The World Cup is coming to London the summer – the CONIFA World Football Cup, that is, and we want you to design the kits.

That’s right, we’ve teamed up with Matabeleland, one of the 16 teams playing in London this summer, to give you guys the chance to design the actual home shirt they’ll be wearing during the tournament!

your shirt could be representing the footballing hopes and dreams of one million people.

Entering is simple – you can use any medium you like to send us your entry:

You can open the template at the bottom of the page in MSPaint and start designing. If you want to use fancy graphic design software, that would be great too, or if you want to simply grab a piece of paper and some pens and get scribbling away, that would be fine.

Don’t worry too much about the details – just send us your ideas and if you win, we’ll worry about getting the shirts printed in time for the World Cup. Simple!

Matabeleland – who are ya?

The nation who have entrusted you with their shirts is Matabeleland.

Modern-day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region has a population somewhere in the region of one million… that’s right, your shirt could be representing the footballing hopes and dreams of one million people.

What are they looking for?

If you want a bit of guidance for what the people of Matabeleland normally want in a football jersey, look no further:

Traditionally, the three main Matabele colours are: white, black and golden yellow. Red and purple are also commonly used. In this case, they might be useful as secondary colours, or as trims and accents.

The Eagle is traditionally the team’s adopted animal, although leopards, lions and elephants are also common to the region, and would be considered acceptable for the jersey. The team bosses are also keen to use traditional African patterns, shapes or artwork within the designs.

They’re excited about seeing your ideas, and so are we!

So how’s this all going to work?

From Tuesday 27th March, you can submit your entries on twitter or Instagram.

All you need to do is submit a picture of your design using the hashtag #PPConifaKit.

You’ve got a week to get your entries in, after which time we are going to select a shortlist of entries.

A week later, we’ll have a public vote on social media (Shirty McShirtFace, anyone?) and after a few days of voting, we’ll declare the winner, and get the designs off to the printers in time for the World Cup.

Prizes

So what’s in it for you, eh?

Well, in addition to the glory of having your shirt produced and worn by an entire nation at the CONIFA World Football Cup, we will give you your own copy of the shirt to wear. We will also give you a special pass allowing you and a friend entry to every game at this summer’s tournament, and ahead of Matabeleland’s opening fixture against tournament favourites Padania on Thursday 31 May, we are giving you the chance to meet the squad before kick off and see the players wearing your shirt for the very first time.

Any other questions?

• What is the Matabeleland crest? The Matabeleland crest can be seen below.
  You can make this as big or as small as you like and place it anywhere on the shirt.
  
• What are the collars like on the shirts? Collars can either be a round-neck or a v-neck.  It’s up to you.
• Is there a manufacturer’s crest to include? No. We are using a special printing process which allows us to completely cover the fabric in any pattern, but we won’t see the manufacturer name
• Where can I find out more about the CONIFA Football World Cup? For more information about this summer’s tournament, click here.

Any other questions: osbeditorial@paddypower.com

Kit template

If you require a template to get you started, feel free to use the one below.  If you would rather create something from scratch, that will be absolutely fine too. Good luck!

T&Cs

• You must be over 18 years old to enter the competition
• All entries must be received by 23:59:59 on 02/04/2018
• The finalists will be chosen by a Paddy Power judging panel
• Finalists to be announced on Tuesday 3rd April.
• The overall winner will be decided by a public vote on Twitter.
• Winner to be announced on Thursday 4th April.
• The prize includes one Matabeleland jersey and 2 match day tickets (Matabeleland v. Padania, Thursday 31 May 2018 at Sutton United’s Gander Green Lane).
• The match tickets do not include accommodation or transportation to the game.
• No cash prize is available as an alternative.
• By entering this competition you grant Paddy Power and the Matabeleland FA the right to use your artwork for the production and subsequent distribution of kits…