How Patrick Spagnolo has revolutionised sporting apparel in Australia with OneSports

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Images supplied by One Nil Media

Patrick Spagnolo has really changed the game in the local footballing world in how to best go about the time-consuming task of customising kits, combining customer care and his huge passion for design to create OneSports that Box Hill United have managed to collaborate with for the current season.

Spagnolo boasts 35 years’ experience in the apparel industry, including a role with CK working with some big name retailers in Australia and abroad, fostering expertise crucial to OneSports’ success. His burning passion for both customer care and design excellence has led to the company being involved with some fantastic clubs in Victoria like Melbourne City and Avondale FC.

Patrick Spagnolo discussed the origins of OneSports and outlined what services the company offers for its many partners.

“OneSports was all about providing quality teamwear and that’s why we partnered with PUMA around 12 years ago. The company basically offers an end-to-end service so from design of the kits right through to the dispatch with all in-house production,” he explained.

“The key with an end-to-end service is partnership with our customers and really understanding what their requirements are. With that information we can collaborate and create a product they are really looking for.”

Whilst Spagnolo doesn’t quite have a football background himself, it was his kids early involvement in the sport that sparked the OneSports idea to partner with local clubs.

Luke Pickett in front of the Wembley Park stand.

He also touched on his wealth of experience in the apparel industry and the previous bigger roles he was involved in that guided him to early success with OneSports.

“My background is 35 years in the apparel industry, worked as a general manager for CK for 15 years and worked with big box retailers like Myer and Target as well as big retailers in the UK,” he mentioned.

“I’ve got a vast experience in the apparel industry and also come from a design background anyway so then built on that through OneSports from a marketing perspective as well.

“I’ve got an AFL background funny enough, but it started when my kids were playing soccer and what I could see was that all these clubs were struggling with supply, and they were quite unreliable.”

There is a reason why OneSports was able to succeed almost instantly with a partner like PUMA getting onboard. The company offers outstanding design and production services but also takes away the huge hassle for football clubs which is customizing their kits.

Spagnolo expanded on the company’s main point of difference in the competitive apparel market and why so many local clubs are partnering with the company in recent years.

“The point of difference with One Sports is the design element of it, on understanding what the DNA and the identity of each of our customers are and working back on their history to come up with a design that leads us towards success,” he said.

“I saw that there was an opportunity there, but I didn’t just want a no name brand or made up brand, we wanted a premium brand and that’s why we presented the business model to PUMA which ended up being a success.

“Being able to draw on PUMA’s vast library of designs and European influences that we’re able to give the latest trend of sports apparel but more specific teamwear.”

“PUMA has a brand sells itself, it’s probably one of the best football brands in the world which makes it all a lot easier,” he concluded.

Spagnolo’s experience in the industry has led to a big change in the way a supplier communicates with the clubs, searching a lot more in-depth into each club’s history and drawing inspiration from that to create a layered piece of teamwear.

In 2024, OneSports collaborated with Box Hill United to create two unique designs for its home and away kits that are an ode to the over century long history of the club and modernising it with some European inspirations.

Box Hill United’s training shirt for the 2024 season.

He discussed the exact process the company took in designing each of the kits and what the apparel means to the club on a deeper level.

“When we come in the point of design concepts for clubs, we give each of them 4-6 design concepts that look at what the trends are looking like and finding an identity,” he explained.

“The Box Hill home kit was drawn off Manchester City’s 2023/24 home kit design and we combined it with Box Hill’s history which predominantly had a striped jersey and also a cheval jersey back in the day.

“Being an over 100-year club, we used the old kit with the cheval to draw the inspiration for the away kit with a modern twist to it, and the key is keeping it trendy and modern,” he continued.

“The stripe on the home kit is like a shadow stripe so it was based on Man City’s look with a mixture of Box Hill’s original home kits that had the striped looks. The away kit recognises the club’s past with the cheval look and modernises it to make it look more presentable for this upcoming season.”

