“Maximo” was the word Roberto FirminoUsed to tell Dr Robbie Hughes his preference for the shade of white. The LiverpoolForward was searching for a new smile. Hughes was the man to do it. Firmino left with a set pearly whites that drew as much attention and as many compliments as his goals.
“White is white but they’re over-white, man,” was the verdict of BT Sport pundit Ian Wright after watching Firmino celebrate scoring Liverpool’s fourth goal in a 4-2 win over Crystal Palace.
This was October 2016, Philippe Coutinho was pulling the strings for Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s own teeth were au naturel. A year later, the Liverpool manager also sported a new smile — a few shades down from maximo but noticeable enough for some fans to describe Klopp’s new teeth as “like a new signing”.
Jurgen Klopp September 2022 (Photo courtesy ANP via Getty Images).
Fast forward to 2022 and the list of players who’ve had their teeth whitened/straightened/changed beyond all recognition has become almost as lengthy as those who’ve bleached their hair or turned limbs into art.
Why are we focusing on image? It has been a currency for some footballers since the beginning. David Beckham’s haircuts made headlines. Cristiano Ronaldo’s abdominals sold products promising transformed physiques. In the spring of this year, The Athletic revealed that Jack Grealish’s boyish good looks helped capture the attention of Italian fashion house GucciHe was made a brand ambassador through a deal worth a million pounds.
What is the importance of image for footballers? It goes beyond just looking good. Is it going to help them on the pitch? How much does it impact their earning potential outside of the sport?
“It’s very individual so there’s no one reason why people do it,” says former professional footballer Fraser Franks, who retired at the age of 28 due to a heart defect and now runs Mentoring firm B5 Consultancy works with players and clubs. “For me, whether it was the boots I wore, how I wore my socks or how my kit fitted, that to me, mentally more than anything, made me feel good.
“There is a phrase: look good, feel good. I think sometimes taking pride in your appearance might clear your mind a bit, whereas if you feel scruffy or haven’t looked after yourself, maybe you feel that your performance will be a bit like that.”
Gary Lineker was well-known for cutting his hair after a bad run. “It makes no sense,” He shared his thoughts with the High Performance Podcast. “Except it’s amazing how many times it worked. It probably kicks out the negative vibes that you’ve got in your head.”
Gary Lineker in 1986 as a Barcelona team player (Photo: David Cannon/Allsport).
That may be why some clubs allow barbers in their training areas days before matches. Why not? Premier LeaguePlayers pressured the club to get a COVID-19 kit for their barber, at a time national lockdown restrictions were just beginning to ease.
Franks believes this can be a sign that there is insecurity, even though many may think it’s due to overinflated egos. “Particularly in the Premier League, there are so many cameras on these players, they’re in magazines, everyone’s appearance is up for comment. These are often young men who are insecure.
“If you’re in a changing room — and I’ve seen this plenty of times — and someone has an insecurity, that is often picked on a bit. Someone’s hairline, their teeth possibly… Multiply that by millions of people watching you.”
Franks mentions Luke Chadwick. Who was the one who said it? The AthleticThe public ridicule of him has had a profound impactA primetime BBC comedy panel had him as a young actor. And Manchester United’s Phil Jones, who has been ridiculed for a face he has pulled while playing.
“He’s got memes and Twitter accounts, people commenting all the time,” says Franks. “Social media doesn’t help because everyone has an opinion and you can hide behind anonymity.
“You can say something really hurtful to someone but if it doesn’t come under the Twitter policy of what offence really is then there’s no real consequence to it. As much of a beautiful place as social media can be it’s also a very toxic place. So there’s more to it than being a bit flash or wanting to look a certain way.”
It is essential to feel confident when you step onto the pitch. According to sports psychologist Dan Abrahams, a player lacking confidence will be inhibited: “Players not showing for the ball, players hiding, players a bit slower off the mark, not finding that bit of space, being a bit weaker in the challenge.”
Different players may need to build that confidence in different ways. For Real Madrid’s Caroline Weir, at least part of it comes from her pre-match makeup routine. “Training will always come first in terms of making you the player that you are,” she said in an InterviewLast year. “But I’m one of those players who likes a strong image. From my lashes to my nails — my makeup routine is different on a matchday to normal days. For me, that just makes me feel good and I think that helps me feel confident.”
Caroline Weir plays for Real Madrid in August 2022. (Photo by Oscar J Barroso/Europa Press via Getty Images).
