The Football Association of Ireland has unveiled a new brand identity, the first update to the brand in almost 20 years.
The refreshed identity is comprised of redeveloped logos, including a new crest for the National teams, alongside newly created distinct identities for the Association, and the recently announced League of Ireland identity.
The new brands have been developed following extensive engagement with FAI staff, players, fans, volunteers, match officials, club officials, coaches, and managers as well government, Sport Ireland, and commercial partners over the past year.
The core goal of this process was to review, redefine and reinvent what the FAI stands for and what it looks, sounds and behaves like.
The work undertaken follows and builds upon the launch of the FAI’s four-year strategy in February 2022 where the organisation set out as one of its core ambitions to “Build a trusted and respected brand” with the delivery of this new identity key to this.
The new national team identity focuses on the unique Irish symbol of the shamrock, with research undertaken by the FAI amongst fans and players clearly demonstrating a desire for the shamrock to feature within the new crest, and the bold Irish green being at the heart of the logo.
The decision to create a new and distinct identity for the FAI, separate to that of the National Team, was taken to highlight its role as the governing body of the sport, driving the growth and success of Irish football, as well as the need to create a professional look and feel for the organisation and how it engages with internal and external stakeholders.
“Today marks the start of a new era for the FAI as an organisation as we unveil our new brand identity,” said FAI CEO Jonathan Hill.
“We set out an ambitious four-year strategy in 2022 and building a trusted and respected brand was outlined as a key enabler. The delivery of our new identity is a key step in delivering against this objective.”
“The development of our new brand identities has been a significant and strategic undertaking that reflects our commitment to being a best-in-class, modern organisation.”
“It also represents a change in what we stand for and how we will engage with the football community as we continue to drive the growth and development of the game in what is a new and exciting era for Irish football. Most importantly we have a new national team crest that we hope our fans, players and everyone in Irish football will be truly proud of.”
“Our new identity will extend from social media to the national stadium and far beyond while also taking pride of place on our national team shirt,” added Louise Cassidy, Director of Marketing and Communications.
“The new identities are so much more than a simple logo mark, we now have the assets and resources to really bring our communication and activation to life with our partners. ”
“The launch of this new identity today is a testament to the hard work of our team and a strong level of collaboration with our many stakeholders whose input we are extremely grateful for.”
“This work will enable us to better drive participation, attendance, and engagement with football in Ireland.”
It is anticipated that the FAI’s new kit and kit partner will be unveiled next week ahead of the international matches against Latvia and France.
Sport for Business Perspective:
It’s clean, sharp and contemporary, while still firmly rooted in the 100-year history of the FAI. Any design will be subjective and the FAI has had no shortage of critics over recent years so it won’t be accepted fully by everyone. That said, the team needs to look beyond the comments sections and the Twitter trolls. The brand story is solid, the collaborative approach has been strong and this really does feel like the latest strong step in the rehab of the association’s reputation.
