July 14, 2022

AOF x Sludge

Sludge magazine is an online platform centred around making politics palatable to young people. The platform engages with writers, artists and creatives from underrepresented backgrounds to showcase their talent, the nuance of their experiences and the impact of their actions. This campaign 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 shirts worn in the campaign were a labour of love, designed by Ayesha Brown, the founder of Offside Outlet and manufactured by Art of Football, a community based football brand.

The classic design of the shirt bears reference to the “classic moments” in women’s football that the game was robbed of. Partly due to women’s football being banned in the U.K. for half a century between 1951-1961. Giving wearers the opportunity to be part of women’s football’s current classic era.

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 the women’s football editor at VERSUS and has popularised the women’s game in the burgeoning football meets music and streetwear space. She 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.

These women’s stories show how sport is used as a blazing defiance for politics, gender equality and race. Their work encompasses, celebrates and questions the many complexities of sport as seen through their own experiences. The jersey is adorned with a custom patch inscribed with Ayesha’s mantra for Women’s Football “Say less, listen more”. This summer's WEUROS will be hosted across England, with the Lionesses tipped for a strong tournament. Off the back of consecutive world record breaking attendance at women’s matches and the prospect of the final being the highest attended Euros final (for any gender) women’s football’s time is definitely now.