She’s not alone. Before this summer’s Euros, England’s Ella Toone made sure she had her nails and false eyelashes done. Neither of the Lionesses survived the fight to make it to the final. Though Toone later said she was “gutted” not to have them in place for the big game, it had no noticeable effect on the Manchester United forward who scored England’s wondrous opening goal. Following the historic win at Wembley she wanted to get them re-done.
For Liverpool’s Shanice van de Sanden, applying her trademark lipstick is a crucial part of her matchday preparation. “I will never play any game without it,” she said during the 2019 World Cup. “It’s what makes me feel the most comfortable.” At the same tournament, Brazil legend Marta emerged for a game against ItalyBright red lipstick. When asked about it after the game she explained: “I always wear lipstick. Not that colour, but today I said, ‘I’m going to dare’. The pitch had to have blood so the colour is bloody. Now I’m going to use it in every game.”
Marta plays for Brazil in February 2022. (Photo by Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images).
Perhaps it’s as much about self-expression as it is about confidence, then? A natural desire to understand players for who and what they are.
“All of us, if we look good will probably feel good about ourselves,” says Gary Bloom, sports performance psychotherapist at Oxford United Football Club and author of Keep Your Head in the Game. “That includes being at the gym or whatever we need to do. There’s a famous philosopher called Jacques Lacan who reckoned that all of us have a desire to be understood by the world. And it’s an impossible thing — nobody can ever understand us. We can’t even understand ourselves.
“But that is a very strong desire: to be understood by the world, and hoping that somebody will understand how we feel by our appearance is a very strong thing.”
Johnny Gorman, a former professional footballer, played for Northern IrelandAt age 17, he became a psychologist. When his playing career unravelled faster than anyone expected, he pursued a new path in psychology, completing his master’s degree this summer. “In every dressing room I’ve been in there’s always been a few players who have been obsessed with how they look,” he says. “And that’s right down to what socks they wear, what tape they put around their socks to what boots they wear, how large or small their shorts are, how their hair looks, if they put a wristband on or not.
“I’ve seen players sit in front of a mirror before they’re about to go out and play to get their appearance right. Some players don’t care. They don’t care if their shin pads look like cricket pads. They’ll go out and perform and their image will not come into it at all. Paul Scholes may have bought boots from Sports Direct once before playing for Manchester United. So I’m sure he didn’t give any consideration to how he looked when he was playing football.”
Paul Scholes, David Beckham and others had a completely different approach to their images (Photo: Adam Davy/EMPICS via Getty Images).
Gorman believes that in some cases, the difference could be down to playing position and, by extension, personality type. “I was a winger — anywhere attacking — and for me the game was always about confidence. I know from people I’ve played with that if, as a kid, someone wanted to be an attacker and score goals and be a flair player, their personality type is maybe someone who’s more interested in standing out for other reasons, as well as for their footballing ability.
“You’re more likely to get a winger, attacking midfielder or flair player who is interested in expressing themselves because that’s just the way they are as a person. And if you’re in an environment where your manager and the club you play for are quite disciplined, one of the ways you can express yourself is through your image and how you look.”
Fraser Franks was part ChelseaAs a young player, he recalls how he arrived at training wearing a pair of white boots. “I was a defender and not the most technically gifted. I remember a coach looking at my boots and going, ‘Cor, you’ve got to be some player to wear those’. I took them back to the shop the next day and got a black pair because I didn’t want to be seen as flash.
“But I think things have evolved. To make a player feel confident on the pitch, they must be able to express themselves. If you want a creative player, let the person be creative — let them wear whatever colour boots they want or have their hair however they want.
“We’ve often labelled that as being a bit of a ‘fancy dan’ or ‘he cares too much about his image’, but I don’t see any real relevance in that. If you feel good, you’ll play better. If that means looking good, taking pride in your appearance, then I’d be all for it.”
After signing for Manchester City, Jack Grealish was filmed by his fans (Photo: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images).
Jeremy Snape is a sports psychologist who believes the extreme scrutiny that is placed on players is part the equation for those who value their image. “There are 30 cameras around the stadium and tens of millions of ‘reporters’ on their phones waiting to pass judgment, so the scrutiny feels greater than it’s ever been in sport or in life. A mistake can lead to career-ending consequences.
“So anything that a player can do to make themselves feel more comfortable, confident and prepared going out onto the pitch — whether that’s their hair being straight or their shirt being tucked in — is going to be important because they’re walking out into the spotlight.”
