Four amateur teams that are all about the vibes
In amateur football community, culture and creativity are everything.
Here is a short collection of some of the teams and clubs who have influenced my perspectives and ideas towards my own work, and I believe deserve to be celebrated.
Cacahuètes Sluts
Founded by Fati Rouina in Paris in 2012, Cacahuètes Sluts are pioneers in amateur football and one of the first teams I came across that truly understood the power and influence a simple football team can have.
“I created Cacahuètes Sluts around 12 years ago because I wanted to be more represented in football – as Arab, as a lesbian, as someone who loves fashion and is also interested in music, culture, and skateboarding. In the last two years, it's become a community collective that makes cultural and artistic events around football.”
They also make some of the best football kits out there—their psychedelic shirt from 2016 still draws attention whenever I wear it—and Fati understands that great art direction, community building, and promoting self-expression can have a huge impact on the football world.
A.S. Velasca
“It is not a football club, it’s not a work of art, it’s all that at once”, they say. And they’re absolutely right.
Founded in 2015 in Milan, A.S. Velasca is considered to be a Gesamtkunstwerk (a total work of art), and according to FIFA, the "most artistic football club in the world". There are two wings of the club: the classic football organisation (players, coaches, and other staff) and the artistic side which curates all elements of the aesthetic experience watching and cheering for the team.
Velasca caught my eye some years ago with their commitment to infusing artistic ideas within their football identity. Among their coolest ideas are bespoke tickets for every match, a handmade substitution board, and tactical instructions based on Brian Eno’s ‘Oblique Strategies’. Weird? Yes. Fun? Very.
Velasca are challenging the way you can form and run a football club, collecting like-minded people to build and enact vision that is uniquely yours. They deserve immense credit for the work they have done.
Lewes FC
I’m cheating a bit by including Lewes FC here, as they’re technically semi-professional, but their approach as a club is a beacon of hope for the kind of football world I’d love to see.
Based in the small town of Lewes in England, the club operates with a unique model built around collective ownership and a strong commitment to gender equality. Their ability to galvanise and celebrate the town they belong to is genuinely inspiring, and they view the football club as more than just a team—it’s the heartbeat of the community, a movement, and a vehicle for societal change.
Lewes’ Impact Report outlines the ways they have done this—and should be a blueprint for any club wanting to make an impact in the modern football world.
FC Abalos
Founded in 2022, FC Abalos are proof that a team can pop up—seemingly out of nowhere—and make a serious impact in a short space of time through authenticity and collective effort.
I discovered the club on a trip to Athens via the Athens Football Festival. And while I never actually got to meet with them or see them play, by following their Instagram page I quickly got the impression of team that puts enjoyment and creativity at the heart of their identity.
They turn matchdays into social events with music and tattoo workshops, design vibrant and meaningful football kits and merch, and create a genuinely authentic atmosphere that fosters joy and connection in the Athens football community. Their impact extends beyond Athens too, as the club has organised festivals and tours in Athens, Paris, and Milan with other great clubs like Calcetto Eleganza and Cacahuètes Sluts.
You truly can make an impact as a new amateur club and FC Abalos are a testament to this. They’re also the clearest indicator (in case you needed it) of the untapped potential of—and demand for—women’s football all over the world.