Toxic sponsors should give football back its history... Tony Macaroni Arena is just latest and worst example of corporate vandalism

• Livingston renamed their stadium the Tony Macaroni Arena
• Tony Macaroni is a chain of Italian restaurants in Scotland
• Some clubs are struggling so badly that they are prepared to prostitute themselves to the extent that they feel forced to compromise their identity
• These companies are corporate vandals and might as well be daubing graffiti on the facades of these stadiums
• FC United named their new stadium Broadhurst Park after the local area 

By Oliver Holt for the Mail on Sunday

Published: 17:32 EST, 26 September 2015 | Updated: 20:02 EST, 26 September 2015

Tony Macaroni sounds like the name of a character from a lousy, lazy imitation of The Sopranos. Like Jonny Gnocchi or Beppe Bolognese. Tony Macaroni has never whacked anybody or driven someone out into the desert but last week he did manage to epitomise one of the worst things about modern football.

Actually, Tony isn’t a ‘he’. Tony’s an ‘it’. Tony Macaroni is a marketing man’s brainchild. It is the name of a chain of Italian restaurants in Scotland and, a few days ago, it became the latest corporate raider choosing to demean a football club and its fans.

Because last week, Scottish Championship side Livingston declared that their stadium, which was once called plain Almondvale Stadium, would henceforth be known as the Tony Macaroni Arena as part of a new sponsorship deal. Many greeted the arrangement with hilarity. ‘Bet that sponsorship deal cost a penne or two,’ one respondent replied to the Livingston Twitter feed. ‘They’re keen to get a pizza the action,’ another wrote. Livingston did their best to put a brave face on it all. ‘This is all getting very fusilli now,’ the club tweeted back.

Scottish Championship club Livingston have recently renamed their stadium the Tony Macaroni Arena

Tony Macaroni, seen here in Livingston, is a chain of Italian restaurants in Scotland

This is how low we have sunk. In an age where some parts of the British game are awash with cash, others are struggling so badly that they are prepared to prostitute themselves to the extent that they feel forced to compromise their identity and make themselves a laughing stock at the same time.

Livingston’s stadium name is hardly sacred territory. The club has only been in existence for 20 years since it grew out of Meadowbank Thistle and already Almondvale has been known as the City Stadium, the West Lothian Courier Stadium, the Braidwood Motor Company Stadium and the Energy Assets Arena.

They’re not alone in selling their souls, of course. Far from it. It was only a few weeks ago that the town of Accrington, the home of one of the founder members of the Football League, was told with great fanfare that its team would no longer be playing their home games at the Crown Ground. It was being renamed, too.

Livingston put a brave face on the new deal by tweeting some pasta and pizza puns

As part of a £200,000 three-year deal with a business called PlasticBoxShop and one of its ‘key partner companies’, What More UK Ltd, Accrington Stanley will now play their League Two matches at the Wham Ground. Their manager, John Coleman, said he hoped the money would help them get promotion to League One.

Some fans, mainly the children of football’s prawn sandwich era, see no problem with naming rights. They see only a cause for celebration at the influx of new money. They see no worth in heritage or tradition. They see only hard cash. Maybe they ought to step back for a second and look at what these companies make you give. Maybe they ought to step back and consider the loss of pride, the loss of identity, the loss of dignity and the long-term debilitating effects that submitting to that kind of deal can have.

These people — these companies — are vandals. They are corporate vandals but they are vandals all the same. They might as well be daubing graffiti on the facades of these stadiums. They are desecrating our football grounds under the cover of investment. Their arrogance and their disdain for our football culture know no bounds.

Accrington Stanley renamed their stadium the Wham Stadium as part of a sponsorship deal

FC United of Manchester built a new stadium and named it Broadhurst Park after the local area

Sure, their support for football clubs is worthy of applause. It deserves gratitude. Or it would if it didn’t come with so many strings attached. Let’s not pretend it’s altruistic either. Businesses don’t do altruism. They pay clubs money for a reason. Mainly, it’s advertising. They pay their money and they demand a price. And these days, the price is often very, very high.

Too many clubs roll over. Too many clubs say the only way to survive is to sell their souls when they run into financial trouble. The fears of fans about the future of their clubs are easy to understand but is the answer really to become a fleeting object of public amusement?

It doesn’t have to be. Take a look at what FC United of Manchester are doing. They just built a new ground. They called it Broadhurst Park after the local area. They wanted to forge a local identity. Similarly, Hereford FC is rising from the ashes of Hereford United without having to rename Edgar Street, their famous old ground. They have been helped by local businesses who have not demanded their name on the stadium as a price for their support.

In Accrington, the new club sponsors talked grandly about giving something back to the community. And up to a point they are. But why don’t they show a bit of respect for the community, too? If they really want to give something back, don’t insult the fans by laughing at the club’s history and saddling its stadium with a stupid name.

Instead, they are courting danger. By turning the club into their play-thing, calling its stadium ‘Wham’ or ‘Tony Macaroni’, they risk making their investment look ugly. They risk it backfiring. They risk making themselves look like bullies. They turn themselves into a symptom of one of the things we hate about modern football. They make themselves toxic.

They should look at what they make a football club give. And when they’ve looked, they should give the clubs their history back.

Great Britain reaching the Davis Cup final fits firmly into the category of things many of us never thought we’d see in our lifetimes. Until several years ago, it seemed about as unlikely as a Brit winning the Tour de France. 

Then along came Andy Murray. And, crucially, along came his brother, Jamie, too. Because however heroic Andy has been in propelling Britain to the final, it wouldn’t have happened without the doubles’ brilliance of his brother, either. 

Andy is one of the greatest sportsmen this country has ever had. Now Jamie is writing his name in the history books of tennis, too.

Great Britain celebrated victory over Australia last weekend and a place in the Davis Cup final

Andy Murray (right) celebrates a vital doubles victory with his brother Jamie (left|) in the Davis Cup tie

Sometimes it is the sheer vindictiveness of Jose Mourinho that takes the breath away. He is one of the best managers the game has ever seen, right up there with greats like Bob Paisley, Sir Alex Ferguson, Arrigo Sacchi and Carlo Ancelotti. And yet somewhere within him, there remains enough insecurity and bitterness to produce the kind of diatribe he unleashed on Friday against Arsene Wenger.

It is a strange phenomenon: Mourinho beats Arsenal with brutal regularity and yet it is as if he sees something in Wenger that he cannot conquer. It infuriates Mourinho that Wenger is valued for something more than the amount of trophies he has won. It infuriates him that Wenger is revered for what he brought to the English game. And the irony of it is that every time Mourinho launches one of his attacks, Wenger scores the kind of victory that continues to elude him on the pitch.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho launched an attack on Arsene Wenger at his press conference on Friday

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