F.C. Porto Scarves

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I don’t know who first thought of making the first football scarf! Perhaps a nice old lady who, from a ball of white wool and another of blue wool (being a F C Porto fan, of course), knitted a scarf of blue and white stripes!

What is certain is that those old enough will remember finding for sale, perhaps in the seventies of last century, but certainly in the eighties, this type of scarves, although made from an artificial fibre instead of wool. In those days, the sellers themselves made the scarves at home, this being perfectly legal as the clubs had not yet established their rights over their names and crests.

As the demand for football scarves grew, the producers/sellers started innovating. The first scarves with the club’s name and crest made their appearance. These first graphic elements were simply handicraft printed on a blue and white scarf.

Given the natural elasticity of the knit fabric these scarves were made of, it is easy to see that the details of the print tended to flake off gradually. I do not know how decisive this aspect was, the fact is that manufacture of this type of scarf stopped soon after the beginning of the nineties.

As a matter of fact, another type of type of homespun scarf manufacture started, still in the eighties, using a satin, or similar fabric, printing process.

Not only is the fabric cheaper than knit, but printing is longer lasting and allows for lettering and graphics of much higher quality. At this time, even if the artistic quality is in general quite modest, some very interesting artwork could be found.

In contrast, the fringes used here were clearly adapted from a product meant for other uses and are frankly poor.

An example of a printed scarf is precisely the oldest FC Porto commemorative scarf, that I know of!

It is quite older than the oldest handicraft printed ones, and it does not look like it is handmade. Not only the printing is very good, but the composition and artwork are of very good quality!

It is probably a one-off edition, made in a factory and hence with the technology and know-how that made it possible to get a superior quality product.

The type of scarf most widely produced is certainly the tubular jacquard, perhaps with the sad exception of Portugal.

The name jacquard refers to Joseph-Marie Jacquard, French weaver and inventor who, in 1804-05, invented the mechanism of the so-called Jacquard loom. This mechanism, in fact a development of 1745 loom project by Jacques de Vaucanson, is controlled by patterns of holes on a card set, allowing a loom to repeat indefinitely the same design, in other words, the mass fabrication of any woven product. The use of perforated cards extended to other areas during the 19^th century, and became the first support for computer programmes, in the 20^th century.

Therefore, to make a jacquard tubular scarf one starts off by weaving a piece showing on one side the two sides, equal or not, of the scarf. This piece is then sewn lengthwise from the reverse. Reversing the resulting sleeve and ironing, the final product is obtained, after attaching the fringes to the two ends.

Even if the level of detail obtainable with this technique is not very high, very good results are obtained, and above all, the final product is a true scarf, warm and comfortable. Perhaps its popularity in central and northern Europe is a result of that!

Apparently, and up to now (2006), the production of this type of scarf is almost unknown in Portugal. As a matter of fact, very few jacquard scarves have been known to be made in Portugal. There is, however, one unexplained case. It’s the scarf for the 1990-91 quarter-final between FC Porto and Bayern; it is a jacquard, and has inscriptions in Portuguese! Where can it have been made?

Another type of manufacturing process, quite common today, is known as ricamata. The verb ricamare means, in Italian, embroider; hence this is a type of mechanical embroidery process producing what I would call an embroidered type of scarf.

This process allows for more detailed designs than the jacquard. On the other hand, it has the disadvantage of having a single face, the reverse being aesthetically unpleasant.

The scarves of this type that are sold in Portugal are apparently made in Italy or Spain.

The first FC Porto commemorative scarf using this technique seems to be the one celebrating the 1994/95 championship, although there are earlier, non-commemorative, editions. The scarves licensed by FC Porto are, for the most part, of this type.

Up to the time these lines are written (2006), the technique that seems to permit the highest quality of lettering and graphics is the process of printing by sublimation.

This process entails, in an initial phase, printing on paper the designs (reversed) that are to be transferred to the scarf, this operation being performed in a plotter. The paper print thus obtained is then juxtaposed to the fabric and hot pressed. As a result, the design is transferred from the paper to the fabric. Finally, this one is cut to obtain the individual pieces (in general, three to a print), which are then transformed into scarves by a process similar to the one used for the tubular jacquard.

It follows from this manufacturing process that it is possible to obtain two completely distinct faces, limited only by the creativity of the artist. The first FC Porto commemorative scarf made by this process that I know of is one of those celebrating the tri-championship in 1996/97.

In 2001/02, at least in what concerns the FC Porto scarves, a new type of production made its appearance.

This process is what I would call finely embroidered. Actually, it looks similar to the ricamata type, but with smaller stitching. In consequence, the level of detail that can be obtained is considerably higher.

However, it has the same drawback as ricamata with respect to the reverse side of the scarf. In fact, in this case, the thread used in the weave and that forms the fringes at the ends, is always white.

As the title of this text indicates, this is only a contribution to the history of the football scarf. I am aware that it may be imprecise and even incorrect, not to mention a number of omissions. Therefore, any additional information, suggestions and corrections will be welcome.