Welcome to Showboat, an outfit made up of three individuals - Rob, Lee and Antonio. We’ve been deeply involved in the world of football and sportswear for years, whether through working, collecting, selling, or simply obsessing over the culture that surrounds the game. Now, we’re building Showboat, a community-led platform dedicated to football sportswear. From vintage classics to modern grails, we’re creating the go-to platform for fans, collectors, and enthusiasts who live and breathe football culture.

What we’re building for the Showboat community

⚽ Football shirts aren’t just kits—they’re history, identity, and nostalgia woven into fabric.
🛒 The secondhand market is booming, but finding fair prices, authentic pieces, and a community of true football enthusiasts isn’t easy.
📈 We’re building a platform where collectors can discover, compile, verify and value unique football apparel, they already own or have earmarked for their collection in the future.

Join the community!

Does this sound like a bit of you? Subscribe to our free newsletter for everything happening in the world of football shirts and culture or follow our story on Instagram.

We’re also extremely close to piloting v1 of our platform in the coming months and we’re looking for collectors and football fans to be part of the journey with us. Register your interest in the pilot program of Showboat, by emailing [email protected], where you will not only gain early access to v1 of the platform but also have a say in how we develop it going forward.

What to expect from it?

Every month, you’ll get a 5-minute newsletter, we like to think of it as more of a zine, packed with the best drops, collector insights, stories from the game, and exclusive Showboat updates. You’ll also be the first to know when we launch new features, partnerships, and opportunities for early sellers.

Time for Issue #1….

Pre-Match Interview - Q&A with Natxo Torné
Team Selections - The definitive Showboat picks
On The Bench - And not a chance of getting a kick
Half-Time Notes - Digging a little deeper into the beautiful game
Sunday Showboaters - Those in our community who stand out
Post Match Interview - Q&A with The Atlantic Dispatch
Drips & Drops - Kits and benchwear we’re loving at the minute
Singing us off - Fontaines D.C. play us out with a new banger

A pint with… Natxo Torné  

We’ve known Natxo for over a decade, having bumped into him on the streets of Barcelona before they took on Celtic in the Champions League he became our Catalan Bourdain showing us the routes to take, dives, bars and countless hidden gems. It’s no surprise that he went on to work with everyone from COPA90 to Panenka, the Premier League and Mundial Magazine exploring fan culture all over the globe. He’s on the terraces in the most chaotic stadiums every week.

Natxo, always a pleasure to catch up, mate. Your work always seems to orbit fan culture, what first drew you to this?
I think this idea of 'football culture' is the key concept for me when I think about the game. To me, that's what keeps my heart beating when I'm thinking of football. It’s the reason I love it, not with what's happening on the pitch necessarily but around it. The people are the most fascinating element with all of their tribal passions. That's where the stories are!

What makes fan culture something you keep coming back to? Are you trying to preserve something when you document it?
Pre-match is the most genuine expression of any fanbase because it is where you can see the rituals and where fans meet to pilgrimage again, showing their faith. The surroundings of a stadium are always interesting to see and experience, the bars are fully decorated with the club's memorabilia, scarves, jerseys, stickers, tattoos, food, drinks and songs. This is the core of any true fanbase.

What are the differences you notice in fan cultures across the globe?
If you ask to ask any football fan worldwide why the club they support is special, the answer will be "it's difficult to explain, it's passion, we are just different from the rest, we are crazy," so to try to differentiate and get deeper to the core of these emotions and feelings of unconditional love is really interesting. And what makes it special is they are all right. Each set of fans, each story is completely different from all of the others when I listen to them. It is unique. I just try to capture it in some small way but always respecting both their joy and privacy.

Some of our readers might be more familiar with your work than they realise. Tell us about your work on COPA90's acclaimed documentary on Argentina winning the World Cup.
Well, that's one of the highlights of my life. Even now I don't quite realize how crazy it was to be in Buenos Aires when Leo Messi won the World Cup. That was the world's biggest ever party with people celebrating for four days in a row. To be there with Eli Mengem and Diogo Lopes and to capture all that craziness was a big challenge because the job is so demanding if you follow COPA90’s work. They are simply the best and do things differently. That's why we travelled to Argentina and not to Qatar, where all the media attention was. My job there as a producer was simple: to facilitate, to try to make it happen.

