It was a football shirt summer. The Lionesses won back-to-back women’s Euros in kits girls clamoured over, the Oasis tour spawned countless football-adjacent merch, Admiral’s Spice Girls jersey swiftly sold out, and the Bend It Like Beckham sequel announcement thrilled just about everyone.
But in a crowd of mass-produced club-shop stock and an increasingly expensive vintage market, it’s the shirts of London’s amateur women’s teams that have become most coveted.
Back in 2020, I was part of a photo series spotlighting Romance FC’s new black, blue and fuchsia jersey, made in collaboration with Human Race FC, Pharrell Williams and Adidas Football. I wore mine with pride, happy to champion the original women’s grassroots football collective – a genuinely lovely and inclusive community of creatives in east London who’ve been forging opportunities for women and non-binary people on and off the pitch since 2012.
“A non-player who chooses to buy a jersey from a women’s grassroots club is not only supporting a meaningful cause,” says founder and manager Trisha Lewis, “but showing up for the community by investing in their existence”. Plus, you’re helping overcome barriers like pitch-hire hikes.
It was the Romance FC design – adapted from Adidas jerseys from the late ’80s and early ’90s – that put London’s amateur women’s team shirts on the map. Others like Whippets FC and Peaches FC followed suit, creating a welcome income stream with bolder and more experimental kits.
“Inter Melanin had a clear colour palette rationale: the brown represented the team being by and for people of colour, and the orange, yellow and purple are key parts of their branding,” explains Offside Outlet founder Ayesha Brown, who teamed up with the football team to make its current ombre apparel.
A “bunny-dragon hybrid, framed by lotus and spirals, which embodies strength, peace and core community” is at the heart of the Asian-heritage team Baes FC’s recent rebrand, led by desginers Clau Gemperle and Alina Sato.
“Women’s amateur teams represent what is happening on the ground, and it’s exciting to support real independent creativity away from layers of corporate filter,” says Baes FC founder, Nicole Chui.
Here’s our pick of the coolest from the capital’s current crop.
##North London: Hells Bells
This kit is literally and graphically fire.
##South London: Inter Melanin
Designed to complement melanin-rich skin tones first.
##East London: Peachy Den
These clean kits exude the brand’s It-girl attitude.
##West London: Shepherds Booters
Ride the wave with this aqua and white beauty.
This story originally appeared in Broadsheet* London's first print issue.*
