With the women’s euros underway, Sludge magazine have teamed up with Art of Football [AoF] and artist Ayesha Brown to create a special shirt that celebrates the growth of the women’s game.
The women’s game is currently enjoying the full focus of Europe’s attention as we thirst for any action on the pitch in the absence of regular domestic football. Using this unprecedented level of attention as a springboard to celebrate the work of a number of women who have broadened the scope of women’s football, Sludge Magazine, an online platform centred around making politics palatable to young people, have gone about recruiting a team to create a special football shirt.
Designed by Ayesha Brown, the founder of Offside Outlet and manufactured by [AoF], the shirt features a proper retro vibe in recognition of the “classic moments” in football that the game was robbed of, mainly due to women’s football being banned in the U.K. for half a century between 1951-1961.
As well as that proper throwback collar and the presence of “Sludge” in the sponsor slot, a custom crest has been created featuring Brown’s mantra for Women’s Football, “Say less, listen more”.
The shirt is the focal point of a wider campaign that brought together women working across the sport and political landscape from different backgrounds in a celebration of the upcoming women’s Euros to show how they are all navigating obstacles and thriving in their fields.
The women photographed as part of this campaign are Nadia Whittomme, Amie Cripps and Um-E-Aymen Babar. Nadia is Britain’s youngest MP and an avid Forest fan who galvanised the Nottingham community around supporting the team and has bred a sense of togetherness around the club. She is an important figure in her community and an active member of the LGBTQ+ community campaigning for trans-rights.
Amie is a women’s football editor and has used her platform to bravely challenge misogyny within the game and highlight how the sporting landscape is intricately woven with the political scenes across the world.
Um-E-Aymen is a journalist working at the intersection of race, class and sport exploring the nuanced realities of ethnic minorities across the U.K. She is using sport as a tool to instigate change in the media.
Creative direction, photography and styling by Martyn Ewoma
Assistant styling by Jewel Kaye
Shoot assisted by Chintu Lamba
Head to art-of-football.com to pick up the Sludge x [AoF] shirt
