After months of lockdown, of balls kicked around kitchens, gardens and pavements, football is back. Of course, there are changes in place. After 100 days the Premier League returned behind closed doors, with the sound of crowds streamed to audiences at home. While every player and referee took a knee as a sign of support for Black Lives Matter. 

As football returned in earnest, betting brand Paddy Power kicked-off a campaign to provide a much-needed moment of celebration in the midst of crisis. To welcome football back to the pitch, Paddy Power’s humorous spots celebrate the annoyances of the modern-day game, from the dodgy haircuts to time-wasting tactics, positioning them instead as welcome signs of the sport’s return. ‘All is Forgiven’, created by Octagon, has been designed to run across outdoor, social and press.

Diving becomes an artform; manager’s excuses are made valid and half-and-half scarves a mark of camaraderie. The frustrations of the modern game are forgotten as the brand simply celebrates fans' elation at having live sport to watch.

Josh Green, Creative Director at Octagon, explained: “This is a love letter to football nonsense. From all of us to the game, we’ve missed you. The rubbish things, the annoying things, everything. Sometimes you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.”

As sport tentatively returns, shops are re-opening and restaurants preparing their outside spaces. These are signs that much of the nation will have been longing for during the long months of lockdown; they are signs of some semblance of normality returning. Paddy Power wants consumers to laugh at the football cliches of years past and in doing so celebrate the cultural significance and joy provided by the game.