Loughborough Futsal Club gains new identity

Marking the 10th Anniversary of the introduction of futsal in Loughborough, the teams playing under Loughborough Futsal Club, in the FA National Futsal Leagues, will share a new and exciting identity. The new branding includes a new badge and new kit colours, both inspired in Loughborough traditions but intently looking to the future.

Loughborough Futsal Club chairman and IFA Academy Manager Idafe Pérez Jiménez, explains the move.

In recent years, out of the complexity of the programmes structure here in Loughborough, the Super League team has suffered from some indetermination. Many people, often even some belonging to our own setup, can’t get their head around where the team fits in the picture. Is it part of the Students Club, as it always was? Has it been absorbed by the IFA?

Between all parts involved we concluded there was a need to visually clarify this, and decided, synchronised with the start of the new FA Futsal Super League, to give teams competing within the National Leagues a common and separate identity whilst respecting the links to our history.

Loughborough Students Futsal chairman Matthew Lawson offers a view from the student side.

I firmly believe that this rebranding will provide a clear statement that the Loughborough Futsal club has its own unique branding whilst still resembling the base that supports it from both the university side and the IFA. The rebranding itself has included the committee on the student side as an equal voice in the process, and the Loughborough Futsal Club will always have the continual support from every level within the Students Futsal Club. The importance of representing the Loughborough Futsal Club from the student side cannot be understated, with this new branding, players will be more determined than ever to climb through the teams to have the opportunity to represent Loughborough futsal at the highest levels. The University side will remain as the main pathway into the Super League side. The partnership between the student setup and the IFA has already shown promise in the previous season and I am certain that this rebranding will strengthen the relationship between the two futsal clubs, and provide a base to continually improve in the future, long after I am gone!

The history behind it

Futsal in Loughborough started in 2007. The setup has evolved hugely since those times, and now, marking the 10th Anniversary of this inception, the national competitions end of the programme gets its own and new identity.

Born Loughborough University Futsal, as part of the Loughborough Football setup, futsal was initially a playtime for players of Loughborough Students Association Football club. Within a few years, the critical mass of people doing only futsal and the success of the programme granted the creation of a futsal specific Club, Loughborough Students Futsal Club, a dominating force in University competitions and soon a consolidated team in the National League system. The further growth of futsal, and leaning heavily in the Students Club, the International Futsal Academy was created to provide a comprehensive development programme for players that wanted to take their futsal to a new level whilst studying Higher Education.

The difficulties of running a team in national competitions from a Students Club are undeniable. This further forged the alliance between Loughborough Students and the IFA, who partnered together to become the two pillars that sustained Loughborough Futsal Club in the FA Futsal Super League when it was introduced. Loughborough Students Futsal Club and Loughborough Futsal are hence twin brothers, that currently compete in the BUCS competitions and the National Leagues respectively. In the meantime, the IFA remains Britain’s leading futsal development programme and continues to provide players to both parts of the setup. Still aiming to become a futsal reference national, it is also the coaching provider for both setups and, when projects in the pipeline consolidate, to other programmes in the country and abroad.

Loughborough Futsal Club’s home colours will be plain white, adopting the colour of the away kits of both Loughborough Students and the IFA. The Club’s away kit and goalkeepers home attire will be all red, like the new badge, whilst the third kit will be blue, in reminiscence to the colours of the team when it started playing in the foundational National League as Loughborough University.

Aidan Shields, who graduated Design in July and has played for Loughborough in BUCS and the National League since he joined the University 4 years ago, designed Loughborough Futsal Club’s new  identity.

Why this badge? What’s the inspiration?

This badge I hope reflects Loughborough’s desire to innovate, push boundaries and be one of the pioneers in British Futsal. The inspiration behind this is an accumulation of what I see everyday in the world of brand, with particular consideration given to how the brand identity of sports teams is changing direction.

What are the main elements of the new Loughborough Futsal badge?

To try and achieve a clean, bold identity, the badge has been stripped down to three elements: one segment in the form of an ‘L’ and the other two as the two horizontal strips of an ‘F’. These stand for Loughborough Futsal, and combined they give the form of a traditional shield.

How does it fit within modern branding trends?

In recent times brand leaders are taking greater notice of the finer details. Juventus, Manchester City and Liverpool, to name a few, have revamped their brand identities these last few years and all wear a new badge on their shirts than they did several years ago. The changes teams are making to their badges specifically, is to modernise.

Today, modernising means cleaning up the badge, removing the unnecessary and creating something as clear and crisp as possible, keeping in touch with tradition and creating an identity that will ultimately look good. The clearer and crisper the badge, the more memorable the brand is in the mind of the world. This helps build a stronger brand identity.

The most drastic development of this type is the Juventus rebrand. This change was scrutinised by groups of fans since it cut ties with tradition and history associated with the old badge. One thing is certain though, when I heard “Juventus FC” last year I thought of black and white stripes and sort of classic oval badge. Now I will envisage black and white stripes and the new badge with clarity. To add to that I now see them as an innovator in the footballing world, moving forward and wanting to be at the forefront of football’s future. Hopefully this new brand identity can achieve something similar.

What does Loughborough Futsal mean to you from a personal point of view? Did this personal relationship with the Club help you to design its new identity?

Loughborough Futsal means two things to me: “futsal family” and a determination to succeed that I’ve not experienced anywhere else. These are things too complex to convey in a badge alone, but I’ve also seen first hand the club’s determination to push boundaries and take futsal in this country to new levels. The group’s innovative nature is what helped direct this design, as I wanted the club’s brand identity to match its determination to innovate and break the norm a little.

Loughborough Futsal Club teams in the FA Futsal Super League, the FA National League Division 2 and the FA Women’s National Futsal League will be wearing the new colours and badge from the start of the 2017/18 season, and the lborofutsal.com website is undergoing redevelopment to be launched when the first Super League fixture takes place against York City on 1st October.