Works team
A works team, sometimes also referred to as factory team and company team, is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business, institution, or organization in a broad sense. Works teams have very close ties with their main sponsor and owner, and usually incorporate its logo, its name, or both, in the sport club or team logo. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. In motorsport, a works team or factory team is a manufacturer that builds its own car or motorbike including the engine.
Company teams are owned, sponsored and managed by companies in order to raise awareness about those companies' brands, being usually named after those companies and brands as part and parcel of those companies' marketing strategy. Sometimes a single company owns more than one team named after it competing in different sports or even in the same sport.
When they meet certain criteria, college and university teams, also known sometimes as student teams, competing in semi-professional or professional leagues and championships, instead of exclusively competing in university/college level sport, have been considered works teams as well. In some regions of the world like Europe and Latin America, university/college sports teams are in many instances fully-integrated in the same national sports league or championship system where amateur, semi-professional and professional teams and athletes compete in one of many divisions of the system's pyramid.
Many works teams, factory teams or student teams were started to give staff or students some exercise and entertainment and eventually became professional teams without actually having workers, factory workers or students in their squads, but retained their original names to reflect their historical background.
By sport
American football
Works teams were common in the early days of professional football. The Columbus Panhandles were a famous works team; it consisted of Pennsylvania Railroad employees, including the famed Nesser Brothers, and eventually became a charter member of the National Football League.The Green Bay Packers obtained its name through company sponsorship from a meat packing company named the Indian Packing Company and its employee and team founder, Curly Lambeau. The Chicago Bears was established by the A. E. Staley food starch company of Decatur, Illinois, as a company team under the name 'Decatur Staleys'.
The National Public Safety Football League is a modern-day example of a league of works teams, with each team in the league consisting of employees of a public department in a given city.
This tradition is continued by some teams in the X-League, the highest level of American football in Japan; examples include the IBM Big Blue and Fujitsu Frontiers.
Association football
Africa
Former and current works teams in Africa include Arab Contractors SC of Egypt and AS Police. Horseed FC is based in Horseed, Somalia. A seven-time champion of the Somalia League, it is a former army team. Other works teams that have played in the Somali football leagues include Banaadir Telecom, Ports Authority, and Somali Police.A number of works teams were founded in the former Portuguese territory of Mozambique that still are currently major teams in that Portuguese-speaking African country. Grupo Desportivo da Companhia Têxtil do Punguè and Textáfrica do Chimoio are examples of two works teams which were the teams of two textile companies. In addition, two major teams of the railway network also achieved notoriety – the Clube Ferroviário de Maputo and the Clube Ferroviário da Beira.
Asia
Current and former Asian works teams include Nepal Police Club, Thai Farmers Bank F.C., Krung Thai Bank F.C., Viettel F.C., or the football team of the Vietnam People's Army, as well as United City FC which was once the works team of Vallacar Transit Inc.China
In China, there are several works teams or company teams playing in the top professional competitions. These include Beijing Guoan F.C., Changchun Yatai F.C., Guangzhou F.C., Tianjin Jinmen Tiger F.C. and Shanghai Port F.C.India
is owned and sponsored by the Dempo Mining Corporation Limited. ASEB Sports Club and Oil India FC are other examples of company teams. In the past, JCT FC was owned by JCT Mills.Iran
In Iran current and former work teams include the Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C., affiliated with a steel factory in Isfahan and Sepahan S.C., owned by Mobarake Steel company. There are many other teams in Iran that are factory, company and workers teams including, Aluminium Arak F.C., Paykan F.C., Foolad F.C., Sanat Naft Abadan F.C., F.C. Nassaji Mazandaran, Gol Gohar Sirjan F.C.Japan
Works teams are common in Japan, with several J.League clubs starting life as a member of the amateur Japan Soccer League. Modern examples include Honda F.C., Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima, Sony Sendai, Tokushima Vortis and Maruyasu Okazaki. The highest league Japanese works teams can compete in is the Japan Football League, the de facto national fourth division; the J. League specifically bars works teams from its ranks unless they professionalise and adopt the community they play in as a source of fan support. Yokohama FC is owned by Japanese restaurant operator Onodera Group and thus can be described as a company team as well.Pakistan
has been dominated by works teams. The National Football Championship, which was the men's highest level football competition from 1948 to 2003 was contested among the regional associations along with departmental teams. After the introduction of the Pakistan Premier League in 2004, works teams continued to dominate the domestic competitions.Majority of the works teams were disbanded following the shutdown of departmental sports in Pakistan in September 2021. Departmental sports in Pakistan were restored in August 2022.