Why Design Elements Matter in Football
By Euan Walsh 17th October 2025
MEDIA, CULTURE, & DESIGN
​
“It’s just a stadium, it doesn’t matter how it looks” are the predictable claims of a subsection of football supporters. Similar views are held by some supporters about kits.
​
​
​
The belief is understandable; the visual design of a football shirt does not make players run faster, become luckier in front of goal, or more likely to secure three points at the weekend.
​
Yet, the way ideas about a football club are visually communicated to players, supporters, and wider stakeholders impacts the brand in a much broader sense.
An architecturally stunning stadium undoubtedly transmits visions of not just the economic status of a football club, but its aspirations and how it views itself.
Consciously or subconsciously, the presentation impacts everyone who sets foot in it.
Stadiums with strong design elements uplift those who visit them.
​
​Supporters, who broadly pay the same ticket price irrespective of the venue’s upkeep, feel more valued, energised, and connected when their home ground is something to be proud of and a visual embodiment of the club’s identity. As a result, supporters enter the stadium with anticipation, and they radiate that excitement onto the players on the pitch, who benefit from the energy and positivity.
The consequences extend beyond unquantifiable outbursts of emotion. Clubs such as Cardiff City, Swansea City, and Brighton & Hove Albion have grown their average attendances significantly through building stadiums that architecturally and geographically resonate with their supporters.
The increase in revenue has enabled greater spending on the pitch and a gradual rise through the English lower leagues. It juxtaposes the outcomes of teams that play in stadiums that supporters disapprove of.
​
Whether it’s disgruntled West Ham United supporters, who’ve been forced 5.8km north from their spiritual Upton Park home to a mega, but soulless, 60,000-venue, or a struggling lower-league club without the financial means to improve its ground, its design matters.
​
​
​
​​
While supporters respond to the visual design, upkeep, and communicated identity of football stadiums, it would be naive to think they’re the only influenced parties.
Players, like the majority of the rest of us, are employees and respond to their physical working environments.
Working in a multi-million-pound building that portrays ambition, employee care, and connectivity feels better than badly maintained, ugly, and ageing facilities.
Liverpool’s recently arrived Bayer Leverkusen duo, Florian Wirtz and Jermine Frimpong, were both shown the club’s recently renovated state-of-the-art facilities half a year before they eventually joined the Anfield club.
​
It’s Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: the absence of poorly maintained infrastructure will not directly motivate footballers, but it prevents them from having a bad taste in their mouths as they walk through a rickety player’s entrance.
​
How players feel as they go into work, particularly on match days, is imperative to a team’s success.
If their environment uplifts them, or at least prevents feelings of dissatisfaction, the subconscious benefits are plentiful.
Visual design impacts sponsorships, too. The results of most teams are unpredictable, yet their brand image can remain consistent for several years if its visual design elements are reflective of a genuine identity, uplifting, and aspirational.
Tottenham’s creatively named ‘Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’ is among the most striking venues in world sport. Its appearance could deceive a non-football fan into believing the north London club is a five-time European champion.
That’s among the reasons why Spurs have been able to increase sponsorship revenue considerably since moving to their new stadium in 2019.
Which is why other features, such as football shirts and badges, are more important than some supporters might initially believe.
​
​
​​
Surely only a handful of footballers in history, if any at all, have consciously switched clubs based on the design of a kit, stadium, or badge.
Admittedly, as a 16-year-old, I briefly departed my youth team to join Adidas-wearing rivals, but professional athletes have considerably more important considerations to weigh up when switching clubs.
​
​​
​
Finances, location, playing style, and team role are all influential in a footballer’s transfer decision-making, yet so is a club’s reputation.
Most professionals are well-networked and can call numerous former colleagues for their thoughts on an interested club. Despite the many opinions of others, they’ll still hold their own perceptions of a club’s brand identity.
How are such perceptions formed? Not only through history and trophies, but also contemporary visual representations of the brand through stadiums, kits, badges, and even social media output.
High-production kit commercials, purposeful graphic design, and behind-the-scenes footage can intrigue more than just supporters.
Some modern players will undoubtedly scroll through a club’s social media and YouTube content before joining a new club.
After all, how many of us have scrolled the social media pages of an event, class, or venue before deciding to go?
Footballers are no different. Well-produced behind-the-scenes content can communicate what daily life at that football club looks like, wider visual social media content can subtly demonstrate how a club views itself, if it takes pride in off-field activities, and its financial security.
So, while design doesn’t always impact isolated matches, it certainly plays a role in influencing success over a longer period.
Stadiums that look more appealing attract more fans, who feel happier and generate greater revenue. Kits that appear designed communicate the brand’s purpose and identity, while social media output offers a glimpse to daily life for new players.
Clubs that play in stadiums that fans are proud of are more successful than those that do not
PACE Magazine
By Euan Walsh
​
October, 2024
Goalkeeper.com
By Euan Walsh
​
October, 2024
