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Remember the soccer team that went viral after releasing a tuxedo-themed kit? Perhaps you’ve seen the stir caused by a muscular uniform that made players look like characters in a medical school textbook? Or even the club that fielded a team of players all dressed up as the Hulk? Well, behind some of the most infamous, daring, and eye-catching outfits in football is a former player turned visionary kit designer.
His name is Juan Francisco Martin Fresneda, 49, a television executive in Castile and Leon, Spain, who imagined Cultural Leonesa’s swimsuit that looks like a tuxedo and a bow tie and Palencia’s “Skinless” Human Torso Band. Astorga’s design that looked like Dr.Bruce Banner post-transformation and Zamora’s representation of the human circulatory system are also of his creation. Upon release, the kits took to social media and provided much needed financial boost to clubs well below Spain’s glamorous elite.
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Martin is no stranger to the struggles of semi-professional teams. He played for several clubs in the lower leagues of Spain, such as his hometown team Gimnastica Segoviana, Melilla, Lorca and Murcia, even reaching the level of the third division Segunda Division B. His breakthrough in the world of the Kit design took place in 2014 when it was consulted by Cultural Leonesa, which was on the verge of financial ruin and was desperate for fundraising ideas.
“The designs for the kits were born out of necessity,†Martin told ESPN. “Necessity is the mother of invention. I was the manager of Leon TV in 2014 and Cultural was having a dramatic time, they had big debts and were on the verge of disbandment. I was working with their board of directors. as a consultant. “
Martin’s background in marketing helped him come up with the original idea for the tuxedo shirt. The kit was an undisputed success, attracting the kind of global attention that is rarely given to lower leagues in Spain, and from there other clubs have come to seek its advice.
“When someone is involved in the world of creativity, there is no limit, but neither do you have to force them,†he says. “I have a few ideas but I have to wait for someone to understand them and want them. We are in a project to get into basketball and there are other things that I am working on. I am convinced that in the near future In the future, all clubs – including Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Bayern Munich – are going to have to create a third original kit to sell because we are in the survival world. way of telling stories.
“There are three types of shirts: beautiful ones made by Nike and Adidas; those looking for publicity, like Guijuelo’s [a Spanish club who gained fame for their jersey that appeared to be covered in ham]; and those that play with emotions, which are the ones I suggest. I have the idea of ​​the emotional shirt I would design for Madrid and Barca and I’m sure he would sell millions of kits. It is not about colors, but about emotions. I can’t give any clues because otherwise they would copy them to me … Look, Atletico Madrid fans are going to buy the Atletico shirt regardless of the design. But if you can manage to make a jersey that tells stories … and maybe have an emotional connection with the club, the sales would increase tenfold. “
Martin’s relationship with football grew out of personal tragedy, and his involvement in football is a way for him to give something back.
“My life is a bit like the ones you see in the movies,†he says. “When I was 17 my family died in a traffic accident and I was left alone with my father. It was a dramatic situation and football helped me a lot, he gave me the family that I didn’t have a reason to live. I understood football as a school of values ​​and I entered the world of football as a coach and I was also a member of the board of directors of my club natal, Gimnastica Segoviana. “
Here is the story of Martin’s unique kit designs, in his own words.
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Cultural Leonesa (2014-15)
Currency: “Cultural, the most elegant football team”
Background: “They had big debts and were about to dissolve. I was working with their board as a consultant. It was the club’s 90th anniversary and a night in our WhatsApp group, I said j “had a half-idea that could change their fortunes. I asked,“ What do you think if Cultural went out in a tuxedo on his 90th birthday? â€There were jokes, many didn’t see it as a good idea. J spoke with Hummel [Cultural’s kit manufacturer at the time] and at first they had doubts, but they offered me an idea. They showed me a drawing and to be honest it was very ugly. I didn’t like it, but the idea worked. We have made some minor changes. The idea was to tailor a black shirt and with some sort of sticker to make it look like a tuxedo. The final design didn’t look much nicer, but it got the effect I was looking for. “
Impact: “Within 24 hours, there was an absolute avalanche of information around the world. Information on all five continents. We went from meetings on how to tackle debt to seeing which of the nine board members to administration would be free to speak on Japanese or German TV. We sold between 4,000 and 5,000 kits. The problem was that no one had anticipated such success and Hummel was not ready to respond to the need. We could not meet all demands Remember, Cultural was in the third division and in a normal season only the 20 or 30 biggest fans would buy the jersey.
