GENOA CFC made waves on Wednesday when they launched their new St George’s Cross themed away strip, but it was not the kit’s bold design that stole the attention of football fans.
Instead, a single small tattoo in the corner of one promotional image ignited a flood of social media commentary and jokes, forcing the club to delete their original post.
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The tattoo, tucked away in the bottom right corner of the image on the model’s quadricep, appeared to feature two men engaging in a sex act, and was swiftly noticed by X users before the viral post made its way to TikTok.
The social media frenzy has arrived out of nowhere for the man behind the tattoo, East London-based hairdresser James Oxley, who had almost forgotten posing for a few snaps in the kit during a work break over two weeks ago.
Oxley, 33, is still trying to wrap his head around the sudden flood of talk about his ink, which all began with him simply standing outside of his workplace in Shoreditch.
He said: “It is all so funny, I did not expect this to happen.
“I was standing outside my work having a coffee and a cigarette – I think the photographer must have spotted me in the street, I stand out because I am absolutely covered in tattoos.
“They came over and said ‘we are going to shoot some stuff at the pub down the street, would you mind putting the shirt on and modelling for it?’
“They explained the story about where the St George’s Cross comes from and the relationship between England and Genoa, and I went ‘f**k it why not? I have got some free time and it will be a laugh.’
The launch video focused on the historic ties between Genoa CFC and England, with the outfit originally being founded as a football and cricket club by English sailors in 1893.
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Alongside its spot on the city of Genoa’s coat of arms, the St George’s Cross also features on the Serie A club’s badge.
In the centre of the club crest is a Griffin, prompting the club to film on location at The Griffin pub in Shoreditch, where Oxley would pose for the now-infamous image.
Oxley continued: “They were like ‘we’ll buy you a couple of pints as a thank you’ because they wanted to get me having a pint in shot, but it’s a shame, I didn’t even get to keep the shirt!
“It was a really hot day, it was back during the heatwave, so I was actually quite thankful for a couple of pints of cider, but now I feel like I deserve a shirt I think,” he joked.
Oxley is no stranger to the lights and cameras of professional photoshoots, but he is usually on the other side of the lens.
The professional hair stylist and colourist has rubbed shoulders with some significant people in his work, recently styling for Nirvana and Foo Fighters star Dave Grohl’s wife, Jordyn Blum, ahead of their visit to Wimbledon last month.
But on Thursday the Leeds native found himself thrust into the limelight, as a sudden burst of phone notifications flooded in asking about the shoot, which by that point felt a distant memory.
He said: “I completely forgot about it to be honest, and then a few friends of mine started sending me things saying ‘you are on this football shirt post.’
“There was an X account called The Shirt Union that posted it, and then another friend sent me a post from Facebook, and then all of a sudden in less than 24 hours loads of people started sending me TikToks and X posts about my tattoo.
“I have got a lot of poorly done and maybe not-safe-for-work tattoos, and I was like ‘s**t which one have they got in the shot?’
“Thank god they cropped the image, because I have got a picture of Marge Simpson with her boobs out on my shin, I was like ‘oh god is it that one?’”
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The social media storm really took off when football X account HLTCO re-posted the image with the caption “interesting leg tattoo, that.”
The re-post has over 117,000 likes since it was made on Thursday, almost 100 times more than the kit launch video itself.
For a tat small enough to go unnoticed by a team of photographers and editors, it has caused big waves, and arguably overshadowed the entire launch campaign.
It is just one of around 56 tattoos that Oxley – who moonlights as a music producer – has on his body, but he admits that even he may have slightly lost count.
“I did that tattoo myself,” Oxley explained.
“I have got tattoo machines at home so just to fill my legs up I do little bits and bobs.
“I did this one to myself when I was a lot younger, this is probably a 10-year-old tattoo or something like that.
“I have got loads of tattoos that mean stuff but at some point you kind of just go for funny stuff.
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“You always want to do one that’s better than the last, or for me, I always used to want to do one that was a little bit more outrageous than the last, or a little bit funnier than the last.”
Outrageous is an apt way to refer to the tattoo and its public reception, but Oxley says he has been delighted to see the joy that the entire incident has brought to footy fans on social media.
“I love all the comments on X, the whole point of this tattoo was to have a laugh, and I am glad people are having a laugh with it.
“I absolutely love that everyone has found this so funny, there is so much happening in the world right now and I just feel like this has made a lot of people laugh so much.
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“I think it’s interesting because the whole point of the shoot was the links between Genoa and England, and it is funny how much British humour has really come out of this.
“This is the sort of humour I grew up with where you’re ripping the p**s out of your mates and nothing is serious, and you just have a laugh about it.
“It is such a nice representation of the humour that we have here.”
Oxley is still yet to hear from Genoa regarding the incident, and has no idea if they are enjoying the extra attention on their new kit – or if they are cursing themselves for not taking one more proper look at their promo images before hitting publish.
One thing is for sure, Oxley and the British public are glad that they did not.
