Exclusive Interview: How AFTA Built a Home Inside Women’s Football

We all know that feeling: you watch a tournament ‘casually’ and then, before you know it, you’re rearranging your weekends around kick-off times and shouting ‘ref!’ at the TV. 

For Jade and Becca - from AFTA Studios - that spiral started in 2019, when the Women’s World Cup happened to land the same year they met. Becca grew up in a Fulham-supporting household and had been taken to men’s games growing up, but it never really stuck. “It just wasn’t my thing,” she says. Jade’s upbringing was more football heavy: a Liverpool-mad family, a Newcastle-supporting grandad, and kickabouts with her uncle. 

All Art work is credited to @aftastudios

Their re-introduction into football wasn't a grand declaration of fandom, it was gradual, and by the time the men’s Euros arrived in 2021 and the women’s in 2022, football became hard to escape. 

Living in Brighton ahead of the 2022 Women’s Euros, they weren’t even sure they’d go in person. Their flat had recently developed an impressive mold situation, meaning most of their belongings had to be replaced. Not exactly ideal tournament prep… But tickets were affordable and local, so, thankfully, they bit the bullet and went for it.

“We had the best time,” Jade says. Not just watching football, but feeling part of something. The sense that this wasn’t just a sporting event, it was a community forming in real time.

That feeling of wanting to contribute rather than just consume, is where AFTA began.

Drawing the Moments

Both of the pair describe themselves as being creative since childhood. Becca had been creating highly detailed pet portraits, work that was “beautiful” but time-consuming and expensive to produce. Switching to digital illustration on her iPad felt more accessible, and when they chose Arsenal as their team, Arsenal players naturally became her first subjects.

Jade’s creative path ran through performing arts and musical theatre, much like myself. She was studying music at the time, while Becca was finishing a physiotherapy degree she already knew she didn’t see herself pursuing long term.

The origins of AFTA began simply because they enjoyed capturing moments and celebrating players through artistic expression, leading them to launch their Instagram account in January 2023.

“It was just for fun,” they say. “It wasn’t meant to be a business!”

The First Share

They recall one post in particular that still stands out; Valentine’s Day 2023. They’d illustrated Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema, celebrating their relationship as much as their football, to which their surprise, Beth shared. 

“It meant so much more than just a share,” they say. “It was off-pitch representation.”

For Becca, who had lived in Brighton but never quite found a strong LGBTQ+ community, women’s football became that space. Seeing players publicly support their art, especially art that celebrated queer relationships, felt significant.

Fun Fact: Vivianne Miedema was the first player to actually purchase one of their prints. Players were liking, commenting, engaging, and even purchasing, creating a loop of encouragement: if the people at the heart of the game connected with it, then they must be doing something right.

From Prints to Proper Collaborations

The shift from an Instagram account to business wasn’t a masterplan, but rather shaped by people asking for it. In the early days, prints were initially sought after, before clothing and collaboration requests were demanded. The demand made them quickly realise that there was endless creative output around the men’s game, but far less around the women’s. 

“We wanted to create something positive,” they explain.

A turning point came in the most unexpected way. They applied for small business funding through the Open University, which they affirm had “nothing to do with football”. But sat on the panel, coincidentally, was Beth Mead’s agent.

“She knew who we were straight away.”

That connection for the couple would launch them into mountains of success. They say how Beth’s agent became a “mentor”, helping them think beyond social media. This led to their first collaboration with Arsenal, and a domino effect of their further success with clubs and brands such as the Lionesses, Manchester City and London City Lionesses x Mastercard.

Official Lionesses European Champions Tee (On Sale £25)

Meado On The Wing (On Sale £5)

Love This City Graphic Hoodie (£55)

What surprised them most in the early stages of their business, wasn’t the scale but the  patience required. “There’s a lot of back and forth” they claim, and so a conversation in July might not result in a launch until November. 

AFTA 2.0: Resetting the Message

By last September, they felt the brand needed to evolve. Much of their early work centred around Arsenal, simply because that’s where their fandom had landed. But AFTA - Art From The Action - was always meant to be broader than one club. AFTA 2.0 became a reset and a statement of intent.

They launched a campaign titled ‘It’s Your Game, Create It.’ Jade and Becca felt that women’s football still feels shapeable, that everybody involved in the sport has a role in deciding what it becomes. “Everyone has a role in shaping this space,” they say. “We want ours to be positive.”

The next idea came, as many modern ideas do, in the shower… Their newly launched AFTA.tv was born from noticing a gap. The women’s game is flooded with a lot of media interest nowadays, where, on one side, there are traditional broadcasters like BBC and Sky Sports and on the other, independent creators trying to build platforms without access or accreditation.

They imagined something in between. A credible space for aspiring journalists and creatives to tell real stories in women’s football; culture-focused, community-driven, but respected.

“Alt journalism, but reputable,” they describe it.

It’s less about replacing existing media and more about widening who gets to contribute.

Green and Gold

Their latest campaign, Green and Gold, launched ahead of Australia’s participation in the Asian Cup. Australia holds personal significance to the pair as Becca previously resided there, and the couple got married on a beach in Queensland during the 2023 World Cup.

The Matildas feel like a second team to them, and having previously worked with the team before, during the Olympics, this collection felt natural. They also collaborated with First Nations artist, Tiaan Shutt with whom they’d worked together before, on “Tillies on Tour,” and Tiaan had created artwork for Arsenal Women during their Australian tour.

Gold and Green Matildas Tee (£28)

Matildas Player Sticker Pack (£8)

Green and Gold Matildas Hoodie (£45)

Working with other creatives is central to how they operate, but so is credit. As their profile has grown, they’ve seen their designs appear on unauthorised merch sites claiming false partnerships. While they take it in stride, they’re conscious that fans often believe they’re supporting the women’s game when they’re not.

“It matters to the people buying it,” they say.

In a growing creative ecosystem, recognition isn’t just about ego, but sustainability.

The Long Game

Ask what they ultimately want fans to take from AFTA, and the answer comes quickly: community.

They see their work as a form of visual storytelling and non-traditional journalism; accessible formats for people who might not connect with long written articles, especially neurodiverse fans who experience the game differently.

At its core, AFTA is about joy; capturing what’s happening on and off the pitch in a way that feels colourful and human. “Something that makes people smile” when they scroll.

Five years from now, they hope to have “taken over the WSL,” Jade laughs. They discuss expanding into other women’s sports, and building something sustainable, and labelling AFTA as a creative studio. And whilst the AFTA team, right now, is run by Jade, Becca, and freelancers, they hope to expand their studio into a collective space of different artists. A place where clubs, brands, and sponsors come to build campaigns rooted in authenticity rather than trend-chasing.

They understand what it feels like to be at the bottom of a creative journey, to undervalue your work. If AFTA grows, they want to bring other creatives with them.

From a Brighton flat battling mould to collaborating with clubs and international campaigns, the trajectory feels significant. But ask them about it and they’ll circle back to the same thing that started it all; they just wanted to be part of something.

Now, they are, and they’re helping shape how it looks.