Marcello Martinelli
Instagram: @marcello.martinelli
What is your story of fascination with football?
I was born in the US (California) and moved at a very young age to Italy (Venice) where I grew up for most of my life.
Football was basically part of my everyday life. I would play football at school on weekdays. After school we would play in one of the various streets or squares in the city. I then started to watch all sorts of games on TV, followed by video games (FIFA 97 was my first real memory). Serie A in the 90s was the best league in the world, so this gave me a lot of perspective about the sport.
Growing up in Venice I was also lucky enough to have a team that at the time played in decent leagues. On Sundays we would go watch Venezia at the stadium (including Serie A spells).
Back in the day there was no internet to find out about stuff, so I was either watching TV shows or buying multiple magazines every week.
I used to love to collect Panini stickers, which was a really great way of interacting with other friends.
We also started playing fantasy football (called Fantacalcio), which definitely sparked up the more technical side about football.
I also started collecting football shirts, although I couldn’t really afford more than 1 or 2 a year.
Do you create football art professionally or is it a hobby?
It’s a hobby. I have a full time job that allows me to treat this passion of drawing as a way to develop ideas and share my creations with the World.
I used to avidly draw when I was younger, then for some reason I stopped for many many years. Only in the past years I was lacking a serious interest or hobby.
I bought an iPad and Apple pencil, and the rest is history.
I’m quite tech savvy and love technology as a whole, but when it comes to drawing I still like that feeling of drawing on a piece of paper (in this case the iPad screen is my canvas). I don’t particularly like to use special effects and try to use 1-2 pens for my drawings. Sometimes the idea of illustrating becomes a full time job worries me. I wonder if I’d lose the appetite and passion I have found.
What football event or story has made an unforgettable impression on you?
I was at the Euro 2020 Final in Wembley with my full Italian Nike tracksuit. It was the most unforgettable feeling, to win in that fashion in a pretty hostile environment. I live pretty close to Wembley, so every time I walk home I can see the arches. I don’t think any other football memory can top that moment. The Wembley stadium tattoo is coming…
Do you attend the stadium, and if so, which team’s matches do you try to get to?
Although I have been living in London for the past decade, I have struggled to back one team. I definitely tried to support various teams, but it’s been impossible for me to commit.
I am a die hard Venezia fan (before we became a global brand) and I also support Juventus. You probably can’t really tell from my feed, which is why I try to be as neutral as possible. I consider myself a pretty objective football fan.
In Italy it is very common to support your local team plus a bigger one. In Venice most people support either Juve, Milan or Inter.
Last year I travelled from London to Cagliari and Roma to watch Venezia away games.
Other than that I am always down to watch a football match, regardless of the category or league. Lately I plan my travels based on football game opportunities.
What are your interests besides football and art?
I would say sports, food, music and fashion.
I love all sorts of sports and could easily spend a week at home watching sports non stop. It keeps me really active to know about different things and not limit my mind to football only.
Growing up in Italy, I have been exposed to cooking at a young age, with a particular focus on the finer things in life. I love to cook, especially pasta and pizza (I have my own oven in the backyard). I used to go back to the US very frequently, so I also developed a palate for any sort of cuisine. I am pretty open-minded when it comes to food.
Like many people, I love music, but I also love to go to concerts. When I like an artist I have this need to go see them live in order to develop a proper judgment on the artist. I have been exposed to all sorts of music, so you will find me listening to Jazz up to UK grime.
My mom made clothes when she was younger and exposed me to the whole industry. I really like vintage clothes and try to keep up to date with the latest trends and styles.
Could you highlight a few of your works that make you especially proud and explain why?
The recent tea towel of Italy we released with Tacchette is one of my favourite pieces of all time. I decided to revisit the popular tea towel (from the 90s?) you’d find all over Italy and give it a proper make over. I included all sorts of cultural, culinary references.
The Fake Pro Evo name hats I designed with 1831Shop were also a massive success. I need to do some more…
I also very randomly designed some Edgar Davids goggles as a nightmask.
In terms of publishing I did a piece of football and fashion for Outpump, which was something I am really proud of.
Most recently Palla Mag published a book which included some of my illustrations about football in Tuscany.
Who are your favourite football artists?
I have been lucky enough to meet some pretty incredible people since publishing my illustrations. Some of my favourite artists are:
Share a funny story that happened to you personally or that you witnessed (not necessarily related to football).
We went to Cagliari-Venezia last year, into the away section with another 100 or so Venezia Ultras fans. All the away fans came by plane and were escorted from the airport by the police, directly into the stadium via bus. Me and my wife were staying in Cagliari for the weekend and reached the stadium by foot. When the game ended, which we drew in the 92 minute, we were not allowed to leave the stadium on our own, because the atmosphere got a bit tense with the home fans (on top of that there was some rivalry between the 2 fan bases). We couldn’t find a taxi. At that point we were stuck in an empty stadium with loads of police. We were then taken to the other side of the stadium, next to the player exit. In the end, a Cagliari steward drove us back to our hotel in his car, which I thought was priceless.