Sports
How one Irish soccer team turned to social causes to escape bankruptcy
The most valuable piece of real estate for a soccer team isn’t on the pitch, it’s on the front of the players’ jerseys, a foot-wide swath of fabric some companies will pay tens of millions of dollars to rent for a season.
But Bohemian FC, a small but mighty fan-owned club in Dublin, has made its money targeting an area that lies beneath the front of the jersey. Convinced a fan’s beating heart and soul can be worth more than any corporate advertising budget, Bohemian — or Bohs for short — promotes causes, not companies, on its away jerseys. The strategy has turned a club once headed for relegation and financial ruin into the most profitable one in the Irish first division.
“I can’t conceive of any way where Bohs could be in a position that a fan of Bayern Munich in Munich or a fan of Manchester United in Manchester would want to buy a Bohs shirt for football reasons,” Daniel Lambert, the team’s youthful chief operating officer, said last week in a video conference call from Dublin. “But if you bring it to an emotional space, there are people who care. They care about Palestine. They care about the migrant crisis, the climate, could be anything.
“If we can connect with people in different countries and cities around the world on that basis, our potential market is huge.”
How huge? Although Lambert declined to share detailed numbers, he believes most clubs in Ireland’s 10-team Premiership will sell between 100 to 500 away shirts while Bohemian might sell 20,000 or so a season. While other Premiership clubs are lucky to fund 5% of their annual budget through jersey sales, Bohemian is anticipating it will earn about 40% of its revenue from socially conscious shirts that have featured the colors of the Palestinian flag, a tribute to Bob Marley and the slogan “Refugees Welcome” beneath the silhouette of a fleeing family.
“There’s an awful lot of financial logic to this,” said Lambert, 37, whose club funnels much of that profit to migrant-aid groups, charities for the homeless or others providing medical assistant to Palestine.
At a time when many public-facing companies are beating a hasty retreat from anything that smacks of woke culture, Bohemian decided to proudly and defiantly double down on causes from gay marriage and climate change to Palestine and Ireland’s harsh asylum policies. While that has met with some pushback — and has earned the team the nickname “We put any cause on a jersey FC” from some detractors — it might also have saved the 135-year-old club, one of the oldest in Ireland.
A dozen years ago Bohemian entered its worst stretch this century, one that saw it lose more games than it won while finishing in the bottom half of the league table three straight seasons and narrowly escaping relegation. The club’s finances were in worse shape.
“We were bankrupt,” Lambert said. “We had a part-time team; people earning 50 euros a week, 80 euros a week.”
For many games then, Dalymount Park, the team’s 100-plus-year-old stadium in Phibsborough, a diverse neighborhood less than two miles north of Dublin’s center, was two-thirds empty. By 2015, the club’s membership had dropped to 420.
The purpose of the club, an 11-time Irish champion, was to win but, Lambert said, it also had a responsibility to be a force for good. Bohemian was doing neither.
“That led to a bit of introspection, I suppose, in terms of what do we stand for as a football club? What are we about?” said Lambert, who joined the team’s board in 2011, at the start of its slump. “If you’re a club with an awful lot of money, you grow your fan base by winning a lot of trophies. If you don’t have that, what’s another way to appeal to people? The human, emotional level.
“If you engage somebody on a human, emotional level, you’re more likely to get a loyalty from them over a period of time.”
Lambert knows a little bit about marketing since he’s co-owner of Bang Bang Cafe, in the shadow of Dalymount Park — as well as host of an eclectic podcast that emanates from the cafe — and is the manager of the Irish Republican hip-hop band Kneecap. (The Irish Film and Television Academy chose a biopic about the group as its country’s Oscar submission.)
Daniel Lambert, chief operating officer of Bohemian FC, is all smiles during the international solidarity match between his club and Palestine at Dalymount Park in Dublin.
(Stephen McCarthy / Sportsfile via Getty Images)
The plan he helped develop for saving Bohemian didn’t depend on the generosity of a deep-pocketed owner but was, like the team itself, a grassroots effort that began about a decade ago when the club began working with street artists and sold its own beer, christened an in-house poet and began doing community work.
“The strength of most football clubs is how wealthy the owner is. Our strength is how many people are a member, how many people are willing to come to a game,” Lambert said. “That’s our real strength.”
Next came the jersey campaign, although that got off to a rocky start in 2019 when the club placed an image of Jamaican singer Bob Marley on a shirt — and promptly received cease-and-desist letters from the late singer’s representatives. They later came to an agreement allowing Bohemian to re-issue the shirt.
