Hammers to face FA probe over sponsorship deal

Sean Whetstone

5 years ago

Categories: News, Whispers

The FA plan to probe West Ham’s £250k deal with USM after agency sponsored shirts for the club’s women’s team claim the Daily Mail today.

Matt Lawton writing for the Mail says The FA plan to question West Ham United over the sponsorship of their women’s team by a leading sports management agency. Lawton claims the deal thought to be worth £250,000 to have the logo for Unique Sports Management on the back of the shirts of the West Ham women’s team is the biggest of its kind in the FA Women’s Super League.

West Ham are unhappy that an arrangement is being scrutinised, not least when all sponsorship deals in the WSL have to first be approved by the FA.

A West Ham spokesperson issued a statement on Wednesday night claiming that the USM deal represents just 15 per cent of the total annual commercial income of the women’s team.

The statement said: ‘The West Ham United women’s team attracted strong interest at the start of the season from a wide range of high-profile brands due to the level of investment into the team at all levels, from infrastructure to signing some of the world’s best players. This investment, together with its new management team, has put the club on an upward trajectory culminating in its momentous rise into the Women’s Super League this season.

‘This has drawn high-profile media interest including a BBC documentary, all of which has contributed to the growth in the appeal of the women’s team to commercial brands.

‘The deal with USM — which represents less than 15 per cent of the total annual commercial income the women’s team has managed to secure from a range of well-known brands — includes significant high-value hospitality packages at both men’s and women’s matches. This is a commercial deal, no different in nature to any other we have with our partners at the club.’

Claret and Hugh say:

The FA needs to look much closer to home, for years and years, the murky world of agents has not been tackled by the FA and Premier League. Calls for full transparency on all individual transfer deals and how much is paid to agents are largely fallen on deaf ears with reform of agents control of the game being slow. This story has all the hallmarks about infighting among the agent community fighting over split the spoils. In reality, West Ham have had a string on favoured agents over the years, that used to be the likes Barry Silkman and Willy Mackay then in Big Sam’s days it was Mark Curtis, after that Willy’s son Mark Mackay had more influence. Will Salthouse is just the latest in a long line of trusted and favoured agents close to West Ham.