The English Premier League will forego having a sponsor from 2016 on.

England's top flight have been sponsored by Barclays since 2004 but at the completion of the 2015/16 season, there will be no affiliation with a corporate sponsor.

The competition will simply be known as 'The Premier League' in 12 months' time in a bid to follow other 'clean brand' sports such as the USA's showpieces the NFL and NBA.

A Premier League spokesman said: "Barclays has been an excellent partner for the League throughout their sponsorship of the competition and we look forward to working with them in 2015/16, the final season of their title sponsorship."

The Premier League, which started in 1992, did not have a sponsor in the inaugural season before teaming up with Carling for eight years. Barclaycard then took over in 2001 before the sponsorship shifted to Barclays