“We kind of outlined to them what we’re about, that we’re a not-for-profit entity and I think they really liked that,” Lambert said. “They respected the history, respected who we were.”
A second shirt, released during the coronavirus pandemic, was white with thin red-and-black diagonal lines and the profile and a man, woman and child sandwiched between the words Refugees Welcome. The club’s crest is above the left breast and the understated logo of O’Neills, an Irish sportswear manufacturer and club sponsor, is on the right side.
With that shirt, meant to call attention to Ireland’s controversial “direct provision” system of housing migrants, gaining international news coverage, Bohemian has seen its merchandise sales increase more than 2,000% while average attendance last season was just 260 fans shy of the capacity of Dalymount Park, where the corner flags are rainbow-hued and a large red-and-black antiracism banner hovers above the supporters’ stand.
The club’s membership, which has grown 600% over the last decade, has been capped at 3,000 to ensure there is a seat at the stadium for all the owners. There is a long list of people waiting to join them.
Bohemian, which kicks off their nine-month-long league season on Feb. 16, has revealed the first of its three 2025 road jerseys. It will carry the logo of the Dublin-based punk band Fontaines D.C., which will open a 26-country tour next month. The home shirt, unveiled last fall, is a red-and-black-striped jersey with the emblem of a local furniture store across the chest.
“We exist in a small football market, but when it comes to values and our ownership model and our structure and our potential to derive new fan bases, to raise money and profile for causes and issues, we can be bigger than Man United,” Lambert said. “Clubs very often don’t take a position on anything. They like to be agnostic because they’re making money.”
Bohemian, on the other hand, makes money precisely because that’s not its main goal. Its aim is to make a difference.
“That enables us,” Lambert said, “to have sales that far outstrip our attendance. To become a part of the global football landscape, in a small way, on issues that aren’t directly related to the players on the pitch.”
⚽ You have read the latest installment of On Soccer with Kevin Baxter. The weekly column takes you behind the scenes and shines a spotlight on unique stories. Listen to Baxter on this week’s episode of the “Corner of the Galaxy” podcast.
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A chaotic scene unfolded at Auburn University on Tuesday night as a wild buzzer-beater was waved off well after the Tigers had celebrated on their own court.
With 0.6 seconds remaining and Auburn trailing 90-88, KeShawn Murphy, somehow left wide open, caught an inbounds pass and nailed a long 3-pointer for what was thought to be the game-winner.
However, officials went to the scorer’s table to review the play, which was awfully close.
Auburn Tigers players watch the replay of a possible game-winning shot that was called back as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Jake Crandall/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Ultimately, officials ruled that the shot had not gone off in time, ending the Tigers’ celebration and prompting one from Texas A&M.
The officials quickly made themselves public enemy number one and were showered with debris from fans on their way off the court. At least one referee needed his head to be covered.
One fan sitting courtside even turned his back and threw his drink over his shoulder aimed at an official.
“They didn’t say a word. They just said it was no good and ran off the floor. I probably wouldn’t want to talk to me in that moment, anyway,” Auburn head coach Steven Pearl, who took over for his dad, Bruce this season, said after the game. “So, I get why they’d run away from me. Just from the angles that I saw, it looked like it was off his fingers. But that was just, I don’t have all the same angles they have.”
Texas A&M Aggies players celebrate victory as Auburn Tigers take on Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena in Auburn, Alabama, on Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026. (Jake Crandall/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
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It is now six losses in their last 10 games for the Tigers after starting 5-1. They lost in the Final Four last year to Florida, who won the national championship over Houston.
Auburn (9-6, 0-2) led 47-37 at halftime and extended the margin to 61-45 with 12:29 remaining.
KeShawn Murphy of the Auburn Tigers reacts after officials ruled that his last-second shot did not beat the shot clock to win the game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Neville Arena on Jan. 6, 2026 in Auburn, Alabama. (Stew Milne/Getty Images)
Texas A&M answered with a steady run fueled by outside shooting, taking its first lead at 8:42 when Pop Isaacs buried a 3-pointer. The Aggies followed with back-to-back triples from Isaacs to open a five-point cushion that they would not relinquish, by the skin of their teeth.
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Two-time All-American wide receiver and prominent Outdoors Channel host Jordan Shipley is in critical condition after an accident on his ranch in Texas, his family said in a statement.
Shipley, 40, was described as stable after remaining hospitalized Tuesday night in Austin. The statement said a machine that he was operating near his hometown of Burnet caught fire. The former Texas great suffered “severe burns on his body.”
