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Poke has designed a new website for Manchester City, as the football club seeks to reinvent itself as a "media and entertainment brand"
When football clubs start to talk of themselves in such ways it makes me cringe but, with their new-found wealth, City are a club with big ambitions (if not, yet, the trophies to match). According to Poke's Iain Tait this ambition extends to having a website that is not just the best in the Premiership but 'one of the best entertainment sites in the world', or at least that's what the brief asked for.
The site is certainly a step up from most clubs'.
It make extensive use of well-shot 16x9 format video throughout the site, some of which, will be produced by Endemol.
A 3D seat selector will allow supporters to check out the view from each seat before buying.
If they are not lucky enough to get to the match in person, once the new season gets under way, a Match Day Centre will pull in live data on the game to update fans on statistics alongside live written commentary.
Most clubs treat fan sites with suspicion but the City site includes links to prominent supporter blogs and forums as well as a Twitter feed.
And, unlike most clubs' sites, there is no display advertising (at Arsenal's, for example, users have to negotiate an ad for a credit card before even reaching the home page).
19 Comments
Wow - what extensive coverage of this site!
2009-07-07 15:20:18
Nicely executed.
2009-07-07 15:56:07
Looks like Championship Manager.
2009-07-07 16:24:18
Very successful, considering the complexities that such a client presents.
The subtle use of jQuery's UI tools works well, too. Often they risk becoming a focal point rather than an enhancement.
2009-07-07 17:14:54
- The view function is fantastic
- Yes it does look like Championship Manager
- Well done, as most football websites are tripe
2009-07-07 19:58:35
I think the blue part of Manchester are currently top of the league... very nice indeed, everything looks so clean!
2009-07-07 20:57:55
Is Poke following behind footsteps of http://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk designed by Un.titled??
2009-07-08 09:34:29
If only their football was this good!!
2009-07-08 10:21:39
Just like Woodpecker cider: "What a refreshing change!"
Hopefully this will give most of the other EPL clubs a good kick up the backside in redesigning their websites into something that is:
A) A pleasure to look at
B) Easy to navigate and read
C) Good use of high quality photography
D) Not being bombarded by a series of poorly constructed and tacky Flash based adverts
Does make you wonder why it has taken this long for a Premiership football team to finally commission someone who can do a bloody good job! I mean it not as if EPL Clubs short on money!
2009-07-08 10:38:42
I would never visit a football team's website as I am not a fan of the game but POKE did it again. This is a great exemplar!
Thanks for sharing!
2009-07-08 11:13:39
Nicely executed - but - would you post this site if it wasn't made by Poke? No.
2009-07-08 12:26:45
The amount of cash they have should result in a great site, still some way off the mighty reds (not those ones) http://www.crawleytownfc.com but I wonder how long it will be before those flash animations for betting sites appear and ruin all the hard work.
Also, a pity there will be no silverware to show off as they will always come up short with that donut as manager.
2009-07-08 16:19:20
I love it, Helvetica Bold has never looked ... well....so Bold! Awesome stuff.
2009-07-10 13:43:43
It looks nothing like Portsmouth FC. Oh sorry, its blue!
Job well done, Poke.
2009-07-10 14:11:34
As an MK Dons supporter (they are a real team, honest) I am ashamed at the god-awfulness of their logo. Milton Keynes as a city is a modernist design classic (one day people will realise this) but the turned-on-end 'MK' and skinny, wussy typography is embarrassing.
2009-07-10 16:29:38
Beauty through strength. On target to it's audience. Elegant, functional and absorbing and I'm not into footie either. Congratulations.
2009-07-10 16:33:31
looks great. a little spooky to me however as it would be a perfect match to our recent on-air rebrand for Discovery channel in the UK. is there a brand fit somewhere?
2009-07-10 18:14:49
It looks pretty similar to the first version of the Portsmouth site, which also used bold Helvetica.
2009-07-13 09:21:04
What do the three stars on their badge represent? Usually one star = 10 league titles or a european cup win but I'm almost certain MCFC have never got close?
Lovely site tho.
2009-07-13 12:09:13
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