Let’s talk about your bread and butter: derbies. Which ones get your pulse going?
I would say the one I enjoy most as a neutral is the Uruguayan Clásico between Peñarol and Nacional at the Estadio Centenario which is my favourite stadium and, of course, the stadium that hosted the 1930 World Cup final. You can feel the history. In many South American derbies, the away fans aren’t allowed in but at this game everyone is there and it’s a game that means a lot for Uruguay. Honestly, it’s like a huge fucking party. The Basque country derby between Bilbao and Sociedad has an atmosphere that doesn’t exist anywhere in football. Two fanbases that are friendly, enjoying themselves…of course there is rivalry but you have the rest of the world for big rivalries and hate. They are unique occasions. Olympique Marseille vs PSG is fucking huge. I have only experienced this one from the Marseille side but you can imagine how it is, how Goliath became David in their case, the hate they have for the rich club and the capital itself. This one I really, really love. And Red Star vs Partizan is out of this world. The Balkan way of doing things, the way they live life, the passion they have for the game. It is uncontrolled. It’s savage. It’s like a fucking war.

Moving to the big one, English fan culture, what do you like about it and how has it changed since you first started covering the game?
To me, English football was aspirational, the place I really wanted to be because I've been so influenced by your football culture. Afterwards, I've learnt how to respect and understand how things work when you're really in. Again, if you respect people, people respect you. Wearing shorts in December just to show off your club's tattoo is still shocking me. And man, trust me when it comes to your football gastronomy; no one makes it better than English! I learnt how to love pies and beans despite being a Mediterranean lifestyle ultra hahaha.

Do you have a favourite English team? Which grounds do you look forward to visiting?
As they say…up the fucking Boro! You know more than anyone else, Middlesbrough has a special place in my heart because of my friends. All my English friends are from the North (Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough) so I love the football culture there. I adored West Ham United before their move to the Olympic stadium but now I feel like the Eastender soul is lost. After Bielsa's love story with Leeds, I understood how crazy that club is. And man, trust me, when it comes to watching football at St. Andrew's in Birmingham, St. James' Park in Newcastle, Preston and Stoke City…very special places to me.

And Goodison Park? We are about to lose The Old Lady to a shiny new stadium. Will you make the pilgrimage to Goodison before last orders are called?
That's shite, to be fair. It makes me feel old being that kind of person who wants to keep things the same for the rest of my life despite knowing a move could be great for Evertonians. I went to Goodison Park in 2012 against Newcastle and it was superb, I loved it. But I need to see it for the very last time. These football cathedrals are the essence of that terrace-standing football I used to imagine and love, a nostalgia for something I hadn't yet lived.

Finally, we are partial to a football shirt here at Showboat HQ. Give us your five Desert Island Shirts.
Ooof. Tough one. Let’s go with Newell's Old Boys from 1993 with the Yamaha sponsor that Diego wore. Newcastle United’s away shirt with the claret and navy hoops and the Brown Ale sponsor. The famous Lazio's 'Maglia Bandiera'. FC Barcelona's Centenary Nike kit 1999 with the collar and Athletic Club's Away 2012 green kit by Umbro. Five classics. Let’s see them on Showboat soon, eh?

Team Selections

Our team tell you what’s made their team sheet this month…

Podcast - The English Disease - Thoughtfully curated and narrated by the always on-point Sam Diss. A story of class consciousness, rebellion, and adventure turning to embittered violence, tribalism, and greed. RL.
Book - Unico grande amore - An exploration of Italy’s unique relationship with the beautiful game by Toni Padilla, published by the always excellent Panenka. AR.
Song - LA Runaway by The Horrors - Our favourite goth synth-pop band ended their new record with the best track they've put out in almost a decade. On repeat. LK.
Film - Hoosiers - In honour of Gene and classic sports. The story of a small-town Indiana high school basketball team and its journey to the state championship finals. RL.

