Meet Guerrilla F.C. and its kits

There are many ways in which you can describe Guerrilla F.C., but everyone starts from an ideal point: an idea of revolution. Guerrilla is a sui-generis football club, Washington-based. In the day of the unveiling of theri kits, we reached out Justin Salhani, the founder, to let us know about the principles of Guerrilla and the motivations of the creations of the team. 

When did Guerrilla was born? And why did you choose this name?

Guerrilla began in May 2016. I grew up in the Washington, DC area but I moved away after university. In 2015, I came back to DC and looked for a football team. The problem in Washington, D.C. is that most of the good football leagues and football culture is outside the city. 

In May, I went on my bachelor party with a few friends. There, four friends and I discussed our ideal football team and how we couldl create it. One played with Nowhere FC in New York City but the other three helped me start Guerrilla FC. 

We chose the name Guerrilla because we are in Washington, D.C. -- a city of politics. While many people in D.C. love football, it is largely treated like any other sport. We wanted to start a revolution. Our goal is to bring football culture to Washington in a way that fuses fashion, culture, passion, design, and utopian, aesthetically brilliant football.There is a double meaning. We are Guerrillas, trying to start a cultural and football revolution in the capital city of the United States. You can find more on our website.

 What are the main inspiration behind Guerrilla?

We are inspired by fashion, art, design, and great football. Most of our players are fans of Arsenal or Barcelona (a couple Liverpool,  Manchester United, and one Juventus fan). So we look to combine swagger and style, both on the pitch and off.

We will soon be hosting tournaments in D.C. and our goal is to start a league. We want to create something where a void currently exists. Most of the leagues in D.C. have no soul. We want to create clubs with history, with fans, with culture surrounding them. We want to give the people something to dream about.

Tell us more about this kits: what are the inspirations behind?

The kits were designed by Queen Guerrilla - our designer Carine Mechref (she's also my wife). Some of the elements were also inspired by our Creative Director Travis Akiwowo and our co-founder Julian Forte worked tirelessly to print them.

They are a Macron kit - we went with Macron because they are an up and coming brand with fashionable football kits. They are unique and they worked with us to get exactly the type of jersey we wanted - a grey scale, camouflage, slim fit shirt. A big shout out to the guys at Macron in Connecticut who helped make this happen.

On the front you see our badge, designed by Nowhere FC's Khoi Bi Phan, on the left chest. The front, where a sponsor would be, is a Gold print of ICI - which stands for Infiltrate. Create. Influence (our motto). Surrounding the C in ICI (which also means 'here' in French) is a white circle and the words c'est la jungle. In French, this means 'This is the jungle'. The gold makes our shirt stand out and represents a bit of the chaotic nature of being a subversive, as well as the flair we try to exhibit on the pitch. 

The sponsor and the Arabic word for 'create' (pronounced 'Khalaq') on the right sleeve are a nod to our team's diversity. It can also be interpreted as a political statement against the current environment emanating from the White House (also in D.C.). On the right sleeve is a hot raspberry pink cut out D.C.'s geographical shape with 3 stars (a feature on the D.C. flag) below it. The number on the back is a modern rendering for flair and fashion. Not many teams print numbers from top to bottom and the lack of player names goes back to our collective spirit as a group of egalitarian revolutionaries.

There are a number of project that are now focusing on the "fashion" side of football. How do you evaluate that?

I think fashion is an art and art evokes emotions in people. It gives us an attachment to our club that might not exist otherwise. I know for us, fashion and having a strong set of values has helped us grow much faster. People are attracted to our club's creativity. There are many good clubs in the DC area. But not many are doing what we are doing. 

I would say it's healthy for the game too. We've connected to a global community. We've got friends in Paris, London, Newcastle, New York, Tokyo, Seoul, Kuwait City, Beirut, Milan, Philadelphia and beyond. These guys have never seen us play, but our shared passions have brought us together.