Discovery

Sutherland Sharks FC embarked on an exciting new chapter, entering the 2025 season with significant investment in the club, purpose-built facilities, new branding
and an opportunity to elevate the matchday experience with the launch of the club’s hospitality venue.

A new clubhouse was introduced in the form of a first-floor bar and lounge, open to members and the public on game day.

The hospitality venue needed brand naming and identity design as well as environmental design that would set the tone — a space designed to become the social heart of the club, with a clear connection to its community
and heritage.

The brand designers at Percept had been responsible for the football club branding, so it was the natural progression to work with Percept on the identity design for the hospitality venue as well.

Brand Strategy

Smithy’s Bar & Lounge was created as an extension of the Sutherland Sharks FC matchday experience — a place where the beer’s cold and the football’s loud.

The clubhouse required a character and personality of its own, while tying the venue in with continuity to the identity design of the teams that represent the club. Percept developed a sub-brand for the bar and lounge as an extension to the football club branding they had already delivered.

In a deliberate effort to sew authenticity into the brand to connect past achievements with present experience, the brand strategy used legacy to reinforce a shared sense of identity. The environmental design balances contemporary fit-out with graphic references to the club’s history, creating a space that inspires players and supporters alike.

The brand naming process was deliberate in the choice to name the venue after well respected club figure, Paul Smith, anchoring the space as the social heart within the club.

Archival imagery brings to life a timeline that draws visitors in, with storytelling of key moments embedded throughout the environmental design. This is not a time capsule, but a space that uses history to inspire the present and of course, what comes next.

Brand Positioning

Smithy’s Bar & Lounge is the social centre of Sutherland Sharks FC.

A place where supporters and staff come together, connected through shared experience, club identity and community.

Identity Design

The identity design is restrained and bold,
supported by a flexible system of brand stamps. Halftone imagery of players, achievements and events embeds the football club’s history within the visual language.

The colour palette is intentionally more muted than the primary football club branding, creating warmth and contrast against the timber and charcoal interior finishes.

The result is a vibrant space that has become central to the club — a social hub for players and supporters, the best place to enjoy the Sutherland Sharks matchday experience.

Situated in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, Smithy’s is literally just down the road from Percept’s office in Miranda. This makes it an inviting spot to indulge ourselves in some weekend beers, with great football and great company!

If you are interested in reading the story behind the football club branding that Percept created for Sutherland Sharks FC, you can see that case study here.