&friends launches as a digital football club archive in NYC

The grassroots initiative, created by branding agency Athletics, documents and celebrates football clubs in the underground - and overground - scene in New York City.

&friends, a digital archive, documents football from pickup games to organised leagues, ensuring none of the moments get lost. With a modern web design and unique UI scrolling on team pages, Athletics brought a fun feeling to the site, similar to a community bulletin board.

Current teams on the &friends website include: Bowery Football Club, Brooklyn Lager FC, Chinatown Soccer Club, Exceptional Woman FC, ManChestHair United, and many other local teams. 

Malcolm Buick, executive creative director and partner at Athletics, started this project a long way from New York. Growing up in Scotland, Buick remembers playing with his friends anywhere he could find a patch of grass.

“The game was always there, but what stayed with me was the friendship. The people. The sense of belonging,” says Buick. 

After ending up in New York, Buick saw that every city had its own version of the game, but there was a common thread: people coming together, friendships forming and communities taking shape. &friends serves as a love letter to those in-between moments that bring together thousands of people playing every day throughout the city's five boroughs.