1 DOWN: THE FIRST YEAR OF THE KEN BORG & JONATHAN KELHAM RESIDENCY

October 2024 – December 2025

One full season of the three-year designer & artist residency has now been completed and in many ways, it feels like we are only just starting.

I am sure anyone who has spoken to us over the first year has become aware of the increasing number of individual creative projects we would love to implement to champion the club across the Brislington community and beyond. It’s partly about picking our battles or a required sequence, but we hope to have as much impact as possible over the forthcoming 2 years.

With such a unique project, there is very little blueprint in which to refer too, and so we are continuing to learn alongside everyone at the club on how this project can evolve. We are super appreciative of your support and hopefully across this first year, you can start to see how we are utilising our skill sets to advocate for Brislington F.C.

Below is an update on various aspects of the project, which have moved on a little [thankfully!] from the previous update 6 months ago.

PITCHSIDE HOARDING

Possibly not the most glamours place to start, but a massive step forward has been taken with a significant section of the ground now available to allocate pitch side hoarding, thanks to the volunteer working party groups organised over the summer. This improves the visual uniformity of the clubs’ sponsors around the ground, whilst also future proofing ground criteria. We found out the hard way that install is a 100% dry weather job and so will need a few crisp autumn/winter days to get the rest of the grandstand side completed over the next few months.

ENTRANCE

A key ground improvement for the residency is the experience of arriving and entering Ironmould Lane. First impressions are super important especially for local supporters arriving for their first ever match, or ground hoppers documenting their visit. Over the last few months, we have been working on improving the visual impact, on the outside of the ground. So that arriving at Ironmould Lane sets a tone and is different to arriving at other grounds at this level and above.    

We have added the bold BRIZ mural [infill by Jonathan, lines by Ken] and badge. A key element of this has been the planters, which allows visitors space to walk to the turnstile whilst also maximising the entrances impact.

The entrance now offers a significant visual improvement with the addition of graphics on the clubhouse itself, plus a new overhead Ironmould Lane sign. We’re nearly there on this project and we only have a few way finding signage additions left to fit.

MERCHANDISE

In June, which seem like a lifetime ago, we installed a Brislington F.C. Club Shop / Residency Show at the BS4 Arts Trail at St.Anne’s House. This was a really enjoyable and successful weekend, which saw Jonathan [in full BFC kit] flyer almost all of the 1000+ attendees. This was a brilliant opportunity to chat to visitors, promote the club and the residency, in a different space to a different audience of residents and potential supporters. Alongside our iconic merchandise we also sold vintage shirts and bespoke 25/26 Season Tickets, generating over £550 in sales for the club across the two days.

RESIDENCY COVERAGE

The two big bits of news here were the BUILDHollywood Billboard & Terrace Edition Article.

In July we worked with BUILDHollywood to install a billboard at the West Town Lane / Brislington Hill Junction. The national company have a community focused project JACK Arts, who allowed us to have a 2-week slot for free. It was great to have such a significant local spot and a massive footfall heading past the billboard each day. The artwork referenced the historic Brislington village and forthcoming 25/26 Season for The Foxes. We are hoping to continue to use site-specific media in future campaigns.

Also in the summer, we were interviewed by Dave Harry for Terrace Edition. It was a very positive article, which captured the hand-to-mouth essence of the project, focusing on the idiosyncratic nature of elevating your local football club via a visual arts project. You can read the article Brislington Art & Football here

Finally in December we had the BBC visit and film us talking all things Briz. This coverage has had an international impact and we’ve had an incredible response on this – with further potential coverage and media enquiries which will hopefully materials in the next months giving the club even more exposure.

DIGITAL

Together with our Chairman Jack Rogers and help from club secretary Phil Wiltshire we have helped launch a new website that better facilitates information and an online shop for our club. The latter has been a great success and our merchandise has been selling at a steady pace – thanks to everyone who has purchased our merchandise, in doing so you are helping support the club and also the expansion of our merchandise offering.

We have also kept building our digital presence as a club on social media. More content, more coverage and also more in depth communication from the coaching staff and team. We are hoping to keep building on this, expand the club media team and be able to reach more potential fans, but also bring club fans closer to the team with interviews and player features.

