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Viglen Sponsorship

Was watching the latest Apprentice and there was obviously a lot of reference to our old sponsors, Viglen. Out of interest, does anyone know how that deal came about?

After doing some digging on Wikipedia, I know that Amstrad took them over in 1994 and the sponsorship of our shirts began then too, but as Lord Sugar is a Yiddo, is one of his advisors an Addick or was there another reason for the sponsorship?
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Comments

  • I'm not sure that the Wikipedia info is correct, I think that Viglen began sponsoring us in late 1993 having started the season with no sponsor and their logo first appeared on our shirt V Luton Town in a televised ITV game. Viglen remained on the shirts until Mesh took over the sponsorship in 1998, I recall that one of the directors of Viglen joined our board after the Amstrad buy out which I think occured later in the 90's. At the time Alan Sugar was at Spurs and if I recall wasn't displeased that Viglen stopped sponsoring us. I may not be 100% on these facts but I'm not sure Wiki is either.
  • [cite]Posted By: pilchard[/cite]I think that Viglen began sponsoring us in late 1993 having started the season with no sponsor and their logo first appeared on our shirt V Luton Town in a televised ITV game

    Spot on. I remember this vividly, being excited at what our kit would look like with a sponsor on (I was 8 at the time !). I seem to remember the club offering to print the sponsor onto peoples replica shirts if they bought them prior to the deal - have I imagined this ?
  • Pilchard is right the first time Viglen sposored us was Luton away in a televised game. I'm almost certain that Sugar did not own them at that point.

    The sponsorship continued until the play off final against Sunderland when they agreed to let MESH start their sponsorship because I believe Sugar did not want one of his comapnies sponsoring a rival football club to Spurs .
  • Se9 Addick -You are spot on regarding the club offering to print Viglen on the shirts as we went into the season with no sponsorship and indeed all of 1992/3 we had no sponsorship too. We had a Ribeiro kit that year (Red with little flecks on it).

    Richard J -You are absolutely right regarding Sugar as well, he didn't want Amstrad (effectively) to sponsor put money into a club other than Spurs so Viglen were more than happy to make way for Mesh.

    I think that is all correct.
  • A friend of mine was at a pr/ad agency and doing the marketing for Viglen which was spending a lot of money on ads in the computer press - well over a million pounds a year. I said to her why dont they sponsor Charlton and she asked but they said no. Almost a year to the day she rang me up and said "One of my clients is looking to sponsor a football club - should it be Watford or Charlton?" I remember at that time Watford had had a bad time, a couple of sendings off etc so I pointed this out to her. It turned out that a specialist sports sponsorship agent had gone to Viglen and convinced them it would be a good move. I popped in the portacabin at The Valley that was Steve Dixon's office and tipped him off that they were serious but he said there were two potential sponsors being brought in by an agency and the others looked a better bet. Within the week the Charlton shirts had a Viglen logo on them on the TV, unfortunately the logo was light blue and the shirts were white - not the best contrast.
  • I presume you mean Alan sugar is Jewish.
  • Three shirts that season, no sponsor, turquoise sponsor and black sponsor on the White shirt
  • edited December 2010
    Very interesting, thanks for the info; my earliest charlton memory is the huddersfield play off game so the deal began well before my time!

    On a similar sponsor related question, does anyone know what Redbus actually did? I presume it wasn't building red buses....;)
  • [cite]Posted By: allez les addicks[/cite]Very interesting, thanks for the info; my earliest charlton memory is the huddersfield play off game so the deal began well before my time!

    On a similar sponsor related question, does anyone know what Redbus actually did? I presume it wasn't building red buses....;)

    My recollection is that it was an investment company based on media and communications these two links should help http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/140683/charlton-attracts-2-5m-redbus-sponsorship
    http://www.redbus.co.uk/
  • [cite]Posted By: allez les addicks[/cite]Very interesting, thanks for the info; my earliest charlton memory is the huddersfield play off game so the deal began well before my time!

    On a similar sponsor related question, does anyone know what Redbus actually did? I presume it wasn't building red buses....;)

    Huddersfield play-off game?
  • Sponsored links:


  • [cite]Posted By: paulsturgess[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: allez les addicks[/cite]Very interesting, thanks for the info; my earliest charlton memory is the huddersfield play off game so the deal began well before my time!

    On a similar sponsor related question, does anyone know what Redbus actually did? I presume it wasn't building red buses....;)

    Huddersfield play-off game?

