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 Thursday by a true soccer lover and professional player Madison Hammond (Utah Royals player, Man City girl, Rodri follower) with periodic appearances by other contributors.
Origin Stories: Jessica Black
This week in the Mad Love Corner we’re bringing back Origin Stories, an interview series shining a light on OffBallFC’s favorite soccer creators and visionaries, and their relationship to our beautiful game. Today I’m joined by Jessica Black, an award-winning content creator and social media host. Jessica is not only a ball-knower and lover, she’s also an Arsenal fan who’s obsessed with fan experience at the intersection of fashion and beauty. I stumbled upon Jessica by chance, liberated probably from a doom scroll that opened up into this refreshing content space that felt stylish, relatable, knowledgeable.
Let’s get into it.
First thing’s first. Introduce yourself, then tell us how you were introduced to our beautiful game?
My name is Jessica Black and I am originally from Southern California. I’m actually from Walnut, California, which is east [of Los Angeles] in the Inland Empire, the suburbs. And I grew up playing AYSO, like everyone else, and I fell in love with it. I played other sports too, but soccer was the only one that really stuck. Now I am a content creator and sports host who specializes mostly in soccer, but I’m now expanding into other sports and I really focus on the intersection between sports and fashion and beauty and culture. I got here on a long, windy road, and have lived many, many lives.
I know that you’ve done a lot of work on YouTube and other platforms, but when did you know you wanted to make soccer a pillar in your content creation journey?
I was actually one of the weird people at the time who actually liked watching [the game]. So my mom was trying to find me games to watch on TV (this was back in the day) and there really wasn’t a lot because they would only really show the U.S. Women’s National team, and then Liga MX, and that was it. Then they started to show some English Prem games. And back then, the best teams were Man United and Arsenal. And so the first game I saw was a Man United game and I was like, “oh, this team looks good.” You know, like Andy Cole, Dwight York, Roy Keane, players like that. And I was like, well, maybe this will be my team.
But then the next weekend, my mom was like, “Jessica, you need to watch this game. It’s a team named Arsenal and they have a guy on the team named “Theory Henry.” (Yes, tee-uh-REE ahn-REE!) Like, it was so funny. And the team had so many Black players at the time. Patrick Viera, and Lauren, and Sol Campbell, and Ashley Cole. Just like this fun, amazing team with all these Black players and then this guy on the sideline, Arsène Wenger, who looks more like a science teacher than like a coach. I’m like, this is my team, this is me. I’m locked in.
One thing that you can say about an Arsenal fan is that you guys are extremely loyal, and there is something very special about the fact that a lot of fans in America have found a commonality because there were so many Black players on that team. It wasn’t just about seeing it, but also being able to relate to what you were seeing on screen. That is such a beautiful journey into fandom. I, however, went to the other side and I am a Man City fan. I grew up a Barcelona fan. I’m still a Barcelona fan through and through, but I love Yaya Touré. So when he went from Barcelona to Man City, I was still with it.
Yaya Touré is the midfield juggernaut. A fire player. I know for Declan Rice that’s his standard for midfielders. And I’m like, that is a very high standard. He’s a great player. So I totally understand.
It’s a tough time to be a City fan, though. There was a lot of success for the men at this year’s World Cup, but as someone who is a part of creating the dialogue around culture, around fashion and around beauty, what do you think worked for the men’s World Cup that you want to see for the women’s World Cup next year?
I think storytelling for sure because the Women’s World Cup is going to be in Brazil, where football truly lives and feels probably the most authentic. They live it, they breathe it. One of the best women’s players that we’ve seen in our lifetime is from Brazil. I think it’s an opportunity for content creators that focus on beauty and fashion to really strut their stuff and show, like, maybe what a Brazilian fan wears. What would English fans wear? What would a French fan wear? What are the kits saying? I love kit stories around World Cup time and getting to understand why certain things were added into the kits and I hope that some of these federations put a lot of effort into the women’s stories and let it show throughout. And obviously watching the girls play, I just saw the US Women’s National Team roster came out and I am just gassed. I can’t wait. I love the women’s World Cup. It’s my Coachella.
I love that. I’m like all-time headliner: Marta, and then everyone else. I saw in one of your Substacks you wrote about beauty as a gateway for women to engage with fandom. Can you talk more about that in the context of introducing the sport to new casual fans?
I think one of my main focuses is to let people know that you do not need to know X’s and O’s to get into soccer. You literally don’t. The game day atmosphere, the cultural aspects around things, the stories of the players, really allow you to enter the game at a lower bar and enjoy it for what it is. I really want women to feel comfortable in soccer spaces because I want to bring people into the sport that I love so much.
I’ve always spoken about soccer, but one of the things that has really stuck out to me is that there’s just not enough women [storytellers] around. I just think, you know, we should be hosting, we should be creating content around this. And the more I spoke about it, I realized that there were women who wanted to do these things, they wanted to go to games, they wanted to get into contact creation, but they were scared. I didn’t go to school for this. I just got on my MacBook webcam and started talking about the things that I want to talk about.