📧 Like our taste. Hate our taste. Have your own recommendations? Share your thoughts with our editor, Lee: [email protected]/

💺On The Bench

Ghibli. No, not the centre-back from Championship Manager 01/02. We’re on about the AI images that swept your socials recently. While everyone posted their favourite images in Ghibli form, we sat back. It’s not what we’re about. As Julian Casablancas once sang, just because something’s popular doesn’t mean it’s good. An unlimited image generator and what did everyone do? The same thing. Like most modern releases these days (whether in film, music, or even football shirts) it only exists if it’s got some sort of IP attached to it. We’re regurgitating the past instead of creating new things. AI will only accentuate that. If all text is fast becoming AI slop and all design is quickly following suit, you’ve got to stop and ask yourself what’s really worth treasuring. We think it’s the original, the creative…the human. Right now we’re in a cultural moment suspended between what was and what could be. AI won’t take us where we want to go.

Half-Time Notes

Each month, at the mid-point of each newsletter, we’ll dig into our match-day programme for an-depth read on football’s lesser known history…

Given this is our first one, it only makes sense to link out to a story about football shirts, sponsorship, and one of the main reasons they became what they are today. Before Red Bull’s dominance in football, another German brand attempted to reshape the game, Jägermeister. In the 1970s, the liquor giant found a clever loophole to place its logo on Eintracht Braunschweig’s kit, sparking a battle with the German FA that would change football sponsorship forever. From controversial legal fights to an audacious bid to rename the club entirely, this is the story of how one man’s vision set the stage for modern football’s commercial era.

How Jägermeister changed the world of corporate shirt sponsorships / These Football Times

Sunday Showboaters

Shoutouts to our followers & subscribers, because paying it forward is always encouraged…

↣ Lower Block have produced a superb photo zine with Orlando Gili capturing the mayhem of Newcastle Utd’s Carabao Cup win. 70 colour photos across 60 pages for just £8.50. A must for football fans, not just Newcastle ones.

↣ EH Retro Kits launched to much fanfare in Edinburgh adding a much-needed vintage football shirt store to the city’s increasing upmarket offerings. Keep your eyes peeled for some very good benchwear drops.

↣ Hayden Thorpe began his European tour this week on the back of his excellent record ‘Ness’ and it’s always worth catching this mercurial live performer if he’s in your neck of the woods. He’s promised one or two numbers from his Wild Beasts back catalogue too. ‘Wanderlust,’ if you’re asking Hayden.

📩 Share your news & updates and we’ll try to feature you if we can: [email protected]

Drips & Drops

Kits and benchwear - both new and old - we are loving at Showboat HQ the moment……

→ “hummel Are Dropping a Denmark 1988 Jersey Remake” / Versus

→ “Kith to partner with Adidas Football on new collection” / SoccerBible

→ “Bohemian FC team up with Guinness to launch another instant classic” Showboat

→ “Arsenal launches Me Old China collection” / Arsenal

→ “Genoa Unveil Fourth Kit Honouring Boca Juniors Anniversary” / OneFootball

→ “Adidas SPZL Unveils its Spring Summer 2025 Collection” / Pause

→ “PUMA And St Pauli Unveil Special Edition Anti-Racism Kit” / SoccerBible

→ “Travis Scott x Nike Air Zoom Mercurial Boots In The Works” / House Of Heat

📧 We missed any easy chances? Share your picks with our editor, Lee: [email protected]

That’s it for issue #1 of Showboat, we hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please share it with anyone else you think would be interested. If you didn't, give us some feedback on how we can improve it. Regardless, a massive thanks for taking the time to read it.

Cheers
Lee, Rob & Antonio

Playing us out today are Fontaines D.C. with the best cover we’ve heard since Father John Misty made ‘The Suburbs’ his own. Enjoy.