    I think he means Ipswich ?
  • This link is useful
    linky thingy
  • This is the non logo version
  • The black logo version
  • Some of the kits down the years
  • TELTEL
    edited December 2010
    This one is the match worn variety, pretty rare
  • Are those shirts all yours TEL?
  • I always thought it strange that we suddenly had the purple and green shirt in 95, doesn't really keep in the colour scheme.I loved it at the time but it looks horrible now. The 2nd away kit from 1997 has to be my least favourite Charlton shirt of all time.
  • Wasn't 1992-93(a) blue a bit darker ?

    If I remember rightly the shirt we're talking about here was an exact inverse of the home kit entirely ?

    Anyone remember the quaser (sp) shirt from the following season with the weird buttons ?
  • [cite]Posted By: se9addick[/cite]Wasn't 1992-93(a) blue a bit darker ?

    If I remember rightly the shirt we're talking about here was an exact inverse of the home kit entirely ?

    Anyone remember the quaser (sp) shirt from the following season with the weird buttons ?[/quote

    149862_450559682342_668752342_5949470_8223534_n.jpg

    This one? Love it!
  • Sponsored links:


  • If my memory serves me, Viglen was originally a personal computer manufacturer as well as in the business/server market. If I remember correctly they were bought out by Amstrad - Sugar's company after they had been a sponsor of us. Indeed I think that they were in financial difficulty when he bought them.

    They dropped out of the personal computer market, ironically being supplanted by companies like Mesh - who later became our sponsor!
  • [cite]Posted By: paulsturgess[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: allez les addicks[/cite]Very interesting, thanks for the info; my earliest charlton memory is the huddersfield play off game so the deal began well before my time!

    On a similar sponsor related question, does anyone know what Redbus actually did? I presume it wasn't building red buses....;)

    Huddersfield play-off game?

    the one where Johnny Robinson scored that belter from 30 yards or so. On reflection, I think it was near the end of the season as opposed to play offs. As I say, it's my earliest memory so the details are a little hazy!

    so Redbus were basically venture capitalists. Cheers for the info guys!
  • [cite]Posted By: allez les addicks[/cite]the one where Johnny Robinson scored that belter from 30 yards or so. On reflection, I think it was near the end of the season as opposed to play offs. As I say, it's my earliest memory so the details are a little hazy!

    Ahhh...I think that game was in January 2000 - I'm sure Mark Mansfield has gone down in Charlton folklore for saying "that's the goal of the century" despite the century being only a few days old - saying that, he's not far off so far !
  • McAlpine Stadium tuesday Dec 28, 1999
    Huddersfield v Charlton 1-2
    30 yard wonder goal by John Robinson.
    Kept wednesday's Sun's Supergoals. Pleased to oblige
  • [cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]Are those shirts all yours TEL?

    The first two are mate, the turquoise lettering version as far as I know is the match worn version, they do come up for sale but usually at £75+
  • [cite]Posted By: TEL[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]Are those shirts all yours TEL?

    The first two are mate, the turquoise lettering version as far as I know is the match worn version, they do come up for sale but usually at £75+

    Impressive. You a collector then?
  • [cite]Posted By: UP...THE...ADDICKS[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: se9addick[/cite]Wasn't 1992-93(a) blue a bit darker ?

    If I remember rightly the shirt we're talking about here was an exact inverse of the home kit entirely ?

    Anyone remember the quaser (sp) shirt from the following season with the weird buttons ?[/quote

    149862_450559682342_668752342_5949470_8223534_n.jpg

    That's the shirt from 94-96

    The 92-93 away was a blue fleck job which mimicked the red home shirt and was manufactured by Ribero. As rare as rocking horse poo

    This one? Love it!
  • [cite]Posted By: adrian[/cite]McAlpine Stadium tuesday Dec 28, 1999
    Huddersfield v Charlton 1-2
    30 yard wonder goal by John Robinson.
    Kept wednesday's Sun's Supergoals. Pleased to oblige
    I remember that game, was live on Sky.
  • [cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: TEL[/cite]
    [cite]Posted By: Off_it[/cite]Are those shirts all yours TEL?

    The first two are mate, the turquoise lettering version as far as I know is the match worn version, they do come up for sale but usually at £75+

    Impressive. You a collector then?

    Ive got most of the tops that have been available back to 1990 (Im short on 2-3 types)...the 80's versions are in short supply and can be bloody expensive to be honest. I started buying away shirts and it went from there....I only buy tops that I can actually wear, cant see the point of them being stuck in a cupboard all the time and too many to have on display now.
  • [cite]Posted By: adrian[/cite]McAlpine Stadium tuesday Dec 28, 1999
    Huddersfield v Charlton 1-2
    30 yard wonder goal by John Robinson.
    Kept wednesday's Sun's Supergoals. Pleased to oblige

    Could have sworn it was before then! Definitely not my first Charlton memory then as there's obviously the play off final and a few games in the first premiership season.
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