As well as being important for players mentally, it’s hard to ignore the fact that their image can also be important for them commercially. In Memphis Depay’s book Heart of a Lion, the Barcelona forward writes that in his PSV days, he’d do 200 abdominal exercises every day. “Based on the idea that it’s a double-sided sword: a strong body is essential at top-level football and looking good helps with winning commercial deals.”
“There’s no question there is,” says Steve Martin, global CEO of M&C Saatchi, when asked if there is a link between a player’s commercial earning potential and the way they look. “That’s been around for 50 years really. It’s a throwback to the time when footballers began to think about their image and transcend the sport to become more famous figures than simply players for a particular team. You can go back to George Best on that, he was the trigger point for it.”
George Best with Eva Haraldsted in front of his Manchester clothes shop in 1969 (Photo via PA Images via Getty Images).
Martin spent the early part of his career working at Adidas, where he was involved in signing David Beckham to the brand — someone he says is probably the biggest example in recent times of a player whose image was carefully curated and planned with the specific aim of elevating him beyond football.
Beckham was not stopped by it.
He shaved his head into a Mohican in April 2001. This made headlines all over the globe. Beckham loved it. It was initially planned as a one time shoot for The Face magazine. Brian Clough was among those to feel otherwise, claiming the Manchester United man looked “more like a bloody convict than an England captain”.
Then, how did he do that? “This is me,” he told The Face. “I am not doing it to create attention. It’s just me.”
“At that time, he was prepared to take risks,” Martin tells The Athletic. “He didn’t care because he believed in fashion. He loved it. That wasn’t a forced conversation. There was a lot of other stuff planned out that was maybe a bit more contrived, but actually, it evolved pretty organically.”
Martin believes that image has changed and that it is more important to look good than looks these days. “Maybe in the old days, it was all about looks and a bit more cliched. Now, there’s much more depth to it. There’s always going to be that fashion, lifestyle and looks element, but it’s way more than that now. For any player, there needs to be a much greater social purpose aligned to how they go about their business which means they’re more commercially viable to a club. And as a result, the individual can benefit.”
Misha Sher, global head of sports, entertainment, and culture at MediaCom, believes that players must recognize that their image is more than aesthetics. “Ultimately, it’s about what that individual represents in popular culture,” she says. “Brands are interested in working with talent as a conduit to connecting with people. People can only connect with those who are culturally relevant.
“Because of the way society has evolved — social media, the way that talent can connect with audiences around interests — all of that has elevated the need to go beyond aesthetics. Being known, loved and admired for the types of things people can connect with is directly linked to talent’s ability to generate commercial revenue today.”
Sher believes that looks are still an important factor in commercial success. However, while once they were a key factor, marketability is driven by many other elements.
Martin uses Martin’s example Marcus Rashford as someone who has “changed the game significantly” with his campaigning to help fund free school meals throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and his ongoing work to help tackle child poverty.
Marcus Rashford’s image transcends football (Photo: Lindsey Parnaby/AFP via Getty Images)
“If I was advising a player now, I’d say to be very smart in how you create your image; make sure it’s managed, but also make sure it’s real and that it comes from the heart. That’s why Rashford’s was so good because it was so real. That created a picture around Rashford that was a change in his life. We were always talking about him in every commercial conversation we had with some of our major football partners. We’d never have done that before.”
Rashford’s role in persuading the Government to reverse its decision not to extend its free school meals voucher scheme over the summer holidays was front-page newsHe was a well-known figure in the country and earned a lot of attention. “He walks into a room and people want to be around that, want to hear his story,” says Martin. “Brands can get in behind that and project it.
“I know that there were a lot of players briefing agents after that to say, ‘I need to stand up for something. I want a cause I can get behind’, whether it’s a social cause, or whatever because they’ve seen the impact that can create. So it’s definitely changed the game. It’s not just about looking like a great clothes horse, there’s way more depth to it — four dimensions as opposed to one.”
Where Beckham succeeded was in having an image that has endured — even now, nine years into his retirement. “It can’t just be a flash in the pan,” says Martin. “In terms of commercial impact, if you were to have a plan and an ability to stand out and get behind something, it is going to make your commercial value better to your club, which allows you to negotiate better contracts etc. Then you can also put yourself in front of brands.
“But image now is not just about how you look, it’s more about what you stand for, how you behave, how articulate you are, how organic and real you are, how transparent, and all those great values of why brands and clubs want to associate with you.”
Performance on the pitch is essential before everything else. Some people need new teeth, false eyelashes, or freshly cut hair to make their pitch stand out.
(Top image designed and created by Eamonn dalton
