CFC fans ‘score’ as their jersey designs selected for the season

CHENNAI: Chennaiyin FC launched their new fan-made jerseys for the season. After the club announced a jersey designing contest in the month of March, the results were announced by its owners, Abhishek Bachchan and Vita Dani in the launch on Saturday. The home and away kits were designed by Aynstine Thomas Jesudas, a football enthusiast from Kerala. While the third kit is designed by Ramkumar B, an ardent Chennaiyin FC fan.

Talking to DT Next, Ram says, “I have always had a keen interest in designing. What I see is the bonus of that is that I’m a hardcore Chennaiyin FC fan. Over the years, I have spent a lot of time and effort into designing jerseys for local teams and I also work closely with the Supermachan’s social media team.”

Ram says that he has always wanted to design a jersey for the club. Having designed concept jerseys for the club through the years, he says, this contest was important to him as it was his chance to exhibit his skills and ideas.

He says that he went all out to make sure the design caught the attention of the people. “I had to make sure that I incorporated all the cultural and traditional values of not only Chennai but as well as the Tamil culture,” he smiles.

Sharing his surreal experience of being selected, he says, “I have no words to explain how I felt after the results came out. It was a dream come true as I felt my hard work was rewarded.”

For Aynstine, the aspects of designing were completely new. Having no prior knowledge of designing, this 18-year-old had a lot to research on. “I heard about the jersey designing contest and wanted to amuse myself to see if I could do it. I researched Chennai and decided to design the jersey based on the iconic Chennai Central Railway Station.”

He says when he was told that his design had been shortlisted, he was shocked as he lacked designing experience and techniques.

“I felt very happy and proud to contribute to such a big club. Initially, I was not told about my designs getting selected. They only told me that I was shortlisted. So hearing my name getting called out at the event was very uncalled for and filled me with joy,” he chuckles.

Disclosing what is next for them, “I’m continuing to help design for the fan club’s social media posts and we are gearing up for the upcoming season. I’m also very much open to working with other brands and other designs; anywhere where my talent will be identified and showcased,” says Ram. While Aynstine wants to look at exploring something other than design.

—With inputs from Shrivathsan S