ANAR FC brings us inside a grassroot club in China

ANAR FC is a Chinese collective and an open and inclusive team with players from Shanghai, Xinjiang, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Paris, and London, all united by an insatiable passion not only for the most beautiful game in the world but for the connections, feelings, and friendships it can create even before or after the classic weekly game. It is precisely to celebrate this aspect of the sport that they decided to make a short film in collaboration with Shanghai-based brand An Ko Rau, which in Esperanto means always on the move, titled "Play Everywhere" during which we can breathe in the relaxed and playful atmosphere that distinguishes ANAR FC's performances as well as the line of both game and lifestyle clothes inspired, of course, by the game of football. We caught up with them on the other side of the world to hear about what it means to have a grassroot club in China, their passion for football jerseys, and what the future holds for them.

How everything started for you guys? Which was the main goal before forming a football club? 

It all started in early 2020. China had just went through it’s first COVID-19 lockdown. People were staying home and the overall spirit was very low. We had a group of friends who played football, but always separately, never with each other. So at the time, we thought, why don’t we get everyone together and play football, it was a way to lift our mood. The streets were still pretty empty, but we didn’t care, we gathered at the pitch that first Saturday night and now two years later, we still play there. That’s how it all started. 

To be honest, there was no obvious goal when the team was formed. It was more about friends playing football together and having fun. But one thing that has always been very clear to us, is that we want to play football in a unique way. We want to merge our creative minds with our understanding of football culture together, and ANAR is a way for us to express that.

Do you have some aesthetic references in mind when you create Anar FC? 

We have been influenced by many people. For us, it’s an honour to mention the following names: Nowhere FC, CITYBOYSFC, Le Ballon, the Ringleaders, Nivelcrack, Chinatown Soccer Club and more. When we first saw them online it was like: Hey these guys are doing something really cool, this is what we've always wanted to do. 

We're looking forward to interacting with more people from other parts of the world and letting them know that there's a bunch of people doing the same thing in China, a place where the football culture isn't as advanced, but there is still a passion.

When it comes to our own case, we are heavily influenced by the aesthetics of football from the 1990s to the millennium. At that time modern football was just being accepted by the masses in China and there were many beautiful football memories. The country was also more creative culturally and people were relatively more free spiritually. Now, although the internet has bridged the information gap, consumerism has cheapened culture. You see a lot of luxury logos on the streets in China, but very little sense of self-expression exists. This makes our nostalgia even stronger. Football is a sport that belongs to everyone and its aesthetics should have the magic of touching the soul.

How football is a way of connecting different people in China? 

Football is definitely an important way for people to connect in China, with that being said, it’s often overlooked. 

China is a very very large country, with many ethnic groups and different types of people gathered in big cities, ie Shanghai. The football pitch is one of those places where you can see everyone getting along harmoniously. 

ANAR embodies this harmony, it is where many people make friends through football. In their normal lives, they would not have had the chance to get to know each other, to learn about each other's ethnicity and background, or to even reach some kind of mutual consensus. Picture this, a man from a small desert town in the far northwest and a man from downtown Hong Kong, football is the best language they have in common.


What are in your opinion the main differences between football in Europe or in China? 

The biggest difference between European football and Chinese football comes from the different attitudes from society towards the sport, resulting in a divergent mentality towards football.

Football and other major sports in China are part of the national sports system. Since the early 1990s, Chinese football has been marching towards professionalism, along this path, there has always been a heavy hand of administrative intervention. The average Chinese person sees sports as an important part of their national honour. So, when football underachieves, there is a strong sense of revile towards the the sport, an understandable distaste in the public eye.

Football, unfortunately, has not developed into a multi-layered cultural phenomenon in China as it has in Europe. It is characterised predominantly by the national team, led under the leadership of the Sports Commission, the professional leagues guided under the management of the Football Association, and lastly, the diminishing number of fans. Overall, China is a big economy, but for the sport, it is still a small footballing nation.

How do you describe your relationship with football jerseys? 


As mentioned earlier, the football culture in China is not very evolved. We are much more influenced by European football than Chinese football. There are some people who collect European club and national team kits, and a very small number of people who actually collect Chinese club kits. Since NIKE signed a long-term contract with the Chinese Football Association, Chinese club kits have become very boring, lacking in design and character. Collecting them is more about collecting nostalgic memories of football rather than the jerseys themselves.

When ANAR was first established, one thing was clear to us, and that was to make our own unique kits. For us, football jerseys are more than just a uniform. It’s not just a visual cue to distinguish the opposition on the pitch, it is a medium to express our understanding of football culture and coming that with street fashion.

Jerseys can express our aesthetic approach to football and the attitude with which we play it. Every year the ANAR jersey has a theme, like 'Unity' or 'World Peace'. We want it to be dynamic, and reflective. Always having a narrative and a story to tell.

Luckily, this time we were able to collaborate with a local Shanghai brand, An Ko Rau, to launch a capsule of football products. We wanted to make a unique film that would introduce ANAR to bigger audience and to show people what we stand for. The core idea of the film is “Play Everywhere”, we really wanted to emphasises the idea that football doesn't just happen on the pitch, it can appear and be enjoyed anywhere and everywhere in life.

Many of ANAR's members come from all walks of life. The director Gerhan, chose several real-life scenarios from our lives and strung them together through the perspective of a football. We filmed at home, on the streets, in restaurants, and of course on the pitch. This short film expresses our love for football at its most essential level and also gives the audience a portrait of a group of Chinese grassroots footballers.

What do you see in the future of ANAR FC? 


In the short term, we want ANAR to go more places and to meet more football fans face to face. COVID has made our lives closed these last few years and we want to break out of that. We also want more of our fellow fans outside of China to see what we are creating here, and to connect with interesting grassroots football groups in Asia and Europe.

In the long term, we hope that ANAR will inspire more young Chinese people and that more football clubs like this will emerge in China.