Leeds United
[ OVERVIEW ]
Personal obsession turned into a media operation. Built a brand, a content engine and a community from zero, reached 25,000 followers and a 20M monthly view peak, survived a Premier League DMCA takedown, and came out of it as a recognized Leeds United content partner.
[ PROJECT SNAPSHOT ]
[ LOGO ]
[ TYPOGRAPHY ]
HORIZON HEAVY 800 (HEADLINES) · UNI NEUE (BODY & SUPPORT)
[ PALETTE ]
PRIMARY
SUPPORTING
Navy #0D113E · Yellow #F6F704 · White #FFFFFF · Competition Green #00FF83 · Home/Away Pink #FF0050
[ BRAND IN USE ]
[ THE CHALLENGE ]
"BUILD A PLACE WHERE LEEDS FANS ACTUALLY WANT TO BE."
[ THE CONTEXT ]
1,000 to 2,000 leads/mo
From free digital assets used as lead magnets, varied by what was being pushed
Notable followers and organisations
Followed by NBA players, Leeds Rhinos rugby players, musicians, artists, and public figures in Leeds, as well as prominent English brands and organisations, including sponsors of the club itself.
News and media framing
Positioned as a news and media outlet, which is what allows reporting use of content, logos and information
[ WHAT WE WERE UP AGAINST ]
"Building an audience from nothing in a saturated fan-content space, then having the entire account removed by a Premier League DMCA takedown with no support channel to appeal through."
[ WHAT I DID ]
MOVE 01 / BRAND
Built the identity before the content
Logo, kit, typography, colour scheme, and rules for where each applied, so everything that shipped afterwards was consistent.
MOVE 02 / STRATEGY
Built a content engine and tested into it
Set themes, gameday posts, transfer news, historical quotations, fan opinion, then shipped against them and measured what landed. One is greater than zero: version one goes out rather than being perfected, and the analytics decide what gets made next.
MOVE 03 / COMMUNITY
Turned an audience into a funnel
Free digital assets as lead magnets, an email list behind them, and a website to send people to, with sponsored and co-branded partnerships running on top.
THE breakdown.
[ THE BREAKDOWN ]
PLAYER HIGHLIGHT —— KALVIN PHILLIPS
PLAYER HIGHLIGHT —— RAPHINHA
MATCHDAY RESULT —— LUFC VS LFC 4-0
PLAYER FLASHBACK —— ALIOSKI
MATCHDAY PREVIEW —— SPURS VS LUFC
PLAYER HIGHLIGHT —— RIO FERDINAND
PLAYER FLASHBACK —— KEMAR ROOFE
MATCHDAY PREVIEW —— WOLVES VS LUFC
PLAYER HIGHLIGHT —— BEN WHITE
01. BRAND SYSTEM
Developed the whole identity from scratch: logo, kit, typography, colour schemes, and rules for where each got applied. Built before content, so everything shipped afterward was consistent.
02. CONTENT ENGINE & TESTING
Started with very basic content across many different formats to see what landed. Performance was immediately legible. Measured views, engagement and comments to separate what worked by format and theme, then leaned into it. Operating method was hypothesis, test, validate, lean in or return to the drawing board. Governing rule: one is greater than zero, ship version one rather than perfect it.
03. FORMAT RANGE
Gameday and pre-gameday posts, transfer news, historical player quotations, highlight clips (top goals, top moments, short-form). The highlight format from the start of Premier League seasons was what drove the 20M peak. Off-peak baseline ran 1M to 5M monthly views.
04. PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION
Batch create, schedule, automate, ship, then engage with fans in the comments. Content was designed in spreadsheets, uploaded into branded Canva templates that rendered the text and data into fixed positions, producing batches of 50+ pieces at once. Example: 150+ historical Leeds quotations built in a single pass and scheduled across six to eight months. Ran on Buffer plus Instagram's built-in scheduling and analytics. The engine was designed so production and distribution didn't depend on being present daily.
05. PARTNERSHIP WITH LEEDS UNITED
A Premier League DMCA takedown over highlight content removed the account overnight with no support path. Traced the Premier League's infringement team directly, got the request withdrawn, and secured Leeds United's permission to create content on their behalf. The account was restored and recognised as an official Leeds United content partner.
06. COMMUNITY, ASSETS & MONETIZATION
Free digital assets for Leeds fans: wallpapers, games, freebies. These functioned as lead magnets generating 1,000 to 2,000 leads per month. Acquired leedsunitednews.com and email lists to build a more connected experience around matchdays and community. Ran co-branded partnerships with local companies paying for sponsored posts. Monetization of the lead magnet list was never built out. Stopped in 2024 on time grounds, wants to revisit.
[ VALIDATION ]
Reached 25,000 followers and 20M+ peak monthly views. Recognized by Leeds United as an official content partner.
[ REFLECTION ]
Operating method was hypothesis, test, validate, lean in or return to the drawing board. Governing rule: one is greater than zero, ship version one rather than perfect it.
[ NEXT STEPS ]
Stopped in 2024 on time grounds, wants to revisit.