How to brand a football club

While we understand that often your main focus remains on the game itself, there is no doubt that your football team and club is a brand within its own right, a brand that your fans, sponsors and club members feel an affinity with. That’s why branding is so important, regardless of the stature of your football club or team, to generate a positive rapport not only between team members, but a much wider audience that invests time and money into your team. 

Whether you’re a dad’s n’ lad’s 5-a-side team or an established professional league team with a big following, looking the part can be crucial to your success. In this post we outline various creative ways to brand your football club that will appeal to the masses and why you should be doing it. 

Firstly, let’s talk about why it’s so important for your football club to take on the form of a brand and the benefits that doing so can have. 

Identity

In a sea of thousands of other football teams all competing against one another, it’s important to make your club stand out. While we know fans are often assured to come along simply because they love the sport and reside in the area your team is based, it’s still important to make your team known for having its own flair. Creating a club that has ‘something’ about it can make it much easier to attract new fans, players and even investment - it’s about making people want to be part of something bigger, and that something is your team. 

Loyalty

Loyal fans can make or break a football club, so ensuring your brand is up to scratch to retain their loyalty is key. It’s human nature to lean toward supporting brands that share our values and that we feel are similar to ourselves, so you should be shouting about the great things that your football club is doing and encouraging your fans to back you. By branding your team well, you offer your fans the opportunity to truly identify with your brand. 

Value

The way you present your club not only benefits the fans, but your team too. Appearing like a professional, well thought-out brand with solid values and even more solid branding can make the perception of your team’s value a lot higher. This doesn’t mean you have to spend lots of cash though, as this can be done through core values, messaging and integrity. By creating a brand that is consistent and unique, whether this is done through marketing or reflected by the team itself, you can begin to gain wider traction as a bigger club.

So, how can your football team achieve these benefits through branding? 

The Kit

Of course, your team needs to look the part. Not only this, but your team’s kits (both home and away) need to be kits that your fans want to wear when showing their support. This means that design, colour and quality should be your top priority when it comes to creating your team kit. 

You also need to ensure that the design of your kit is custom to your club and stands out so that anyone viewing the kit can instantly recognise it as belonging to your team. Are there any specific colours your club particularly has an affinity with? What about your team logo and crest? Can you take motifs from the logo and build it out further into the kit?

We know that if you’re not a designer by nature, it can be difficult to truly visualise the way you want your team’s kit to look. That’s why we’ve built a top-notch kit designer for you to put your vision into reality and build your team’s football kit in a really simple way. Mock up a kit and see what it will really look like, then have us do the work to get it ready for you for the big season ahead - it’s that easy. 

Using your own ideas, colours and logos, you can begin to piece together a kit that will stand out. Remember when creating your kit to keep your key stakeholders in mind at all times, including your sponsors, players, staff, fan base and more, as the design of your kit takes us back to the identity impact mentioned above.

Creating a football strip that you and your fans can be proud of, and really recognise your team by your design, is a great way to get them talking about your club as a whole. Be sure your design is one that will become a classic, as you’ll need to keep your kit consistent throughout the years to establish it as your own.

The Club

A football club is more than just the team that goes out on the pitch. As soon as you start looking for or engaging with sponsors and staff it soon becomes a business, and treating it as such is paramount to success.

There are many ways to use your branding to attract sponsors. Be clear about your audience’s demographic and psychographic, this is the best way for potential sponsors / investors to determine whether their offering is relevant to put in front of your audience. Turn your brand into a story, how did the team begin? What is your team’s mission and main goals? The better you can tell the story of your brand and what it’s all about, the more opportunity you provide to sponsors to want to get involved. Don’t be afraid to sell the benefits of working with your team or club, build awareness of your team / club and let people know you’re in the market for sponsorship.

Remember that sponsorship is a two-way street, so think about what you are able to offer them. How will you promote what they do? Will you incorporate their logos into your kit? Can you advertise their brand both on and offline? Ensure you have a solid proposition together to effectively pitch to potential sponsors.

Bear this in mind when you’re working on your team or club’s branding. This also works to attract investment and sponsorship; knowing that your a club that your fans truly identify with and love can encourage those in higher places to financially support your team. Knowing that you have a strong brand and following can be attractive to other businesses when it comes to working with you, as it enables them to draw on this too. 

Ensure that your branding is consistent across all areas of your football business both online and offline, with your crest and logo displayed on any physical buildings associated with your team or club, on your website and social media channels, and be sure to keep a strong tone of voice that reflects your football brand’s ‘personality’.

The Culture

This is where your brand personality, tone of voice and core values come into play. As a football club it is absolutely essential to create something that people want to be part of, a true community.

Ensure that there is a forum for your fans and players to express their views and opinions, and take these on board in your plans and approach for upcoming seasons. It can be so frustrating for fans to feel like they’re not being heard by their club, so creating a place for them to get in touch can really help build morale. This can be done annually through AGM meetings and year-round through social channels. Start the conversation and listen to what people have to say.

If your club has a following, then after a match, you can often gather from the atmosphere how fans are feeling regarding performance and both on and outside of match days you can see plenty of feedback on social media channels that can be used to improve the club's brand. Some criticism might be hard to swallow, but tap into this source - it’s free after all!

Need help with getting your team’s brand together? We specialise in creating unique team kits and teamwear bespoke to your football team, get in touch with us today.