Shipley abruptly retired in 2012 after three NFL seasons primarily because of persistent concussion issues and chronic knee problems. He quickly transitioned to television shows that showcased his passion for deer hunting, co-hosting “The Bucks of Tecomate” and “Tecomate Whitetail Nation.”
“It was not hard at all,” Shipley said at the time of retiring at 27. “Only because I never saw myself as a football player first. Don’t get me wrong, I worked my tail off for football and I loved it but never saw that as my whole identity because I had such a big background in outdoors. Really, with this opportunity I had I was actually pretty excited about moving forward.”
Although he enjoyed a strong rookie season with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010 with 52 receptions for 600 yards and three touchdowns, he is best remembered as a record-setting player at Texas.
Shipley starred as a receiver and a kick returner from 2006 to 2009, setting program single-season records in 2009 with 116 receptions and 1,489 yards. He also remains the career leader for receptions with 248 and ranks second in career receiving yards with 3,191, behind Roy Williams. Shipley also returned four punts or kickoffs for touchdowns.
After being drafted in the third round by the Bengals, he became one of the most popular players with Cincinnati fans, and his No. 11 jersey was worn by thousands. After a debilitating knee injury early in the 2011 season, he was never the same player, and he had short stints with Tampa Bay and Jacksonville before retiring.
According to his family, Jordan was operating a machine at his ranch when it caught fire. He managed to free himself from the machine, but “not before sustaining severe burns on his body in the process.” Jordan was airlifted to the hospital in Austin.
“He was able to get to one of his workers on the ranch, who drove him to a local hospital. He was then care-flighted to Austin, where he remains in critical but stable condition,” the statement said.
Shipley’s younger brother, former Texas wide receiver Jaxon Shipley, 33, asked for prayers in a statement on Instagram: “Please pray for full healing and no infections or other issues on his road to recovery. I don’t want to get into all the details, other than his life was spared today by the grace of God and the sheer will to live. I believe prayer is effective so I’m asking anyone and everyone to lift Jordan up in prayer.”
Sports
Tom Izzo explodes on former Michigan State player in wild scene: ‘What the f— are you doing?’
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo has been known to get visibly angry with his players over his years in East Lansing, but what happened Monday night against USC was different.
Izzo let loose his frustration on a former player.
During the Spartans’ blowout over the Trojans, 80-51, Izzo was spotted unloading on former Michigan State center Paul Davis, who played for the team from 2002-06, after he caused a disturbance in the stands.
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Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans reacts to a call during a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the first half at Pinnacle Bank Arena Jan. 2, 2026, in Lincoln, Neb. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
Referees pointed out Davis, who was a spectator, from his courtside seat after he was among many in the building who disagreed with a call in the second half. Davis stood up and shouted at referee Jeffrey Anderson.
Anderson responded with a loud whistle, stopping play and pointing at Davis. Then, Anderson went over to Izzo to explain what happened, and the 70-year-old coach went ballistic.
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First, he was motioning toward Davis, and it was clear he asked his former center, “What the f— are you doing?”
Davis was met by someone asking him to leave his seat, and that’s when Izzo went nuts. He shouted “Get out of here!” at Davis, who appeared to gesture toward Izzo, perhaps in apology for disturbing the game.
Izzo was asked about Davis’ ejection after the game.
“What he said, he should never say anywhere in the world,” Izzo responded when asked what happened. “That ticked me off. So, just because it’s 25, 20 years later, I’m going to have to call him tomorrow and tell him what I thought of it. And you know what he’ll say? ‘I screwed up, coach. I’m sorry.’”
Izzo quickly clarified that what Davis said “wasn’t something racial” and “it wasn’t something sexual.”
Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo protests a call that benefited the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half at Jack Breslin Student Events Center Dec. 2, 2025. (Dale Young/Imagn Images)
“It was just the wrong thing to say, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Davis later met with reporters Tuesday, apologizing for his actions.
“I’m not up here to make any excuses. I’m up here to take accountability, to own it,” Davis said. It was a mistake that will never happen again. It was a mistake that’s not me, but, unfortunately, last night it was.”
Izzo said Davis was one of his “favorite guys” during his time playing for the Spartans. He had a breakout sophomore campaign with 15.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists per game in 30 starts for Izzo during the 2003-04 season.
Head coach Tom Izzo of the Michigan State Spartans reacts during a game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena Jan. 2, 2026, in Lincoln, Neb. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
In his senior year, Davis averaged 17.5 points, a career-high, in 33 games.
He was taken in the second round of the 2006 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Davis played just four seasons in the league, his final one with the Washington Wizards.
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