O4 EDITIONS / ISSUE 001
O4 Digital Edition Issue 001
Issue 001 - Autumn 2026
ABOUT THIS ISSUE
O4 Editorial - Issue 01 Football, beyond the obvious.
Football lasts 90 minutes. Everything around it lasts much longer.
O4 Editorial is an independent digital journal about the side of football that rarely makes the match report: the business behind the clubs, the thinking behind their brands, the role of design, the economics of sponsorship and the supporter cultures that give the game its meaning.
Issue 01 brings ten stories together in one curated edition. It opens with a club sold for one euro and closes with a club that has yet to play a competitive match.
Inside this issue
Bordeaux: The €1 Football Club. What is left to buy when the football business collapses?
The Next Big Thing Football Clubs Sell Is Knowledge. Benfica turns its methodology into a product.
Nothing Is Just a Training Ground Anymore. Naming rights move into the everyday life of a club.
When the Sponsor Becomes the Shirt. Bournemouth, Vitality and the limits of visibility.
Wrexham Didn’t Go Global. It Got Distributed. How a story became a global commercial asset.
Why Is Messi Buying Football Clubs? From the fifth tier to a football ecosystem.
Modern Doesn’t Mean Better. An interview with designer Finley Sutherns on crests, heritage and restraint.
One Shirt. Two Clubs. Two Leagues. GKS Katowice, Baník Ostrava and 30 years of friendship.
Football in Times of War. Filmmaker Fabio Izzo on Ukrainian amputee football and belonging.
Atlético Dallas. Building a football club before the first kick.
Who it’s for? People interested in football business, culture, design and branding: sports marketers, designers, club and agency professionals, students, and fans who want to understand the game beyond the pitch.
What you get
A complete, curated digital edition of 150 pages
10 long-form stories, including 2 original interviews
Analysis, data pages and visual storytelling in a consistent editorial design
A clickable contents page and linked sources for every story
A high-quality PDF to read on desktop, tablet or phone
Why now This is the first issue of O4, a special edition and the start of an independent football culture project. Buying it at the early supporter price directly supports independent football journalism, and helps fund the next issues, new interviews and new stories.
INSIDE THE ISSUE
WHAT'S INSIDE
- 01
CULTUREFootball in Times of War: What Ukrainian Amputee Football Reveals About BelongingIn Ukraine, amputee football is not an escape from war. It is one of the ways people continue building a life around it.
- 02
CULTUREOne Shirt. Two Clubs. Two Leagues.GKS Katowice and Baník Ostrava are turning 30 years of supporter friendship into one shared shirt, worn in two countries, two leagues and two official matches.
- 03
GAMENothing Is Just a Training Ground AnymoreFootball clubs are turning everyday infrastructure into commercial assets. The opportunity is real. So is the risk.
- 04
GAMEBordeaux – The €1 football clubWhat is left to buy when the football business collapses?
- 05
GAMEWhen the Sponsor Becomes the ShirtBournemouth’s Vitality backlash is a reminder that sponsorship is not just about visibility. On a football shirt, the brand has to belong.
- 06
GAMEWhy Is Messi Buying Football Clubs?Lionel Messi's growing portfolio now stretches from Argentina and Uruguay to Spain. But these acquisitions may have less to do with owning football clubs and more to do with building a long-term football ecosystem.
- 07
GAMEAtlético DallasBuilding a Football Club Before the First Kick
- 08
DESIGNModern Doesn’t Mean BetterFin Sutherns on football crests, heritage, digitalisation and the danger of designing clubs into sameness
- 09
BUSINESSWrexham Didn’t Go Global. It Got Distributed.The story behind football's most unlikely global brand.
- 10
BUSINESSThe next big thing football clubs sell is knowledgeBenfica has spent decades developing footballers. Now, it wants to turn the system behind them into something the rest of the football world can learn, use and pay for.