Venezia FC's idea of football

It's not just the four beautiful jerseys produced by Kappa, the curiosity that revolves around a newly promoted team every year, the uniqueness of the city, its stadium or its fans that make a team like Venezia so special, but also the many projects undertaken alongside the world of football. It's not surprising, it's part of their DNA, it's something that comes naturally, as Ted Philipakos, Chief Marketing Officer of Venezia, told us. In a world that is rigid and confined to its complex and traditional logics, where it is often thought that football and art cannot live together, the lagunari have found a corner to experiment, leaving space for young creatives, such as the protagonist of the "VFC AiR" project Eric Scaggiante, who will be stationed inside and outside the gates of the Penzo stadium throughout the season, telling the story of the city and the passion of its fans through his lens. Eric's choice is also a symbolic one, says Ted, a choice that communicates that any boy could find his place in his city. 

A project intended to fuse together football and photography, an art form that is more conventional to the football environment, but that later - adds Ted Philipakos - will expand further, remaining always consistent with the idea of Venezia FC to experiment and expand the idea of artistic expression around football and its culture. "The first two residency projects we planned were rooted in documentation, and photography was the right medium. It's an exciting proposal to eventually move into art forms that are not at all conventional in the football environment, and that is already being studied."

Despite initial difficulties, Venezia are proving to be one of the most pleasant surprises in the league and they have shown this during the winter transfer window, signing young players with the stated aim of maintaining their place in Serie A and establishing themselves as a competitive team for the coming years. And the support and appreciation they have received from all over the world is proof of how well the Lagunari manage to perform not only on the pitch, but above all off it. This is also thanks to the fact that Venezia managed to attract a different audience than the typical football fan, and proved that it is not necessary to be at the stadium every weekend to feel attached to a team, as Sonya Kondratenko, media director of the Venetian club, explained. The result has been a more diverse and inclusive community. "We have welcomed people into our world who perhaps previously felt they had no place in football."

The rest was completed by the aesthetics and strong identity of Venezia FC, which is evident everywhere. It is impossible to walk around Venice and not notice the close correlation between the team and the city. From the home jersey decorated with the golden stars of St. Mark's Basilica in a "V" shape to the away jersey made in a cream colour instead of the classic white to reflect the shades of the facades of the ancient Venetian palaces.

An identity that Eric Scaggiante also confirmed he wanted to convey in his photos, even though he is not a football fan. "It's not about telling my story, it's about observing and capturing the stories of the fans, and the people who go to the stadium; so the less I know about their world, the more careful I will be in observing it, and the more real the result will be." An identity that will be expertly captured by his lens through small details, such as the hands, a detail seen and paid attention to in his first shots for the lagoon players. "Hands are something I pay special attention to, they identify people, they identify the actions that people are doing, and the message that people are communicating."

After going to one of the oldest stadiums in Italy, which, like the whole city, was born and lives in close relationship with the water, having had the opportunity to touch the solid reality of the Veneto through the enthusiasm of the fans, the small details always well taken care of and the photo book edited by Ethan White, you realise how Venezia is a different club from the remaining 19 Serie A teams. No, it's not a catchphrase, but the diversity we're talking about can also be seen from home by scrolling through Venezia's instagram feed, away from poses, trends, posts and viral reels. An idea of football totally opposite to that of other teams, and which until now according to Ted Philipakos "has remained far too distant and closed for many segments of society, which remains largely fixed on a traditional fan profile and a traditional form of support. Overall, I think a paradigm shift is needed across the league."

As media director Sonya Kondratenko explained, the lagoon players' idea of football was born out of the club's need to give something back to the city that supports it, as can be seen from the various posts documenting life on the islands, through to the partnerships with We Are Here Venice and Save Venice for the third and fourth shirts of the season. A mentality and a way of doing things perhaps atypical for a club, but yet another demonstration of how in Venice there is a new idea of football totally different from everything we have been used to seeing so far.