There’s no doubt that the Clapton CFC kits are a much-loved ingredient of the club’s unique identity. The recognisable red white and black checks, the globally famous Spanish International Brigades away shirt, and the new goalkeeper strip supporting organisations fighting transphobia – the club’s shirts reflect and promote its values and mission. But where do these kits come from, and what makes their manufacturers such a perfect fit for the club?
Rage Sport is an independent sports company based in Caserta, just outside of Naples, Italy. Rage works with grassroots clubs aligned with the ethos of ‘sport popolare’, meaning ‘people’s sport’. The company’s logo – the three arrows of the Antifa movement – quickly illustrates how all the clubs it works with must align with its fight against inequality, racism and facism.
Rage is a small company with firm values and ethics. All their kits are ethically manufactured in Italy using responsibly sourced material by employees with regular work contracts. Everyone involved has legal rights, fair work hours and a work-life balance — a marked contrast to the grim conditions imposed by major sportswear companies on the workers who produce the vast majority of the world’s football kits. The company has even established a small factory to reassure itself that all stages of the process are completed ethically.
Most importantly, Rage has never advertised for business – instead its collaborations have originated from careful steps taken to ensure their values align with grassroots teams. Rage’s relationship with the club that would become Clapton Community FC began after Maurizio Affuso, the company’s founder, made a chance visit on holiday in London and heard the Italian chanting of supporters at an ownership protest. A relationship was soon struck up – and when CCFC was formed soon after, Rage were in turn invited to create the new club’s first kits.
Rage’s kits are made using sublimation printing, a technique which allows the transfer of a unique print onto fabric using high temperatures. So far their collaboration with CCFC has resulted in some memorable triumphs. None has had a further reach than the famous ‘No pasarán’ International Brigades kit, the result of a poll run among members in 2018 which resulted in a shirt honouring those who volunteered to fight facism in the Spanish Civil War. The resulting global coverage (including in Spain, where the expression of such support often remains controversial) gave the club an international audience – and some very busy merchandise volunteers.
Elsewhere CCFC’s newest kit, a change goalkeeper shirt, features the wording ‘Football has no gender’ and has raised money for the Trans Legal Clinic, an organisation working to fight the Football Association’s decision to separate trans women footballers from their teammates following the Supreme Court ruling in April 2025.
Rage offers no retail function to sell its shirts directly to fans. Instead it works directly with the clubs to ensure funds are routed back into the local institution to support its growth. CCFC have been firm beneficiaries of this approach, with income from shirt sales in turn permitting investment in the club’s infrastructure and support for valued causes. (This model also means Rage is able to offer among the lowest prices for sportswear in Europe.) As such Rage’s shirts are only available for fans to purchase through the club’s website or at the ground – just remember to order one size up given slightly smaller Italian sizes.
Despite a difficult pandemic period, Rage continues to build links with anti-fascist clubs across Italy and further afield, including Glasgow, Paris and the United States, as well as print shirts for like-minded basketball and rugby teams, and even bands. Meanwhile, shared values and a track-record of creative triumphs will ensure their relationship with CCFC continues to endure.
Piers Barber