Arsenal have joined a crowded market to find a shirt sponsor despite their current deal with Emirates still having two seasons to run.

The fact the FA Cup winners have begun their search so far in advance suggests Emirates, who have a stadium naming rights deal with Arsenal until 2028, want to continue only with the ground contract.

The airline, who are said to be disillusioned with football, are also expected not to renew their £10million-a-year FA Cup partnership that has one year to go.

Arsenal are searching for new shirt sponsors, despite their Emirates deal having two years left

It would also suit Arsenal to maximise their kit revenues by separating it from the stadium sponsorship. That currently brings in a combined £30m a year compared to Chelsea’s £40m from Yokohama Tyres.

Arsenal will be competing for sponsorships with a number of big sporting properties. They include the England football team, Tottenham’s new ground, domestic cricket Tests, rugby’s Premiership and the Six Nations.

The FA, who it seems are going to be searching soon for two major backers, will be hiring leading sports sponsorship agency Pitch International to help find those elusive partners.

An Emirates spokesperson said: 'Emirates strongly denies the rumour about our sponsorship of Arsenal’s kit coming to an end, which is categorically untrue. As a long-standing supporter of football, we are passionate about the game and are a proud partner to the team.'

It is expected the airline will just retain the naming rights to the stadium in north London

Aston Villa’s bumbling chief executive Keith Wyness is not travelling to Portugal for the Football League’s annual jolly on the Algarve.

It follows him being given a three-week ban and a £10,000 fine by the FA for retweeting a video about a rejected Villa penalty appeal that contained an abusive caption suggesting referee ‘disabilities’.

Wyness’s conspiracy theory about his harsh treatment revolves around his disciplinary panel containing a supporter of leading Labour politician Diane Abbott, about whom the Villa chief has been critical on social media.

Keith Wyness won't be heading on the Football League's jolly after his social media antics

Epsom’s role in having ITV Racing irritant Matt Chapman removed from announcing the Derby winner presentation came back to bite them when ITV responded by barely showing the ceremony.

Sponsors Investec, who missed out on major exposure as a result, are understood to be disappointed. ITV say they couldn’t make a feature of the Derby presentation without Chapman and that programme time restrictions were also a factor.

There could be trouble ahead on the sponsorship front on the Lions tour, with some of the myriad backers fearful lead sponsor Standard Life Investments will leave little space for the rest.

So much so that Standard Life’s global head of marketing Nuala Walsh made what amounted to a keynote speech at the Lions sponsors’ send-off at the Roundhouse in Camden.

Sponsorship issues could arise on the Lions tour, with fears Standard Life are dominating

Gareth fights cabin fever

Concerns that England players might get cabin fever if they spend too long at St George’s Park deep in the Staffordshire countryside is understood to be one of the reasons manager Gareth Southgate mixed it up this week with his Royal Marines boot camp plus a day off ahead of the Scotland match on Saturday.

Gareth Southgate mixed things up this week with a Royal Marines boot camp for his players

Before Southgate took charge, senior players had a meeting with England technical director Dan Ashworth and performance chief Dave Reddin to talk over how their experience at SGP could be improved. But plans to build a golf course have never materialised.

The decision by Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson to fall on his sword after trainer Saeed bin Suroor voiced complaints about him and went straight to owner Sheik Mohammed for instructions is not expected to affect Ferguson’s role as chairman of the Sheik’s Dubai promotional arm Falcon.

The agency employs two grandees of British sport — former Minister for Sport and BOA chairman Sir Hugh Robertson, who heads the London office, and former R&A chief executive Peter Dawson, who chairs Falcon Golf Management.