The Under 16’s recently showcased their new ‘Vista’ Royal Blue home kits designed by OneSports. This was inspired by AC Milan’s 2020/21 away kit, adding to it a collar and cuff design showcasing the colours of Box Hill, Blue, White and Black.

The goalkeeper kit comes in all black with a feature of ‘Ice break’ on the sleeves and side mesh, adding a subtle yet powerful touch to the kit.

Luke Del Vecchio in the black goalkeeper kit. Image credit: Passion Creations.

Spagnolo talked about OneSports’ ambitions in the future as a company that is currently focused on the local and domestic game but is potentially looking at expanding further. 

“OneSports is not really looking at moving away from partnering with local clubs mostly because of PUMA’s values,” he said.

“There is an ulterior motive there from PUMA because their belief is if the kids are wearing ‘the cat’, they will be more inclined to buy more PUMA products because you become loyal to a brand so grabbing them at a young age is important.”

Spagnolo mentioned the time-consuming nature of catering to every club’s needs and how that is important to the relationship with partners but also the integrity of OneSports.

“We are big on brand integrity, we’re not just out there to flog garments, we are invested in all our club partners no matter how big or small they are,” he said.

“We care and that use of the word ‘care’ is sincere and authentic because we don’t miss delivery dates and collaborate closely with clubs like Box Hill United now.”

OneSports’ partnership with Box Hill United exemplifies its commitment to honouring clubs’ histories. With just over a century of the club’s history and an important 40-year milestone for the women’s team this season, the innovative designs have given the club an array of kits that really represent the values of the club and successes of the past.

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The Spreadsheet Is Dead: Majestri’s Fix for How Clubs Actually Assess Players

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If you’ve ever sat through a club’s end-of-season review, you’ll know the drill. A coach pulls out a folder of notes, someone half-remembers what a player was like back in Round 3 and a parent quietly wonders what they actually got for their rego fees beyond a team photo. Football club platform Majestri says it has a fix for that, and it’s built directly into its Player Assessment module.

Why clubs bother assessing players in the first place

According to Majestri, clubs run player assessments for one of three reasons – usually more than one at once. Some are chasing genuine development, using the data to lift the level across their high-performance squads. Others are after a fairer way to pick teams, putting every player on the same measurable scale so selection is based on evidence rather than a coach’s gut feel about who “looks the part.” And for clubs operating under a Football Australia or state federation licence, assessments at set intervals often aren’t optional – they’re a compliance requirement, with the paperwork to prove it when asked.

Whatever the motivation, Majestri’s pitch is the same: don’t let that assessment data die in a spreadsheet on someone’s laptop.

Build your own assessment, your way

There’s no one-size-fits-all template here. The Assessment Designer lets technical directors set their own criteria, sort them into whatever categories their coaching staff already use – think core skills, possession, defending, attacking – and decide what each point on the rating scale actually means. Crucially, every criterion also gets a comment field, because a bare number rarely tells the full story of a player’s development.

The Assessment Module Builder for an NPL Juniors assessment
The Assessment Module Builder, showing an NPL Juniors assessment with a 1-10 rating scale banded from under performing through to excelling and role-specific criteria grouped into core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

Build it once and it’s reusable every time that assessment cycle comes around, so every player and every coach – is working off the same yardstick.

Something for the parents to actually take home

One of the more relatable pain points Majestri is targeting: most families never see much tangible return from a season of fees beyond a team photo. Player Assessment addresses that with report cards – colour-coded against the same scale coaches used, grouped by category with averages calculated automatically, and delivered as a PDF or an interactive web page a parent can read without needing a coaching badge themselves.

A player report card for an under-15 player
A report card for an under-15 player, colour-coded from under performing to excelling, with a score for every criterion and a group average across core skills, possession, defending and attacking. Source: Majestri.

 

Turning the numbers into something useful

The real value, though, sits in what Majestri calls the Player Analysis Lab. This is where clubs can plot a player against their team-mates or an entire age group across two categories at once, spotting clusters and outliers at a glance. Every score gets read against the group average – so a “7” actually means something in context – and clubs can report at the broad category level or drill into individual fields underneath. The results can be filtered down and exported for selection meetings or grading purposes.

