Inside New York’s Most Exciting Soccer-Fashion Startup
Plus, The Complex History of Bukayo Saka’s Haircuts.
Welcome back to OffBallFC, a dedicated soccer platform where we capture the conversation around the game differently, going deep on its crossovers with fashion, music, culture and everything in between. OffBallFC is written every Wednesday and Friday by two people who really know their stuff: sports and fashion journalist Daniel-Yaw Miller (lifelong lover/victim of Arsenal) and pro soccer player Madison Hammond (Utah Royals player, Man City Girl fandom, but don’t let that frighten you).
Let’s get into it.
Kick Off
Bukayo Saka has a new haircut, and it has Arsenal fans shook. The last time Bukayo got a different hairstyle (the infamous blonde tips of December 2023), some (slightly unhinged) Arsenal fans tied it to a dramatic dip in his goalscoring form, declaring it a curse. Let’s hope this new shaved look will work in reverse.
The trend of athletes pulling up to random pickup games and balling out on regular civilians like you and me is showing no signs of stopping. After bringing you news last week of Michael Olise playing five-aside, the latest Frenchman to jump on the trend was Wemby, who no doubt can cover the length of a small-sided pitch in three strides. SGA and Jared McCain were also balling out on a soccer field earlier this summer during a game organized for the former’s birthday.
Who says there aren’t any fairytale endings in soccer? Two months after signing with El Paso Locomotive in the USL, Cristo Fernández (better known for playing the role of star Dani Rojas in Ted Lasso) made his professional debut earlier this week. Fernández, a forward, was subbed on in the 79th minute of El Paso’s USL Cup match against New Mexico United on Saturday night. The stuff dreams are made of.
MLS All-Star looked like a blast. I know that because my good colleague Mason was out there on the pitch taking PKs like a seasoned vet. My personal favorite highlight came during the Skills Challenge, when Thomas Muller told friend of OffBall. Chad Ochocinco, “don’t be yourself, I’m mic’d up.”
WAFCON 2026 has already been an instant classic. Madison spoke earlier this week on how this is the tournament that everyone needs to be watching. She wasn’t wrong. The first gameround served up several generational match ups. Ali Horworth, who covers all things African soccer, has the details.
Talking “Ophsides” with Uyi Omorogbe and Ruja
Today’s interview is with two of the kindest people in both the fashion game and the footie game. I first met Uyi and Ruja — the duo behind the new label Ophsides — at a WSA happy hour in literally the second week of living in New York. Both ballers in their own right, I first knew Uyi as the Chelsea FC-crazy fan and hilarious content creator via his British online persona, YOSA. Ruja, I quickly learned, was one of New York’s most in-demand stylists. We bonded because of our former sporting backgrounds, initial aspirations of working “traditional” careers, and our eventual decision to follow our passions in building a life working between the sports and fashion worlds. I sat down with them recently to learn more about “Ophsides,” their latest venture in the form of a fashion brand that leverages their love and cultural appreciation for the beautiful game.
What was your original connection to football culture and how did you first fall in love with the game? (And what team do you support?)
We both come from immigrant families, Ruja’s dad being Romanian and Uyi’s parents being Nigerian, so we grew up around football and started playing basically from the moment we could walk.
Uyi’s connection to football culture was born on the internet. YouTube was the home of highlight video edits that would often feature the game’s most flashy, creative and fashionable players. These videos became the tutorial of how Uyi wanted to play on the pitch, and look off of it, and inspired his first YouTube channel RonaldoUO68. Ruja’s connection to football culture initially came during Cristiano Ronaldo’s first spell at Manchester United. Beyond being one of the best players in the world, it was his presence off the pitch that piqued Ruja’s interest because it influenced the culture around him. Every kid had the spiked mohawk, wore fitted Henleys, and layered rosary necklaces. That was the moment he realized the influence a footballer could have beyond the game.
As for the teams we support, we are both Barcelona fans… while Uyi’s British alter ego, YOSA, is an avid Chelsea fan.
Who were your early football and style inspirations in the game?
David Beckham, Didier Drogba, Mario Balotelli, Fernando Torres, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, and Nani.
How did you first come up with the idea for Ophsides, and what gap in the market are you looking to solve?
Ophsides originally started as what we [Uyi and Ruja] called ourselves as a creative duo. We came up with the name in our living room in 2023 while sitting on the couch trying to find something that reflected our journey.
We’re both first-gen Americans who grew up as minorities in our communities. We both started on pre-med and STEM paths because that was what was expected of us by our families but ultimately chose to pursue entrepreneurship and fashion instead. We realized that “Ophsides” perfectly described who we were. To us, being outside the bounds of the game was never a weakness. It was our superpower. It was what allowed us to see things differently, bring a fresh perspective to our work, and ultimately create better together.
The name became more than a creative alias but a representation of our friendship, journey, and the belief that the people who change culture are often the ones willing to stand outside of it. We hope there are others who also see themselves in our story and feel inspired to be themselves despite feeling like they might exist on the outside and want to try and break the mold as well.
One of our core beliefs at Ophsides is no one changes the game alone. It takes someone who believes in you and encourages you to be Ophsides. That idea is reflected in our iconic box log which is made up of two brackets (or goals), representing the partnership required to challenge convention and push culture forward.
When we decided to turn our creative duo into a clothing brand, football felt like the natural place to tell that story. Much like us, football in America has always existed outside the traditional center of the global game. It has been viewed as an outsider. But as the sport continues to grow here, we see an opportunity to help define what football culture in America can become by championing the people building it from unexpected places. The players, creatives, and communities who come from unorthodox backgrounds, think differently, and play the game differently are the people we design for.
U.S. football culture is in a really interesting place since the World Cup, with so many new converted fans. Do you see a big opportunity here?
Absolutely. As new fans discover football in the U.S., we believe they’ll connect with authentic storytelling that reflects the people and culture shaping the game here. Our original football game “Play Ophsides” champions this concept. Our game represents a new, easy-to-understand format of football that acts as both an accessible bridge into the sport for new fans, and a new form of expression for existing and new players.
At the same time, our ethos extends far beyond football - we exist at the intersection of sport, music, fashion, and art. Ophsides creates a new, yet familiar world that new fans can naturally find their place in. We see that cultural overlap as an opportunity to not only introduce more people to the game, but to help them build a lasting connection with it.
What’s your dream for Ophsides in the next five years?
Our dream is to build Ophsides into America’s leading cultural football institution. What Supreme was to skate culture, Ophsides will be to football in the U.S. A brand that represents grit, street culture, diversity and inclusivity… which sits in direct opposition to the current homogenous and privileged landscape of American football. Our goal is for Ophsides to become an official off-pitch partner of a major global football club (like Barcelona or Chelsea) and be the first American football brand to do so.
Our vision for Ophsides expands far beyond clothing. We’ve always been interested in building worlds, not just products. Within the next five years, Ophsides will expand into film, music, gaming, and events, with each arm expressing our ethos through a different medium.
Thanks to all of you for reading along. We’ll see you next Wednesday!