Newcastle United calls time on Virgin Money sponsorship deal a year early

Newcastle United is ending its shirt sponsorship deal with Virgin Money a year early.

The deal, signed in January 2012 when Virgin Money took over previous sponsor Northern Rock, was due to continue into the 2013/14 season.

But the Premier League side today announced that it had exercised a clause in the contract to drop Virgin Money at the end of this season in favour of an 'exciting new sponsorship deal'.

The club said Virgin Money's logo will remain on the shirts until the end of this season and the new sponsor will be announced 'in the coming weeks'.

Jayne-Anne Gadhia, chief executive of Virgin Money, indicated that the bank had hoped for the deal to continue. She said: "We were delighted to sponsor Newcastle United given the club's importance to the North East and had hoped that this would be a relationship that would flourish for years to come.

"However, they have found a different option and we have to respect that.

"We remain sponsor until the end of the current season and the Virgin Money name will continue to be worn on the iconic black and white shirts until then."

Derek Llambias, Newcastle United's managing director, added: "We have enjoyed a very successful partnership with Virgin Money which we thank them for. However we have decided to end the agreement early and we will be announcing a new sponsorship partner shortly which represents an excellent commercial deal for both parties."