Merky FC was inspired by the lack of leadership positions held by those with Black Heritage. The partnership currently “creates a multi-year career programme, and opportunities for those who do not currently have fair access and representation within the industry.”

Amidst the launch of their second season on the programme (beginning October 2023), Stormzy and Adidas have released a report that highlights the importance of allyship within the football industry.

In a recent report published by Merky FC, the partnership announced their expansion, as they increase the number of football industry positions they recruit for from 15 to 50. Both Stormzy and Adidas are calling on their allies to form part of a career programme, which will commence in January 2024.

#Merky FC is back, but this year, we’ve got to go bigger.

Share one of the 50 #MerkyFC roles with a friend now to change the game. https://t.co/pllMjqO5zv@adidasfootballpic.twitter.com/qXSodEy07V

— Stormzy (@stormzy) October 5, 2023

All roles will include placements with leading brands, that will offer work experience in an effort to change the game for Black and Black Heritage youth. The Merky FC partners offering placements in this season of the programme are:

Adidas
Arsenal FC
EA
Football Co (GOAL)
Fulham FC
Guild
Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Homeground
IMG
ITV
JOE
KSS
LADbible
Manchester United
#Merky FC
Scottish FA
SI Games
Sky Sports
Soccerbible
TEAM
The Midnight Club
Transferroom
Twelfth Man
Veo
Wasserman
Women In Football

According to the report, 56 per cent of young Black and mixed-Black heritage people aspire to work in the industry, yet only 6.7 per cent of senior roles in football are occupied by someone from this community, and this partnership aims to break through these barriers to entry and provide more representation within football.

A press release states “adidas and Stormzy understand that allyship alone cannot tackle the disparities within the industry, however by using the #Merky FC approach – referring candidates, mentorship programmes and establishing role models, believe this can be replicated across the industry to help boost representation. “

Those interested in registering their interest in the roles Merky FC are offering can do so by clicking here. The deadline for registering interest is October 19th.

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The Grammy-Award-winning artist was invited to join the performance by guitarist and vocalist Alana Haim, Swift proceeded to join the band in a rendition of their hit single “Gasoline“. Halfway through the performance, Taylor said to the crowd, “Good evening London. You know, I haven’t been on the stage for a very long time, it’s nice, it’s nice, it’s very nice. But, you know, when I heard that my girls were playing in London at the O2 and I thought, ‘I’m gonna have to see that’ and it looks like there’s about 20,000 other people that also thought that.“  

The “Shake It Off” singer continued to address the crowd and proceeded to allude to a mash-up, “We had a thought – that if we were to do some sort of mash-up, we could possibly maybe get you to sing the loudest that you have sung all night, which is a big job because you’ve been singing very loudly, it’s extraordinary work. Would you be up for it? Would you sing with us?”

After an almighty roar from the audience, the band proceeded to play “Gasoline“, Swift then took to the microphone and sang snippets from her hit “Love Story“; both acts then aligned musically to continue the performance of “Gasoline“. Before walking off-stage, Swift saluted the audience and shouted, “Ladies and gentlemen, please take care of my best friends for the rest of the evening. Thanks for having me, good evening.”  

The now infamous performance took place on Thursday 21st July 2022 and served as the concluding show of the band’s UK tour. After several festival appearances in the UK and Europe, Haim proceeded to perform across the UK for their 2022 headlining arena tour. The band have acquired a loyal fan base in the UK due to their catchy hits such as 2012 hit “Don’t Save Me” and “The Steps“. 

The original version of “Gasoline” was taken from the band’s most recent album Women In Music Pt.III, the album was released in 2020 and became Haim’s second number one album within the UK charts. The band’s third studio album was met with much commercial and critical acclaim, Women In Music Pt.III received a Grammy Award nomination for Album Of The Year. In 2021 “Gasoline” was treated to a remix by Swift; the re-worked version was then released as a single and placed within the Top 100 UK Singles Chart. The remix marked the second collaboration between the two acts; Haim and Swift previously worked together on the single “No Body, No Crime“. The track was released in 2020 and included in Swift’s ninth studio album Evermore. 

The newly announced collaboration has come with several social-media posts and an official music video for the track. The video features Chris and the lead singer of Indochine, Nicola Sirkis.

The music video was directed by Colin Solal Cardo. Both of the French singers were able to capture electropop genre that Christine and the Queens is known for, while maintaining the signature sound of the highly acclaimed Indochine.

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A post shared by Chris (@christineandthequeens)

Christine and the Queens recently released their newest music in the form of the EP, La Vita Nuova. The EP was dropped in the Spring of this year, 2020. Chris has not released a full-length album since the self-titled 2018 release of Chris.

While the artist is French, in 2016 they were still able to procure a spot on the BBC’s Top 100 Women of 2016 due to her immense popularity in the UK. In 2019 she released the song Gone with Charli XCX that skyrocketed in the charts.

That same year the pop-star appeared on the eleventh season of Rupaul’s Drag Race. Chris is popular in the LGBTQ+ community due to her announcement in 2015 that she is pansexual and genderqueer.

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A post shared by Indochine (@indochineofficiel)

The artist is not currently on tour. Christine and the Queens do not have an upcoming 2021 show-date list as of yet due to safety concerns surrounding the ongoing global pandemic, Covid-19 otherwise known as Coronavirus.

2020 is nevertheless a new chapter in the musician’s career, her latest EP feeling more modern then ever. It has received widespread critical praise despite the lack of a single reaching the UK top charts. More than that, it seems that the UK is becoming more interested in French-speaking music with the rise of Dua Lipa’s newest single Fever which features a French-speaking singer.

It is unclear when the next full length album will be released by Christine and the Queens however, the EP La Vita Nuova is available for streaming now, and the original album 3 is as well. The new remix of 3SEX with Indochine is available on all platforms today.