Cambridge United launch new shirt for Black History Month
It's designed with local young people and the Fitzwilliam Museum, inspired by artist Joy Labinjo.
Cambridge United Football Club has lifted the curtain on a very special project—its brand-new, limited-edition fourth shirt, launched to celebrate Black History Month.
The shirt has been brought to life with help from the Fitzwilliam Museum and Romsey Mill.
Its design is inspired by “An Eighteenth Century Family,” a powerful painting by acclaimed British-Nigerian artist Joy Labinjo. Featured in the Fitzwilliam Museum’s Rise Up: Resistance, Revolution, Abolition exhibition, the artwork depicts abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, his wife Susanna Cullen, and their daughters.
To create the shirt’s final look, weekly creative workshops were run by the Fitzwilliam Museum in partnership with Romsey Mill and digital artist Antonio Roberts. Young people from across the community contributed their ideas and voices, making this shirt as much theirs as it is the club’s.
A special launch film stars Cambridge United’s Sullay Kaikai, who shares his experience as a black British footballer with Sierra Leonean heritage. The campaign also features photos of Sullay and teammates inside the Fitzwilliam Museum.
The shirt will make its debut on the pitch when Cambridge United take on Bromley at the Cledara Abbey Stadium on Saturday, 18 October (kick-off at 12:30 pm).