The Player Analysis Lab comparing players in an under-15 and under-16 squad
The Player Analysis Lab comparing seven players across under-15 and under-16 squads, with a scatter plot, a sortable table of scores against the player average, and controls for choosing which categories and fields to report on. Source: Majestri.

The admin side nobody enjoys, made easier

Beyond the flashy analytics, there’s a practical layer built for the volunteers actually running the process:

  • Sweep monitoring – a quick view of which assessments are done and which are still outstanding, organised into defined assessment periods so progress can be tracked against peers.
  • Individual development plans – every player gets a personalised plan, and clubs can group common improvement areas to run cross-team training sessions that lift the whole club rather than just one squad.
  • Access control – coaches and technical staff can only see assessments for the teams they’re responsible for, and completed assessments are only visible to people linked to that player’s registration.
“Hard numbers to draw on when you review coaching staff and curriculum – and something tangible for the players and parents who pay the fees.” – Majestri

 

The bigger picture

Majestri frames all of this as sitting on top of the club’s own data – assessment results live on each player’s profile inside the platform rather than in a spreadsheet that walks out the door when a technical director moves on. For committees, it also means hard numbers to lean on when reviewing coaching staff or curriculum, rather than relying on anecdote.

It’s a fairly clear read on where club administration software is heading: less about digitising paperwork for its own sake, and more about making the data clubs already collect actually work for player development, team selection and compliance  without adding to the workload of the volunteers who run the show.

For more information on Majestri’s Player Assessment module, visit majestri.com.au/player-assessment.

Football Has the Audience. Does It Have the Commercial Strategy?

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Image Credit: One Nil Media

Soccerscene has launched Survey 4: Commercial Confidence in Football, calling on clubs, sponsors, governing bodies, commercial leaders and football industry professionals to assess whether the game is making the most of its enormous commercial potential.

Football has the audience, participation base and community reach to be one of Australia’s most powerful commercial platforms. But does the industry have the commercial strategy, professionalism and infrastructure required to turn that potential into sustainable growth?

That is the question at the centre of Soccerscene’s latest industry research.

The survey examines how attractive grassroots football is to potential commercial partners, what industry professionals believe is limiting football’s commercial potential, and whether clubs are presenting themselves professionally enough to sponsors.

It also explores what sponsors value most when engaging with football – from community reach and participation scale to brand alignment, values and purpose – as well as whether improved facilities could directly contribute to stronger sponsorship outcomes.

Is football fully capitalising on its commercial opportunity?

Football continues to provide brands with access to highly engaged communities across grassroots, community and elite environments. Yet the commercial landscape remains fragmented, with clubs operating with vastly different levels of resources, capability, governance, media infrastructure and commercial expertise.

Soccerscene’s survey is designed to capture the industry’s perspective on where the opportunities exist – and where football may be leaving commercial value on the table.

The research will look specifically at four key areas:

  • Commercial attractiveness – How attractive is grassroots football as a commercial partnership?
  • Commercial barriers – What is holding football back from reaching its full commercial potential?
  • Club professionalism – Are clubs presenting themselves effectively and professionally to sponsors?
  • Sponsor value – What are sponsors really looking for when they invest in football?

The survey also asks whether better facilities would have a direct impact on sponsorship outcomes, highlighting the potential relationship between infrastructure, commercial presentation and investment.

Have your say

Soccerscene is encouraging football clubs, sponsors, commercial professionals, governing bodies, administrators, media professionals and industry stakeholders to participate.

The findings will contribute to Soccerscene’s ongoing program of industry research, designed to provide a clearer picture of the challenges and opportunities facing football and the organisations operating within it.

Take the Survey: Commercial Confidence in Football

Complete the Commercial Confidence in Football Survey here

The survey will close on 30 August 2026 at midnight, with responses received before the deadline included in the final analysis.

Football has the audience. The question is whether it has the commercial strategy to match.

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