Football is the most popular sport on earth for a variety of reasons. Some love the tactics, others live for away days, some observe casually and appreciate great goals.
The various subcultures of football fan is a topic we could chat about to no end. But today, we’re focusing in on the hipster. Not just that, we’re feeding their addiction and mapping out their 2024-25 season by highlighting the coolest clubs that look set to be in Europe’s top five leagues for 2024-25.
Grab your tote bags, cuff your Dickies trousers and make sure your mullet is sharp – these hipster clubs are desperate for your support next season.
St. Pauli
The holy grail of hipster football clubs has been promoted to the Bundesliga and we’re not sure how the world is going to react. If anything, St. Pauli reaching the top flight might mean they’re now too mainstream for the hardcore hipsters among us.
For the first time since 2011, the Hamburg-based club will play in the Bundesliga and we are absolutely ecstatic about it. A brilliant stadium and an even better club, proud of their strong socialist identity.
In an age where sportswashing is glorified and World Cups are being played in nations where human rights records are shaky to say the least, St Pauli’s return to Europe’s top five is a much-needed breath of fresh air.
All hail King Jackson Irvine, his vintage football shirt collection, his long hair and his cool tattoos. Indie hero.
Como 1907
Perhaps an unknown quantity for many, the comune in Lombardy is famous for its lake, but the football team has spent the bulk of its existence in Italy’s lower divisions, occasional flirts with Serie A tinged by problems elsewhere.
The 21st Century has been particularly unkind to Como who have been bankrupt, on the brink and back, as recently as 2016-17. In 2018, they were playing regional, Serie D football. Now, six years on, they’ve clawed their way back up the divisions, have secured investment from the likes of Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas – the latter of whom is now assistant coach at the club.
For the first time in 21 years, Como will play in Serie A next season. An exceptional zero-to-hero story, and an extremely cool stadium overlooking Lake Como. It’s a hipster’s dream – get your stocks early before they become Twitter’s favourite football club.
Parma
It would be very easy for us to just remain in Italy, the land of tourists with film cameras, vintage football shirts and cool Instagram feeds, but for the sake of the list, we’re limiting them to just three clubs.
Parma were the team of the late 1990s, being cool before it was even a thing. In the time since, they’ve fluttered between the first and second division but been nowhere near the top of the league, living posthumously through 20 and 30-year-olds wearing replicas of their iconic shirts of the 1990s.
Thankfully, they’re back in Serie A from next season and hopefully for good. Hipsters around the world are desperate to pair their shirts with thrifted jeans once again.
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Real Betis
A relatively new contender in the world of hipsters, nobody quite gave Real Betis their flowers as one of football’s cool clubs before Hector Bellerin joined.
Even since his arrival, their presence as a cool club remains somewhat overlooked. And that’s why they’re the perfect hipster’s choice for 2024-25.
Why follow the trends and holiday in the Costa Del Sol when you can catch a flight to San Sebastian, take in a game at the Benito Villamarín and enjoy some of Seville’s finest cuisines and quirkiest cultures? Bring along a retro Betis shirt for extra points, too. Green and white stripes, overlooked and understated.
Spain is an alternative pick these days, and Betis give off seriously cool vibes.
Athletic Club
Hipsters will come and go, as will hipster football clubs, but one that will always remain is Athletic Club. Bonus points for those among us who get a kick out of correcting mainstream football fans when they refer to them as ‘Athletic Bilbao’.
Known for their strict policy on only allowing Basque players to turn out for the club, Los Leones deserve endless indie points for sticking it to the man and ignoring the conventions of the modern game.
Astoundingly, despite adhering to a policy that many may think restricts their success, Athletic Club have won Spain’s top flight 24 times, while their women’s team are also five-time top-flight champions. They’re doing it right in Bilbao.
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Bologna
A more contemporary entry, Bologna have never pulled up too many trees in the football hipster world, but their rapid rise under Thiago Motta this season has raised eyebrows.
Based in Emilia-Romagna, Bologna have enjoyed an incredible 2023-24 campaign in Serie A and have secured Champions League football for the first time since 1964-65, when it was still known as the European Cup. They’ve done so with a young squad, on a budget and with a young head coach who happens to be an icon of the game.
The cherry on the cake? Their kits are beautiful and their stadium is even better. Genuinely. Hipster bingo full house. We’re Bologna fans now.
SC Freiburg
Finishing up back in Germany, Freiburg fly completely under the radar and avoid any random Twitter love-in, which makes them perhaps the most hipster club of all.
A naturally liberal club due to Freiburg being a university city, Freiburg have split most of their time between the first and second division, but have been a Bundesliga club ever since they returned to the top flight after winning the 2. Bundesliga back in 2016.
Complete with sexy kits, a cool stadium in south-western Germany and a women’s team formed back in 1975, they might just be quietly the coolest team to follow next season.
