Last year, when death dominated the headlines with pictures of famous faces, fans of one Scottish club decided to honour one of their own who lost a battle with cancer.
Airdrieonians' new shirt sponsor has gone on to gain publicity around the world, with the Scottish League One club taking orders for the sold-out shirt from as far and wide as America and Australia.
It is the latest in a long line of different charity initiatives around the world, which kicked off when Barcelona first displayed the Unicef logo on their shirt in 2006.
Here we look at a starting 11 of examples of football clubs showing appreciation of being involved in more than just a game.
Airdrieonians
The Diamonds started the 2016/17 season wearing the previous year's strips and once the Under Armour kits arrived they did so without any agreed sponsor.
After Airdrie fan Mark Allison's death in June this year from pancreatic cancer, after raising £70,000 for charities in his final months, the club's supporters' trust decided to step in to help out their team and pay tribute to one of their own.
Club chairman Tom Wotherspoon agreed to the five-figure deal which was "met with the approval of Airdrie fans everywhere" and orders have been received for the shirt from the US to Australia.
It is not the first time the club have had a charity-led jersey, with St Andrews Hospice appearing as the sponsor in previous seasons (and ironically modelled by Motherwell fan Tam Cowan).
Barcelona
The Catalan giants are oft considered to be the leading example as one of the first teams to have a charity shirt sponsor - after being famed as one of the last to include a logo on the front of their shirts.
Despite the drastic change it was well received, in the beginning at least, for promoting a good cause with the Unicef deal agreed way back in 2006.
Since then the club have gone on to be sponsored by Qatar Airways on the front of the shirt but Unicef still carries a presence, with the charity's logo appearing on the back underneath the players' name and numbers.
Aston Villa
The Premier League club (at the time) first started working with the Acorns Children's Hospice in 2006 and two years later it became the club's shirt sponsor.
One of the hospice's three centres is in Birmingham, with two others in Walsall and Worcester.
In the ten years of partnership, the club have reportedly raised enough money for more than 250 days' worth of care for terminally ill children.
Brechin City
From Barcelona to Brechin - the Angus club joined the ranks of the elite by adorning Cancer Research UK on their jerseys.
In 2010, the charity took pride of place on the tops in a tribute to former club chairman David Will and ex-FIFA vice-president, who passed away after a battle with the disease.
The logo remained on the jerseys for two years and the club continue to have a partnership with the charity.
Fiorentina
Another example of a team who remained with classic non-sponsored football jerseys until much later than others, Fiorentina are instantly recognisable in their all-purple kits (even though we have a picture of a white one below).
The Italian side have supported the Save the Children charity since 2010 with the shirt sponsorship proceeds donated to the global movement for a number of years.
Like other examples in this article, while the charity no longer appears on the jerseys the club are still in partnership to help raise funds and awareness for the causes.
Liverpool
Though not a regular shirt sponsor, the Merseyside giants have worn a one-off kit with the Seeing Is Believing charity logo on the front on a number of occasions.
The first of those came in 2011 before repeating the success in 2013 and again this season when playing West Brom.
Tens of thousands of pounds has been raised on each occasion for the blindness charity, in the agreement between the club and the main shirt sponsor, Standard Chartered.
Blyth Spartans
It isn't just the top end of English football that makes charitable donations as lowly Blyth Spartans will testify.
The non-league club linked with Community Foundation Tyne and Wear and Northumberland in 2014 to spread money raised between a number of charities in the local area.
Fans welcomed the club's decision rather than opting for a big pay day sponsor before a cup tie with Birmingham City.
Heart of Midlothian
Another appearance here for Save The Children and this time on the front of a classic and contemporary kit from one of Scotland's capital clubs.
Despite going through financial difficulties only a few years before, Hearts donated the sponsorship to the charity in a "significant seven-figure sum".
It came in the same season Hearts paid tribute to the thousands of contributors who helped save the club in a special Foundation of Hearts third kit.
Rayo Vallecano
This effort from the Spanish side doesn't actually count as the shirt sponsor, however it is in the rainbow sash where the charitable gesture lies.
Each colour represented a battle against a social injustice, with money going to charities in that field, while the rainbow as a whole marked the fight against homophobia.
The colours were: cancer (red), disability (orange), depression (yellow), the environment (green), child abuse (blue) and domestic violence (purple).
Southampton
Scottish charities have also enjoyed benefits from farther afield, with Mary's Meals last season reaching an agreement with English Premier League side Southampton.
The deal only covered the training kits but it was still good exposure, with initial money raised by the club matched by the UK Government.
A funding partnership still exists despite a change in kit supplier, with the Saints Foundation continuing to raise money for hungry children around the world.
Raith Rovers
Most recently, the Kirkcaldy club released their away shirt with a charity sponsor chosen through a competition before this season began.
Myeloma UK appears on the front of the jersey, while a number of charities were recipients of other initiatives in the club including back of jersey sponsorship and other awareness advertising.
Rovers fan Douglas Roberts chose the myeloma charity and it was confirmed on the disease awareness week in June.