West Ham have confirmed that they have signed a shirt sponsorship deal with the Asian sportsbook SBOBet.  The club were eager to find a new sponsor after previous sponsors XL Holidays went bust in September.

The deal reportedly worth around £2 million will see SBOBet’s name on West Ham’s shirts until the end of the 2009/10 season.  The new deal should help ease some of the financial turmoil that the club have been in recently.

To make financial matters worse for West Ham, the club are currently locked in a court battle with Sheffield United over whether they have to pay compensation to the Blades.  This is because United were relegated in the 2006/7 season when West Ham fielded Carlos Tevez whose transfer was ruled to be illegal.  It has been reported that West Ham are likely to have to pay up to £30 million to the Yorkshire club although this will be decided at a future court hearing which should take place next year.

West Ham’s first team will wear the new shirt in the London derby against Spurs on Monday 8th December.

West Ham fans will be able to purchase the new shirt from Saturday 6th December, while fans who have already bought this season’s shirt with XL emblazoned across it will be able to swap this for the new shirt from Wednesday 10th December.

It was hoped by fans that Bobby Moore’s cancer charity the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer research UK would be the new shirt sponsors, but the deal was rejected by the FA.  As a compromise children’s replica shirts will feature the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK logo.  West ham’s Academy team will also wear shirts featuring the charity’s logo.

West Ham are just the latest football club to be sponsored by a gambling firm.  Other football clubs which have been or still are sponsored by gambling companies include AC Milan (Bwin), Aston Villa (32Red), Middlesbrough (888), Motherwell (JAXX) and Tottenham Hotspur (Mansion).

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