The DJ Carlo Carletto Nicolettiour historic collaborator (author and producer of the WebSeries GoalCar launched by our network), presents and tells us anecdotes, curiosities and unpublished details about the playing shirts, balls, shoes and much more that have made and continue to make the history of football, not just Italian football.
A few months ago I had the pleasure of spending a pleasant evening with Saverio Sticchi Damianipresident of Lecce (just this week he became the most successful president in the history of the Giallorossi), and his wife Marina (I couldn’t tell you who is the bigger fan between the two). Lecce is a white fly in the Italian football scene, as the President himself reiterated at the beginning of this football season during a press conference: the Lecce members are first and foremost fans, they do not share any profits and each of them has his own business which allows him not to benefit from any type of salary/earnings from Lecce.
If you think about the various funds that populate Italian and international football, you understand why I speak of white fly. Fortunately, it is not the only company and, shortly, in this column we will address similar and equally far-sighted cases.
Today, however, I won’t talk to you about the company US Leccebut of M908the clothing brand created internally by Lecce and which since 2018 has offered the team’s exclusive uniforms every year as well as all the technical and casual clothing. Apart from a very rare case a few years ago in Perugia with the then president Luciano Gaucci and his Galex, we can easily speak of the first example of a 0km technical sponsor.
I had already talked about it during the famous dinner with the President, but, being very curious, and above all passionate and a collector, I was able to delve deeper into the topic with Andrea Micatimarketing manager of US Lecce who, with extreme patience, answered all my curiosities on the subject.
M908 was born from an idea of the club in 2018. The team was still playing in Serie C, despite already having had what it takes to move up to Serie B for a couple of years, all things considered, they realized that it no longer made much sense relying on an external producer which also greatly limited the choices from a creative point of view. This, despite the fact that, as is normal for a club of Lecce’s calibre, they had received numerous offers from various sportswear brands.
The kit manager, as well as partner and creator of M908, Giovanni Fasano he began to make contacts, to personally go around the world to meet companies and test the most suitable materials, all obviously under the economic control of the Sole Director of M908 Dr. Antonio Marti and the historic graphic designer of Lecce, for over 25 years, Mario Contaldo. First objective: raise the quality of the materials that were then supposed to dress not only the players of the various Lecce teams, from the first team obviously to all the youth teams, but also and above all the fans who, in the club’s intentions, were supposed to take home an excellent quality material.
The result was the birth of M908 (from the year the Salento team was founded in 1908).
Having touched them first hand I can confirm that they are truly of excellent quality and that they have absolutely nothing to envy of much more famous brands, on the contrary…!
Speaking with the Dr. Corrado Liguorivice president of US Lecce, I perceived the passion and enthusiasm that all the members put into the Salento team. Dr. Liguori showed me all the celebratory shirts that Lecce creates every year to give the fans some historical goodies in March on the occasion of the anniversary of the team’s formation in 1908.
“I like all the shirts we have made, also because there is the contribution of all of us in the creation, but if I really have to choose one, the shirt I am most fond of is undoubtedly the one from the 2020/2021 season, the white one with all the names of the 105 municipalities in the province of Lecce“.
Is there one thing you are particularly proud of during these years in Lecce? “Surely having decided to give something from M908 to season ticket holders every year, starting from the first year when we gave away a double-sided sweatshirt, black on the outside and yellow-red on the inside, or the t-shirt with all the signatures of the players that we gave away the year of the first promotion in Serie A, under our management, up to this year’s proudly “SUD” backpack“.
Personally, I am also really appreciating the casual, streetwear, everyday collections, which are really beautiful and original with the historical writing on the chest. US LECCE and also the use of the company’s historic logo from the 60s/70s.
To date, 7 years have passed since the first collection and, as Andrea and Dr. Liguori confirmed to me, everyone is working on the new shirts, clothing etc. and everyone expresses their opinion, from the President on down.
The work usually begins in October of the year before the material goes into production, once the graphic design and the choice of materials have been approved, we move on to production which takes a few months, all to have the complete collection ready for the months of May/June in time to carry out the various retreats with the new materials.
It was really very pleasant and interesting to enter the Lecce universe, get to know those who work there every day, the passion they transmit and discover how much work goes into the creation of what we can easily define as the second skin of every fan, that is, the team t-shirt. your favorite team.