“In 2014, we created this jersey and the Qatari group Aspire bought the club the following year. [when the club released updated home and away editions of their tuxedo kits]. And before them, other people came with an interest in sponsoring the club. “
“There were criticisms – there were people who said the club lost their identity with this shirt. There was a time when Cultural played against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey [they lost 13-2 on aggregate]. I told them ‘if you go out in the tuxedo shirt at the Bernabeu, with half the planet watching the game, you would sell 50,000 kits.’ But the club prioritized his identity and played in the original shirt. “
CD Palencia (2015-16)
Currency: “Leave the skin”
Background: “A colleague I played with in Lorca called me and told me that Palencia had serious financial problems. They were running the [fourth-tier Tercera Division] table, but worried that they would not be able to play the promotion phase of the season because the players were not being paid.
“When I was playing there was a motto in the world of football, ‘we left our skin on the pitch’ [a popular Spanish phrase meaning ‘to give your all’], so the idea of ​​muscles came up. It was difficult because the players didn’t believe it. They were owed two months’ wages, were two months away from playing the promotion playoffs and demanded money or threatened to strike.
“I asked one of the shirt sponsors, Ingenova, to invest some money after seeing the success of the cultural tuxedo kit. I told them that if they supported this idea it would be spread around the world. They gave the club a loan for all the money that was owed so they could continue. “
Impact: “We had a big event to present the kit – with the tuxedo we did a pathetic presentation, it was just a press conference. I learned from that, and with Palencia we did a spectacular presentation. 12:15 pm we were trending, reporters all over the world were calling, there were hundreds of inquiries. Kappa predicted they would sell 200 shirts and in just one hour they were all sold. Palencia was promoted to the Segunda Division B. “
Atlético Astorga (2017-18)
Currency: “The incredible Astorga”
Background: “I wanted to do a second version of Palencia’s muscle kit. I thought of something stronger, like The Hulk. I thought of the teams in the area playing in green and I remembered Astorga. I met the club president and made him an offer She told me it was interesting, but that we had to create a brand like we did with the others. So we came up with “The Incredible Astorga â€, in reference to the Hulk.
“I pointed out to them that the most important aspect was the disclosure, and we made a spectacular presentation at Gaudi Palace. The presentation was better than the shirt! The shirt is arguably the weakest of the four in terms of identity, but the presentation was spectacular, with the players appearing through a wall. “
Impact: “We started to get requests from Japan, China … the big TV stations swallowed up the small town of Astorga. It was impressive. Astorga made the promotion playoffs, but didn’t. increased because they lost their final match. “
– Order the jersey via the official Atletico Astorga website
Zamora CF (2018-19)
Currency: “Blood, sweat and tears”
Background: “Zamora was in a dire situation. They owed around € 700,000 and were in the third division. I knew people who were willing to invest in a football club. They looked at Zamora and I told them that a very nice kit would attract attention. I told them the kit would be titled “Blood, Sweat and Tears.†It is based on Zamora’s heart and the path the blood takes around her body. made a presentation and they liked it.
Impact: “It was a huge success. The two best [kits] in terms of impact were the Cultural tuxedo and the Zamora kit. Personally, I think it is the most beautiful. Zamora did not progress in the 2018-19 season, but they did manage to achieve some stability and were promoted to Segunda’s B Division the following campaign.
“Somehow all four clubs improved over the following years. Cultural was in the third division and they were promoted twice and even played in the Segunda division, Astorga played the playoffs and Palencia and Zamora have been promoted. “
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