Leith Athletic Paolozzi

Leith Athletic FC are a huge, inclusive force within the local community. One of the many positive results of their outreach over last few years has been an unprecedented growth within their Women and Girl’s section. Unfortunately, this growth comes with financial implications. The cost of new equipment, as well as the fees involved in establishing new teams within a league system, can prove to be a real challenge for community clubs. To cover this shortfall, they needed new initiatives that could generate some much-needed funding.

It was agreed that a limited-edition shirt would celebrate the significance of the club within the local community. World renowned artist, Eduardo Paolozzi, was born and raised in Leith and a few of his family members played for the club. 2024 would have marked the artist's 100th birthday. So, with the blessing of The Paolozzi Foundation, we brought his iconic screenprint patterns into Leith Athletic’s black and white stripes, to create a shirt that celebrated both the club and the local community.

Prior to launching the shirt, a partnership was established with The National Galleries of Scotland, who invited one of the girls teams along - wearing their new kit - for a private viewing of their ‘Paolozzi at 100’ exhibition. The campaign was featured in The Times, The Herald, The Scotsman, Mundial and many more news outlets. This helped us to generate over 500 product sales (shirts and scarves) with orders shipped around the world, including France, The Netherlands, Canada, the USA and Brazil. The club saw a 250% increase in Instagram followers over the course of the campaign and, ultimately, generated over £7000 in funding that went directly towards their goal of providing better opportunities for women and girls within grassroots football.