Le Ballon FC

Sometimes, when it’s good, it’s just good. Even if Warren doesn’t look like he agrees. Chapeau @angt34 and @psg ❤️🎩💙 (Also, note the shrunken sponsor. Brands take note, listen to your designers)

We found 1 more. This won’t hang around. Head over to the shop for the very last one. We mean it this time.

Look at Grizou. Our Grizou. Everyone’s Grizou. Now, slightly grizzled Grizou. Human Grizou. Criminally underrated and overlooked. Oft-maligned, we should all take more joy in Antoine Griezmann and players like him. A gentleman, open-minded and interested by everything. From everyone at LB HQ, good luck tonight, Anto. Also, this Atleti pre-match top is an under-appreciated heater, just like the man himself.

Not pictured: the socks were trying to sell. Please buy our socks, we’re running out of room in the Ballon HQ basement.

Great news! We've found socks! Lovely, padded-forefoot football socks! Not many pairs, but some pairs. Snap them up and be the envy of your pickup-football group. Or, were them with some oversized denim shorts and a pair of loafers. We're not going to tell you how to live your life. 📸 @ceeesk

Retour sur l’édition parisienne de la Progress League 2026, le tournoi de baby-foot qui célébrait jeudi dernier la collaboration entre Carhartt WIP et F.C.Real Bristol, label fondé en 1999 au sein de la marque japonaise SOPH. Félicitations à Farid et Youssef de la team JSK pour leur victoire. Merci aux 10 équipes participantes, aux nombreux supporters et à @jrwhelan , @leballonfc , @thomasmond et @acidlacticparis . La collection F.C.Real Bristol x Carhartt WIP est disponible en France dans le magasin Carhartt WIP de Paris Le Marais, sur carhartt-wip.com, ainsi que chez @thenextdoor (où vous attend le baby-foot) et @graduate_store . Photos : @ceeesk #CarharttWIP⁠ #SOPH⁠ #FCRB⁠ #FCREALBRISTOL⁠ #FCRBxCarharttWIP

And speaking of l’Olympic, here’s Le Ballon d’Or, Golden Boot and champions of season 3, @martinjeanra and @sakhobellion looking absolutely thrilled outside the legendary bar. Amazingly, the two of them haven’t aged a day in 9 years!

We are heartbroken at Le Ballon HQ to learn that ‘Saada’ passed away at the end of January. Akli Saada was the proprio and figurehead of the legendary bar - L’Olympic - across the road from @redstarfc ’s Stade Bauer. A smiling, enthusiastic and all-round lovely man, he was the heartbeat of one of the world’s great stadium-side bars, and he welcomed a recently-homeless #LeBallonFootballLeague with open arms (and beer taps) when we moved from southern Paris to the 93. Worried that we might not have a post-football watering hole after our cross-town move, Saada allayed our fears. He would personally keep the bar open especially for us on Wednesday nights after our sessions. Seeing as hosting 100 thirsty footballers was occasionally a bit overwhelming for a man in his seventies, we would go behind the bar and help him shift as many €4 pints as possible! He even stayed open late and celebrated into the night with us after that wonderful @asmonaco side (Mbappé and co.) battered City. He told us that with Red Star not playing at #Bauer that year, he was just happy to have some footballers in his bar again. Delighted to have obliged, Saada. We were privileged to have been at home in his wonderful bar with its yellowed photographs and memorabilia from the glory (and not so glorious) days of Red Star. It was a museum. A shrine. A proper mark on the cultural landscape of football, with Saada its diligent curator and custodian. Thank you for everything, Saada. We’ll miss you. Red Star C’est Bauer, et Bauer c’est l’Olympic.

This is how you defend a free kick. @olympiquedemarseille

We’ve always thought ourselves a little bit ahead of the curve. Unsurprising therefore that style icon, Luke Littler, was inspired by our Season 2 #LBFL training kit. Good taste, young man. 🎯

The @olympiquedemarseille tifo this match week was a three stage thing of beauty. Dedicated to Bob Marley, the timing with the storms and floods in Jamaica only enhance the impact. Sometimes, things in football are just nice. And we should appreciate them for what they are. Chapeau, l’OM.

#JourneyToTheEast : Shanghai - Pop-up …our trip to China concluded with the launch of the Anar FC pop-up space off the Jiaozhou Road where all 9 teams from the four corners of the globe were represented in a contemporary and original style. Jerseys, art-installations, customisation and creativity in all its forms were celebrated. An archival gallery of all that is wonderful about independent football. The space also served as a retail destination, where the teams’ products from over 20 years of football history were on display and on sale. If you’re looking for our last DYNE jersey on sale, get yourself to China! The night was capped off perfectly, watching @pepkim ’s wonderful documentary, Broken Femur, telling the story of his beloved Chinatown Soccer Club since its inception. After the rooftop viewing, some beers and memories were shared and the next iteration discussed… Long live Anar. Long live The Journey To The East. - - - - - - - - - - The Journey To The East brought together independent football clubs, creatives and designers from around the world on a ten-day exploration of China. From Beijing to Shanghai via Aranya, our differences in interpretation of our very niche sector brought us together through a shared love of the game. The #JTTE proves that football is a language that knows no border, and is a canvas for collaboration, storytelling, history and identity. It was created and hosted by @anar_footballclub from China. The nine global collectives that were assembled: @acsaensaep (Thailand), @cscnyc (USA), @equipofc (Spain), @jonniesbodega (Malaysia), @nivelcrack (Korea), @sevmid (Indonesia), @shukyumagazine (Japan) and us, @leballonfc (France). Special love to Amy, Billy, Chow, Ray and the rest of the gang. You know who you are. You made it all extremely special.