In a graphic Euros campaign, Wonderhood Studios highlights how migration has shaped football

The campaign, titled Football Moves People, hopes to spark conversation around migration and is displayed on billboards and pub screens nationwide.

Date
21 June 2021

The Euros are well underway, and coinciding with the kick off is the release of a new campaign from Migration Museum – a design-led project highlighting how migration has shaped the sport. Created with Wonderhood Studios and in conjunction with Find My Past, Sports Interactive, Goal Click and SetPlay App, the campaign, titled Football Moves People, will be running throughout the summer’s European Championships and displayed on billboards and pub screens in cities nationwide.

The campaign turns a focus onto the fact that all 24 nations this year have players competing outside of their home countries, while more than half of the England squad has at least one parent or grandparent born outside of the UK. What’s more, is that the game itself was originally exported around the world by emigrants from the British Isles. “It’s no exaggeration to say that without migration, football as we know it wouldn’t exist,” explains Robyn Kasozi, head of public engagement at the Migration Museum, in the press release. “But migration has shaped far more than just football. It goes to the heart of who we all are, where we come from and where we’re going – as individuals, as communities and as nations. It’s time to put migration at the heart of our national conversations, and with tens of millions of us watching the Euros this summer, where better to start than with football.”

As such, the posters present the diverse family roots of key England players like Raheem Sterling and Harry Kane. Along with a mix of colour palettes and bold graphics by Wonderhood Studios, the campaign highlights what the England line-ups and results would look like without first, second and third generation immigrants. “We wanted to mimic the visual style we’re used to seeing in the world of football news,” says Ads Dechaud, creative at Wonderhood Studios, who states how the identity itself is inspired by the “player’s immigration heritage”.

Additionally, the campaign presents player histories and personal stories through interactive trivia and quizzes, detailing how the movement of people to and from the UK has impacted football. There’s also a window display at Lewisham Shopping Centre that celebrates South London’s football heroes, as nominated by the local community on social media.

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Wonderhood Studios: Football Moves People, made with Migration Museum. England vs Croatia scoreline (Copyright © Wonderhood Studios, 2021)

This isn’t the first time Wonderhood Studios has created a campaign of this kind. During the 2018 World Cup, the studio teamed with Migration Museum to create graphics illustrating what England’s starting line-up for the first group against Tunisia would look like without first and second generation immigrants. The graphic was displayed on digital advertising screens across England and on social, with over half a million views on Facebook. This time around, Football Moves People is on a much larger scale and places migration at the heart of the conversation.

“The movement of people to and from Britain is such a huge part of shaping who we are today,” adds Wonderhood Studios creative Phil LeBrun in the release. “We are excited to work on this project with the Migration Museum to positively reappraise what migration means through something as relatable as football.”

Football Moves People will be running across social media for the duration of the men’s Euros, from 11 June – 11 July 2021.

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Wonderhood Studios: Football Moves People, made with Migration Museum. Poster overview (Copyright © Wonderhood Studios, 2021)

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Wonderhood Studios: Football Moves People, made with Migration Museum (Copyright © Wonderhood Studios, 2021)

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Wonderhood Studios: Football Moves People, made with Migration Museum. Poster overview (Copyright © Wonderhood Studios, 2021)

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Wonderhood Studios: Football Moves People, made with Migration Museum. Starters pair (Copyright © Wonderhood Studios, 2021)

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Wonderhood Studios: Football Moves People, made with Migration Museum. Migration starting lineups formations (Copyright © Wonderhood Studios, 2021)

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About the Author

Ayla Angelos

Ayla is a London-based freelance writer, editor and consultant specialising in art, photography, design and culture. After joining It’s Nice That in 2017 as editorial assistant, she was interim online editor in 2022/2023 and continues to work with us on a freelance basis. She has written for i-D, Dazed, AnOther, WePresent, Port, Elephant and more, and she is also the managing editor of design magazine Anima. 

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