First division football club FC Emmen and sex toy company EasyToys have decided to end their relationship after this season, four years after they first started working together.

“We’ve decided to stop at a high point,” EasyToys founder Eric Idema, who was born in the Drenthe town, told broadcaster NOS. “But we are not letting go altogether and FC Emmen remains our club.”

EasyToys became FC Emmen’s main sponsor in 2000 much to the anger of the Dutch football association which did not want the logo for an erotic webship on the club’s shirts, a dispute which generated massive publicity for the company.

“We’ve broken the taboos… and established it is quite normal for a sports club and a company like ours to work together,” Idema said. “It has been a very positive relationship for us.”

FC Emmen was relegated from the Eredivisie last season and is currently in 10th place in the second tier competition, well off a promotion place.

The KNVB said at the time the deal was ‘inappropriate’ because football must be accessible for young and old, even though it had been agreed the youth teams would not wear shirts advertising the sponsor.

Club officials also questioned the KNVB’s opposition to the deal, which had been given the ok by the advertising standards commission, given the high number of gambling firms allowed to sponsor shirts.