The Philadelphia Union are hiring a 'Chief Tattoo Officer' to ink players, staff and fans
A glance across any soccer league, from MLS to the Premier League, makes it clear that soccer players love tattoos. Now, the Philadelphia Union are taking advantage of that to build club unity in a very unorthodox way.
The Union have created the role of "Chief Tattoo Officer" and are actively searching for tattoo artists around Philly for the new job, the club announced Monday. It will be the first job of its kind at a soccer club.
The resident tattoo artist will provide in-house services to Union players and staff. The first person in line to get a tattoo once the "CTO" is hired will be the Union's vice president of marketing, Doug Vosik, who helped come up with the idea. Players, coaching staff and front office members will then be queued up, and fans may be able to get tattoos at special events later on.
Vosik, who joined the Union last year, was also very specific about the skills the tattoo artist should have.
“Our hiring process begins immediately," he said in a statement. "We are looking for a partner with a wide variety of talents and skills, and someone who can offer a broad range including American traditional, as well as Japanese, realism, new school and more.”
The job was listed on MLS's hiring website on Monday before it was briefly taken down pending the official announcement. It is now back online and calls for a tattoo artist with five years experience and an ability to do snake designs since the Union crest includes a snake.
“This is an exciting initiative for all of us here at Philadelphia Union as we look to provide a revolutionary service for our players and front office, particularly those new to the area,” said Vosik.
The Union are definitely thinking outside the box on this one.
