In the midst of one of the biggest football tournaments taking place in summer 2021, we launched “The land of New Football” – a campaign I produced that celebrates and highlights the power of everyday footballers and their way of pushing football forward by playing on their own terms. It articulates a new vision for global football. And that future can’t be pinned down to just one thing. The sport’s future is full of talent, stacked with players who bring incredible skills to the game. It’s inclusive, open to all backgrounds in support of young players finding joy in the sport, and it’s aware of the power of collective work against systemic obstacles.
In the 90-second hero film, we imagined all the football pitches in the world stitched to one another forming a gigantic piece of land, from where the new generation of players declare their independence from the old ways of the game. The film features a wide variety of athletes, from professional footballers like Marcus Rashford, Sara Däbritz and Richarlison, to JJ Roble, the UK’s first Muslim referree, and local football communities around Europe like Alesia FC in France or Football Beyond Borders in the UK.
Further to the film, we produced our own weekly news show “New Football News”, where we reacted to the best football content inside and outside of the tournament throughout the campaign. Welcome to the Land of New Football. It’s everyone’s to build and play – no matter who you are, where you’re from, or how long you’ve been in the game.