FOOTBALL administrators came under fresh pressure to find a new official sponsor for the four Scottish professional leagues as Scotland's other national drink agreed a three-year official soft drink partner deal with the The Football League in England.

Irn-Bru, which signed an official soft drink sponsorship deal with the Scottish Professional Football League in 2013 worth a "substantial six figure sum" over three years has agreed a similar arrangement south of the border worth over £1 million.

Irn-Bru was the sponsor of the Scottish Football League - which represented levels 2 to 4 of the league system - for six seasons before the 2013 merger with the top flight.

The three-year English deal involves clubs across the Sky Bet Championship, League One and League Two and will kick-off during this year's play-offs.

SPFL have since been seeking a title sponsor for the country's four professional leagues.

In December the SPFL were reportedly asking for £1.75 million per year from potential sponsors.

Andrew Jenkin, head of Supporters Direct Scotland added: From a commercial point of view it makes sense for the company to explore England now as they already have a majority on the soft drinks market in Scotland and I see this as being a reflection of that rather than the commercial value of the SPFL.

"That is not to say that the pursuit of a sponsor should not be of an upmost priority to the league to reflect its value and popularity to the supporters that attend games week in, week out."

Ken Pattullo football finance expert at accountants Begbie Traynor said: "We could always do with more money coming into football up north, but to be fair to A.G Barr (Irn-Bru producers) you have to look at it from a commercial point of view.

"They are a commercial organisation who have to justify everything they do both to themselves and shareholders.

"I suspect internally and also their shareholders would sit and think how much value they are likely to get out of continuing to sponsor Scottish football. What they certainly want to do is expand and enhance their brand an awful lot more down south.

"They maybe haven't got saturation coverage north of the border but is not too far off that whereas down south Irn-Bru is not that popular and not that well known so from a purely commercial point of view i can understand where they are coming from although it is slightly disappointing that this is money not necessarily going into Scottish football."

David Longmuir, who was head of the Scottish Football League from 2007 till the merger said he understood Irn-Bru's decision.

"Irn-Bru were six years with the old SFL and were terrific sponsors for us in that period of time and once the new arrangements came into place with the merger of the SPL and the SFL, then Irn-Bru took the decision to be official soft drinks partners of the new SPFL.

"This is probably a natural progression for them, knowing that football delivers for them in so many different ways. I think also the fact that England is an important and growing market for them.

"Sponsorship at the moment is difficult to come by, it is quite a task getting investment into Scottish football, but big guns like Irn-Bru have got to do what is right for their brand and where they want to take the brand.

"They are still partners of the SPFL so it is really up to the current people there (at the SPFL) to develop their relationships with their current sponsors. It is incumbent on anyone running Scottish football to look at every possible avenue for investment and to secure sponsorship. But I know how tough that is at the moment."

An Irn-Bru spokesman said: "Irn-Bru is a long-standing supporter of Scottish football and we continue to support the game across all four SPFL divisions.

"Irn-Bru is available in both England and Scotland, so as part of our long-term growth strategy, it's important that we raise awareness of the Irn-Bru brand across the UK."

Adrian Troy, head of marketing at AG Barr, added: "Irn-Bru has always been a big supporter of football but this landmark deal signals our biggest season yet.

"We're delighted to be partnering with The Football League to build on the popularity of our brand in England and to share our passion for football with fans and their communities right across the country.

Ben Wright, commercial director at The Football League, said: "Having seen the strength and personality of Irn-Bru's activation history, we felt a partnership would deliver the perfect fit, and activation platform, to drive the visibility and engagement of both brands to fans right across the country."

The Football League said the new partnership was "the biggest ever for Irn-Bru in terms of its scale and enhances Irn-Bru's rich heritage of sports sponsorship which also includes the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL)".