Fulham get cash injection

14 April 2012

Fulham today announced the biggest sponsorship deal in their history when PIPEX, the internet service provider, signed an agreement to have their logo on the club's shirts for the next two years.

The deal, which is believed to be worth up to £2.5million to Fulham, means that they will replace dabs.com as the club's official main sponsor from the beginning of next season.

PIPEX, who have no previous history of sports sponsorship on this scale, were the UK's first commercial ISP and are currently the nation's fifth largest ISP. Their financial commitment to Fulham is a significant improvement on the £700,000-a-year deal that the Cottagers negotiated with technology retailer dabs.com in May 2003.

Fulham chairman Mohammed Fayed said: "The club is very excited about the sponsorship agreement with PIPEX. Since I invested in this club we have risen from the second division to consistently perform against the elite that English football has to offer.

"I am sure that it will be a very successful combination between two ambitious organisations and believe that PIPEX is the right choice of partner for us."

Reports had suggested that Fulham were close to reaching an agreement with Chang beer, Thailand's biggest brewer, who currently sponsor Everton. However, it is understood that negotiations broke down over the length of the deal on offer. PIPEX, though, were keen to form an alliance with Fulham.

Peter Dubens, chairman of PIPEX, added: "We are delighted to confirm this two-year deal with Fulham FC. We are proud to have the chance to sponsor such a long standing icon of football."

Tonight, however, the focus will shift to matters on the pitch as Chris Coleman takes his team to Middlesbrough, and the Fulham manager believes that a victory in the north-east could banish any lingering relegation fears.

Fulham are currently 17th in the Premiership but they are seven points clear of third from bottom Southampton with a game in hand. Coleman said: "Possibly one win will bring safety. I think that 37 or 38 points will give the bottom three a hell of a lot to do because we are running out of games. It would be great to get a win at Middlesbrough but a point would also be a good result for us.

"In the last five or six games Middlesbrough have not been at their best at home so there will pressure on them. We can hit people on the counter attack and we have pace going forward but we've conceded too many goals. Last season we had 16 clean sheets, this season we have only got six."

Fulham will be aided by the return of Claus Jensen, who missed Saturday's home draw with Manchester City through suspension. However, leading scorer Andy Cole is a doubt after picking up an Achilles problem that forced him to be withdrawn during the second half of the Manchester City clash.

Fulham will again look to Luis Boa Morte for inspiration. The Portuguese winger has been playing some of the best football of his career recently and Coleman is keen for that form to continue.

"He has been the one man who has really stepped forward and raised the bar in terms of his own performance," said the Fulham manager. "When he's playing like he is now teams just can't handle him."

Papa Bouba Diop (hamstring) and Sylvain Legwinski (thigh) are still out injured for Fulham.

Middlesbrough will be without Mark Schwarzer, who has failed to recover from a back injury, so Brad Jones is set to deputise. They also have recalled Andrew Davies from Queens Park Rangers after a knee injury to Chris Riggott.

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