Robinsons ends Wimbledon sponsorship after 86 years

Robinsons squash will no longer sponsor Wimbledon, ending a partnership which stretches back to 1935.

The soft drink company confirmed on Friday it will not be renewing its deal with the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Robinsons Lemon Barley Water was first officially introduced at Wimbledon in bottles on the steps of umpires' seats.

Britain's Fred Perry and American Helen Moody won the singles titles that year and the squash became the official soft drink provider for the championships.

However, prior to the deal, Smedley Hodgson placed Robinsons Barley Water in players' dressing rooms during the 1930s after he created a "refreshing and hydrating drink" combining barley crystals with real lemon juice and sugar.

A spokesman for Britvic, which owns several drinks brands including Robinsons, said it was "tremendously proud to have been such a prominent partner to this historic tournament for so many years and the wider role we have played in boosting engagement with the game of tennis in the UK".

The company said it was looking to "broadening our summertime reach to beyond the Wimbledon fortnight".

The All England Lawn Tennis Club said the partnership ended by "mutual agreement".

"We are tremendously proud of the historic association with Robinsons over so many years, and thank them for the wider role they have played in supporting Wimbledon and tennis across the UK," a statement said.

Last month, Britvic announced Robinsons as a three-year deal as sponsor of The Hundred, cricket's 100-ball competition, for the 2022 season.

Two decades on from making its debut on centre court, Robinsons Lemon Barley Water was appointed with a royal warrant by The Queen in 1955.

Mr Matthias Robinson invented Robinsons Patent Barley and Barley Groats in 1823, with the fruit drink beginning its life as a powder.