulture.com.

By James Bailey