With the help of local web developer and Briz supporter Lucy Sloss we have also been using a custom built app for live match updates posting directly on the club X account making it easier to follow match updates. We are hoping to build on this and have more detail being posted live during matches.

FLYERING / CUPS

A seriously large number of steps have been walked as we attempt to distribute 5000+ flyers across BS4 and beyond, a massive thank you to those who have helped distributed them. Obviously one of the big aims of the residency is to increase awareness of the club and subsequently grow our supporters and attendances. Needless to say, tickets sold at the turnstile are a vital stream of revenue for the survival of the club. It’s great to see new visitors to IML arriving with their flyers in hand, soon followed by a free beer/alternative in cup.

Anyone who can help with distribution, please do let us know! We have plenty of flyers left so if you can help deliver even just a few around your neighbourhood let us know!

In the last 6 months we have also successfully trailed the reusable pint cups on match days, the initial allocation of 100 have all made it out of IML, with one supporter declaring they have 9 of them at home! … Anyway a further 500 are now back in circulation and with the sustainable deposit system working, this will cover any future restocking requirements. Massive thank you to Sharon for her support and expertise on this.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR NEXT 6 MONTHS

1. Colin Arnold Grandstand seating to be replaced, thanks to a generous donation from another club higher in the football pyramid. The Grandstand still needs a few finishing touches to be fully completed, but we are getting there slowly.

   
   

2. A New Brislington F.C. A4 Sign to replace the old and underutilised space that is currently onsite. We are on the look out for a signage company to help us achieve this through a donation in kind in exchange for sponsorship. If you have any local contacts please let us know.
   

3. The creation of a dynamic Floor Mural in collaboration with club volunteer Evie Rogers, this will be by the gate entrance area to create a dynamic space, leading supporters out of the ground ~ we are struggling to get support for this project, if anyone has any exterior paint contacts please do get in touch.
   

4. Home Changing Rooms ~ In dialogue with the coaching staff, the intention is to create a bold, galvanising visual identity in the changing rooms, referencing the community that is at the heart of the club. It will also be warmer place to work over the winter months! The new changing room furniture has already been designed by us, but we are still trying to find a supplier to help support with materials that we need, mainly MDF sheets for the new benches and furniture. If you have any contacts with timber merchants please talk to us!
   

   

   
   

5. Bishops Corner Upgrades – we want to to create a covered outdoor space for fans to eat and drink in. The aim is to have a new deck and dining seating under cover to be able to be enjoyed all year round. We would also love to see the tea hut reopened to serve pitch side warm drinks and food! If you would like to volunteer run the tea hut get in touch! Likewise if you can help us with finding a supplier to provide us with timber posts and decking please give us a shout!
   

6. A Physical Shop and Museum Space – Following the success of the temporary club shop at the BS4 Arts Trail we are hoping to be able to make the same setup we had there a permanent fixture at Ironmould Lane in the former hospitality suite – a mix of club shop, exhibition space, museum, media space and workshop area for football related community activities. This will probably be our boldest and biggest project yet and we’ll need plenty of fundraising but the prospect of having a multi-use space at our ground is very exciting and one we will do our best to achieve! We have already had a massive injection of help with Andy Stone from #FW Footywatch and Dan from Travis Perkins in Bridgwater donate to us 25 sheets of OSB boards which will make up the new finishing wall surface and furniture inside the new space! Thank you to Andy for supporting us!
   

   

   
   

7. New Partnerships – Over the last months we have been hard at work in the background reaching out to new partners – commercial and technical to help the club move forward. We will soon be able to announce a new technical supplier which will allow us to create more merchandise including replica bespoke kits, and new commercial partners who are keen to get involved with the club and both support the sporting project and the residency. Watch this space!
   

8. Club Visual Identity – After conversations with the committee and club members it was clear there is a willingness to build on the visual identity being brought forward through the residency project. A process of research into the club’s visual history has started which will culminate in a wider design exercise including the crest, badge and typography to help the club’s merchandising and communication potential in a dynamic way that works both online, in print and on team wear.

Once again thank you to everyone at the club for facilitating the project. Please come and chat to us and if you can support the project in any way, whether you would like to physical be part of working days at the club, or are able to source or put us in contact with potential suppliers for materials –  please do let us know! Up The Foxes!

Jonathan & Ken