The 'Pier Luigi Penzo' stadium is the symbol of the complex relationship between football and the city of Venice. It's in the same condition as other architectural symbols of the city: surrounded by water, in the Sant'Elena district, in front of the Biennale. Football and the sea have never been well matched, but the uniqueness of playing football on an island of one of the most beautiful cities in the world has a charm immune to a troubled history, such this one, made of few wins, but also made of an attraction for the Laguna that today makes Venezia FC one of the most aesthetically interesting clubs in the world.
For this reason canals, palaces and glimpses of Venice, photographed for nss sports by Ethan White, are the protagonists of the new digital cover of nss sports. The aesthetic of a unique city that intersects with the one of a team that is young and exciting both in the field and in the management, a demonstration that contemporary football is not just a sporting affair, as already explained by Tiemoué Bakayoko in the first digital cover of nss sports.
Youssef Maleh is one of the main talents of the arancioneroverdi team and, in September, he started playing with Italy under 21. We meet him on a bright morning on the pier of San Marco. Youssef represents the new sports scene linked to both football dynamics and off the pitch features. A modernity that lives in the relationship between the game and the context, in which players like Marcus Rashford or Hector Bellerin are not only athletes, but leading voices for new generations on crucial issues such as climate change and racism. Youssef also has a vision in this sense: "In the field we are all equal and we speak the same language, the universal one of the ball. Many footballers are working to spread the principle of equality and the fight against racism: I believe that these are fundamental concepts and must be teach also to children. Football, with its voice, has the task of raising awareness of these very important issues".
The main key to the renewal of the Venezia FC's image is the aesthetic evolution of the arancioneroverde brand, whose match kits have made by Nike since 2014. The club's relationship with Swoosh has grown over time, and is a link that makes Venezia FC one of the ‘Premium’ teams of the American brand this year. Venezia FC has an important tradition in the aesthetics of the shirts - always distinguished in the way they represent the club colors - that over the years have amazed for their innovative templates, such as those made by Virma or the Home jersey of the '93 football season. The dedication to style is in the DNA of the club and is perfectly linked to the needs of the modern marketing needs. Indeed, Venice is a key city: a worldwide tourist site whose essence is also exploited in football. So, the elegance of the artistic capital, the colors of the palaces, the art of the museums are reflected in the new football brand of the city, and it's a bond felt directly by the protagonists, as Maleh tells: "In Venice we have the opportunity to represent the most beautiful city in the world, it is a great honour to be the flag-bearer of such a prestigious place. President Niederauer (major shareholder, ed.) always reminds it to us: we are proud to have such an important role".
Also for this reason, the Italian club is considered prestigious and with an international dimension, all features coming from the charm of being the football team of Venice and, moreover, to count on other key factors such as their partnership with foreign companies, the American ownership and even the Italian sports culture of the late Nineties (when Sergio Volpi and Alvaro Recoba played for Venezia FC and the team was in Serie A). The link with fashion that Venezia FC had years before it became a popular phenomenon is another point of international visibility; an example is the scarf made in partnership with the New York collective Nowhere F.C., produced in 2017 and presented with a shooting in New York City. This international dimension is a leading factor for the club, which has relied on an American company for a better and accurate communication. The art direction of Venezia FC is led by the New York agency Fly Nowhere, so brand, marketing, creative strategies and merch planning are followed and planned between New York and Venice. This choice is important to reach a fairly status in a (no longer) restricted market - that of the niche of football fashion - and that allows Venezia FC to get even a more international visibility. The VFC Air project brings international artists to the Laguna, and it contributes too to improving the international dimension of the team.
The new image of Venezia FC has created an already seen binomial - for example the 2020-21 three kits of AC Milan, with references to the city of Milan - but with an aesthetic work that emphasizes the niche reality of the football team. In this way, a Venezia F.C. footballer feels in a more exciting football atmosphere, which mitigates the fact of playing in low categories (Serie B) and makes he understands that he's not playing for Venezia FC, but for the city of Venice, like a world-class club. A global dimension that Maleh is experiencing in recent months. In addiction, in September he has been called up for the first time with the Italy under 21 squad and that is leading him to have more contact with the international reality. "Wearing the Azzurri shirt is a dream come true. I managed to reach it and two months after my debut I also scored my first goal with Italy! It was a unique emotion. About playing for a club, I would like to get as high as possible with Venezia FC and get great satisfaction with the arancioneroverdi shirt, and maybe one day, to reach with this club the Serie A". A top category that, aesthetically and by its own way, Venezia FC has already reached.
