PHOTOGRAPHER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Charlotte Cullen
STYLIST & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Martha Short
PRODUCER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dresden Leitner
MUA David Austen
HAIR Roman Craig Hair
STYLING ASSISTANTS Hannah Mary Gibson, Melissa Connachie, Heida Senkutė
BTS FILM PHOTOGRAPHY Danielle Crichton
FIXER & PRODUCER Jenn Nimmo-Smith
LIGHTING HIRE Format
TALENT Bemz, Sanjeev Kohli, Gender Goals, Clara, Sal & Nic Quinn
MODELS Samantha at Nemesis Models and Ciara Turner at Colours Agency
As Scotland celebrates its return to the World Cup – and a first tournament victory already under its belt – the atmosphere across the country is impossible to ignore. Blue shirts hang from pub windows, flags flutter from tenement flats, and for the first time in a generation, Scotland’s presence on football’s biggest stage feels tangible. But while much of the conversation has centred on the game itself, Glasgow Plays Ball asks a different question: what does Scotland look like off the football pitch?
Created by stylist Martha Short, producer Dresden Leitner and photographer Charlotte Cullen, the editorial brings together musicians, designers, footballers, models and community organisers to create a portrait of Scotland that feels vibrant, diverse and unapologetically contemporary. Featuring everyone from Bemz and Sanjeev Kohli to members of Gender Goals, Scotland’s first trans and non-binary football club, the project uses football as a cultural touchpoint rather than its sole subject.
That sense of inclusion was central from the beginning. “It felt really important to have a cast that multiple generations could recognise or relate to, that represents the togetherness of our country,” the trio explains. “There’s sometimes an assumption that football is a game that belongs to a certain group. With Glasgow Plays Ball, we wanted to show that it’s a sport that has a wide fan base that stretches beyond a single community, and it was crucial for us to represent those traditionally left out of the conversation of what football looks like.”
That mission took on additional significance against the backdrop of recent events in Glasgow. “It was quite a weird week in Scotland,” Short admits. “We had extreme highs in the anticipation of the Haiti game, but also devastating lows when the assaults took place in Glasgow on Wednesday. Hopefully, the project acts as a counterpoint to that hatred, one that celebrates and is inclusive of all strands of our community… and makes them look really sexy too.”
The resulting images feel joyful without becoming sentimental, and plays with nostalgia without purely repeating cliché. Kilts, football strips and familiar Scottish iconography all make an appearance, but they’re deployed with a wink rather than reverence. “I think using familiar or exaggerated references in unexpected ways is what creates the sense of humour that runs through the images,” says Short. “A lot of the visual language is immediately recognisable, but by placing it alongside contemporary design and the people involved in the project, it feels up to date.”
Iconic Glasgow landmarks were utilised, becoming stages upon which a more expansive vision of Scottish identity can unfold, while references to football culture are treated with both sincerity and playfulness. “We definitely had a lot of fun with this project from start to finish,” says Leitner. “Scotland is a proud nation, and you can see that even with the football fans over at the games decked out in their kits and kilts – we wanted to make sure we kept that fun and personality in whilst also keeping an editorial feel.”
For Leitner, who moved to Scotland from London this year, the project also became a way of understanding the country through the people who call it home. “As an outsider, I’ve loved getting to know more about the real Scotland since moving here,” she says. “Especially coming from London, I can see people come together in a different way here; it feels like a more supportive place. People are open and collaborative, caring, and they will talk to you in the street, in the taxi, in the pub, anywhere. There’s a beautiful spirit. And that’s an exaggerated feeling now we’re in the World Cup – it’s buzzing.”
That spirit of collective participation shaped the project at every stage. The team pulled the editorial together in just a few weeks, exchanging references, ideas and inspiration in what Leitner describes as “1000s of WhatsApp messages”. Along the way, contributors continually found ways to leave their own imprint on the story, from local venues wanting to display their flags to community organisations bringing their own styling ideas to the set.
The result is a project that feels less like a campaign and more like a conversation. Or, as the team puts it, a reflection of a city whose people remain its defining feature. “Glasgow’s ‘People Make Glasgow’ slogan was introduced during the Commonwealth Games 2014, and it couldn’t be more true,” the trio explained. “There is something special in the water here, and I don’t feel I see enough pictures of a modern Glasgow.”
At a moment when Scotland is attracting global attention through football, Glasgow Plays Ball offers a timely reminder that the country’s most compelling story has never been about the game alone; it’s about the people gathering around it.
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