And so I hope that by living it and doing it, I can help other people, especially women, enter into the sport and love it just the way that I do.
I think because we’re in this era of wanting to share everything, share all these aspects of our lives, it can sometimes be daunting as a pro to fit it all in and also focus on your sport. From your perspective, what value do you think it brings for us as professional athletes to show our personalities to fans?
I cannot stress enough how important it is for athletes to share who they are outside of the pitch because there are a couple different layers to it. I think your stories, however big or small you think they may be, can really help kids that are watching you. Because the reality is I’m not watching your guys’ stuff to really learn as much. But the younger generation is looking up to players like you and your teammates and people that you played with. You’re the superstars. I think athletes are the most trusted. They’re the superstars to the youth. If you want to be able to tap into that audience that looks at athletes as people that they trust, if they recommend something, they’ll go ahead and buy it or trust that that’s a good brand. Sports fans are just normal people and sports are so different than they were 20 years ago. People wear their best fits, they get dolled up for it. They wear heels, they do stuff like that.
And do you think there’s a place for that expression in pop culture with athletes?
If you’re looking at things in pop culture and… let’s say Chloe Kim, for example, she’s gonna be on Traitors, right? And she is a beautiful girl with a great sense of style. She’s always giving good advice on what she wears and what she does. I think that that’s an avenue for people to see, oh, she’s an athlete that’s really cool, start looking at her Instagram and be like, “oh, wow, like these girls actually have style as well, and then maybe then I’ll watch her in the Olympics in 2028.” I think that’s just kind of how it goes. Everything is connected, and it just depends on what your entry point is and what you use.
I’m so glad you brought up Traitors. I just got caught up on this season. If you could have a season of Traitors that was just soccer players, who are we putting on that show? Like, who are we trying to see? Because I’m trying to see Cole Palmer try to be a traitor.
Oh my gosh, 100%. I would say Erling Haaland for sure. He has an insane personality and it would just be fun to hear his personality and what he has to say. I think even from a retired athlete perspective, maybe somebody like Micah Richards or Thierry Henry, they both have amazing personalities. And I think from a woman’s perspective I would love to see just to see who has the best fits in the castle in general. Somebody like Jaedyn Shaw! I think Jaedyn would be so fun to see her get to show her style, because I just noticed when they get into the castle, they start dressing like they’re in a murder mystery.
I am curious about your favorite soccer fashion trends. Soccer fashion has morphed into the standard because of things like with WAG life or tunnel fits. What are your yays? What are your nays?
One of the things that I’m really looking at is sporty styles that are not necessarily jerseys. I know that jerseys are really expensive and with teams coming out with 3rd and 4th kits, it feels like they’re pressing us to spend that $100 or £100 or whatever. But I think there’s a way to still represent your team and to feel sporty without having to wear a jersey. People are exploring that a little bit more with the way that the economy is. It’s important to buy things that are going to work in your wardrobe all the time. And sometimes a jersey just doesn’t work, you know? So I think that’s a big yay for me.
Track jackets are gonna be the thing for a while, especially for fall and winter. I’m actually working on something around a track jacket. So if you see them, I would say, pick them up. Track pants as well, even separately from just the jacket are always big. Adidas, I think, is coming out with a lot of those.
And what am I not into? One thing that I saw pop up was that a couple of different retailers have brought back out… houndstooth patterned shoes. I was around in 2016 and this was massive. Every fall that came around that time, it was like, houndstooth, houndstooth. I don’t know if I’m gonna be buying the houndstooth shoes. We can leave it.
Just tying everything back to your own career, what have you felt has worked well for you in your storytelling journey?
Early on, I just made content solely about Arsenal and was on YouTube and was doing three live shows a day. And that was kind of how I got some traction so people could find me. And it’s taken me a while to get to this point where I can really hone in on what I feel like my special niche [which is] right at the intersection of sports and fashion and culture. But with data behind it. I think when you add the numbers, it makes it such that it’s not as fluffy.
And it’s taken me a while to get here. I went to fashion school after I was in undergrad. So that was a period of time where when you say, like, my content is aesthetically pleasing, a lot of that comes from my background in visual merchandising and my fashion degree. A lot of these skills have come from things where I didn’t really know what I was going to do with them, and then bring those full circle. I had to find a way. Then I landed on the carousels on Instagram and using Substack, and I think being malleable and a little bit flexible is important. If you have a point of view, a clear point of view that people want to hear about, no matter what changes, you can still get your message out there. And so, It’s taken a while. I’m five years in, and I’ve done a lot, and it’s been twisty and turny, but I think I’m finally at the point where this is exactly where I need to be. And so I’ll be here for the foreseeable future.
A big thank you to Jessica for joining us today, and thanks to all of you for reading along. We’ll see you next Thursday!