Forty-One | Football, Futbol, Soccer -The Worlds Game, Our Way

From the time we announced our rebrand in 2023, the brand has been building quietly behind the scenes. Now, we wanted to step into 2026 with a clear purpose: tell the stories that live beyond the 90, and put the region’s culture at the center of the conversation.

Just incase you missed it, Forty-One takes its name from the region itself. Forty-One countries make up CONCACAF, each with its own football identity, style, and diaspora story. The name is a signal of focus. This platform exists to celebrate what makes soccer in this region distinct, and to create a home for fans who see the game as culture, not just sport.

“This region will be the most important region in global football for at least the next 10 years, which naturally will generate a lot of outside interest. It’s important that the voices telling the stories here reflect the diverse cultures that call this region home.”

- Forty-One CEO, EL Johnson

As a platform, we covers soccer through the cultural touch points that shape how people live with the game. The editorial lens spans art, music, sneakers, fashion, and business, with stories driven by the people building scenes in cities and communities across the region. Forty-One speaks to lifelong supporters and newcomers alike, creating an entry point for people who connect with soccer through style, sound, design, and identity.

Forty-One is also built to serve the diaspora. For many fans, soccer holds more than matchday meaning. It’s a living connection to family, language, and origin. Forty-One aims to be a bridge that helps people stay close to their roots, while also welcoming those still learning the region’s story.

“Being first generation Jamaican American, I understand the importance of my family’s heritage and the role it played in my love for the game. I also recognize how impactful sharing that connection to the game with people new to it can be.”

-Forty-One Co-founder, Advisory Board Member Rich Gordon

We were founded by a team spanning soccer storytelling, design, brand work, and entertainment. EL Johnson, Co-Founder and CEO, is a multidisciplinary creative professional and sports media entrepreneur with 15+ years of experience across design and content production. Richard Gordon, Co-Founder and Board Member, is a multidisciplinary creative with 10+ years of experience creating and storytelling around soccer, including photographing the game at the highest levels. Gordon now serves in an advisory board role while working on Nike Football’s Global Brand Creative Team. Johnson, along with Gordon co-founded Forty-One in 2023 with a vision to build the premier soccer lifestyle media platform for the CONCACAF region.

In 2024, Gillian Williams joined the team as a Co-Founder and Head of Entertainment Partnerships. Williams is a first-generation Jamaican-American and longtime music industry creative with 12+ years across A&R, management, publishing, licensing, and touring for Grammy-nominated artists. Williams also serves as a Creative Producer for Forty-One Studio, producing branded and original content.

“Through my experience of working in the music industry, traveling, and being a life long soccer fan, I have found that sports, and particularly this one, has a strong thread of connectivity that breaks down language barriers the same way music does. This region has such a rich and dense fabric of stories that haven’t been told before. We look forward to continuing to show this is The World’s Game, Our Way."

• Forty-One Partner & Head of Entertainment Partnerships, Gillian Williams

The timing is intentional. The region’s influence keeps rising, and the demand for culture-first soccer storytelling keeps growing with it. We exists to document what’s real across CONCACAF and its diasporas, and to give the region a voice that feels native to how fans actually live with the game.