The Socceroos are on the hunt for a new naming rights sponsor with the agreement with Caltex due to expire in just a few days' time.

The petrol company's announcement this week that it would be reviving the old Ampol name for its service stations throughout the country had stirred feelings of nostalgia across Australia, including among football fans, who were hoping the rebrand would also extend to their partnership with the national team.

Caltex's naming rights sponsorship of the Socceroos is due to expire next week. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

The round ball game and Ampol go way back, after all. Remember the old Ampol Cup knockout competitions in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania, variously run between the 1950s and 1990s? In the '80s, there was also the China-Australia Ampol Cup, which was supposed to be an annual event pitting the two nations against each other, but fizzled out after just a few years.

A spokesperson for Football Federation Australia confirmed that the deal in place with Caltex elapses at the end of the year – as in, next week – and that the governing body was already seeking a replacement. That means there will be no "Ampol Socceroos".