SBC Feature – Sam Cooke – Top 40 Football Blogs

In 2011 the Guardian published a definitive (though writer, James Dart, argued otherwise) list of the 100 football blogs to follow. The world of football blogging is highly competitive with often little to no financial reward. To stand out, and moreover, to maintain a consistent and steady flow of traffic to a blog is no mean feat. As such it is a world which is highly volatile; blink and your favourite blog may be no more.

Accordingly at SBC we have put together a list of the top football blogs for 2014. Enjoy them, as they won’t all be around forever. Here, in no particular order, are our top forty.

 

1. think football (thinkfootball.co.uk) – My pick of the bunch. ‘The thinking persons football blog’. Regularly updated, oozes well considered opinions and informative features, often tactics centric
2. Zonal marking (zonalmarking.net) – The inspiration for think football’, an excellent match analysis section and tactics obsessed. If Alan Hansen reads a football blog, he reads this one.
3. too good to go down (toogoodtogodown.wordpress.com) – Created by a Grimsby fan and and the fully deserved winner of ‘Best Non-League Blog’ at the Football Blogging Awards in 2013. Great name and an even better blog.
4.  just football (just-football.com) – No specialisation here with a broad coverage of football from around the world (and I really do mean around the world) but by utilising an extensive team of writers there is no drop off in the quality of the writing.
5. paddy power blog (blog.paddypower.com) – The pick of the gambling firm blogs with articles by the likes of Joey Barton and Paul Scholes. Guaranteed some laughs and naturally it’s awash with betting tips and offers.
6. fourfourtweet (fourfourtweet.co.uk) – Bright and attention demanding homepage with features, scouting, transfer gossip and betting tips sections – you don’t quite know where to click first. Winner of ‘Best New Blog’ at the blogging awards last year and seemingly going from strength to strength.
7. IBWM (inbedwithmaradona.com) – World football and moreover world football subculture. Very in-depth articles; they’re more stories than articles with beautiful photography and an attention grabbing layout.
8. 101greatgoals (101greatgoals.com) – One of the very best sites to watch clips of goals from around the world, updated daily which is, naturally, what keeps people coming back.
9. a football report (afootballreport.com) – Similar to IBWM in that it does what every blog seeks to do but few manage; it consistently delivers original, engrossing content. One of many is the feature ‘Politics, corruption and the decline of Lithuanian football’. Read on.
10. the width of a post (widthofapost.com) – A superb blog on all things Bradford City FC. The ultimate fan blog, hell you should read it even if you’re not one.
11. the false 9 (thefalse9.com) – Another tactical based blog which welcomes opinionated content from writers. Also with a great ‘Rough Diamonds’ section looking at up and coming young players. Football Manager nuts – enjoy.
12. the football ramble (thefootballramble.com) – Proudly celebrating its 7th birthday this year; for an independent blog that’s ancient. Earned and maintains its popularity through its regular podcasts; they are the ‘most entertaining voice in football’. Bar Chris Kamara of course. Go for the podcasts, stay for the Dean Windass hall of fame.
13. put niels in goal (putnielsingoal.com) – Not the most prolific in terms of posts but worth a visit just to check. The ongoing Football Manager meets Moneyball features are exactly what football blogging was made for.
14. it’s round and it’s white (Itsroundanditswhite.co.uk) – Articles from around the world and back again from a review of Barnet’s season to more World Cup pieces than you can shake a stick at. Smart layout.
15. the home of caribbean football (thehomeofcaribbeanfootball.wordpress.com) – Bored of the Premier League and tired of La Liga? Keep in the know about the latest football news from the Caribbean. Its primary aim is ‘to try and convince the masses there is more to the Caribbean than just Reggae music, sunny beaches and Usain Bolt.’ There actually is y’know.
16. republik of mancunia (therepublikofmancunia.com) – A blog focused on that other team in Manchester. Where they’re concerned it does not miss a beat.
17. off the post (offthepost.info) – Very well organised site about goings on in the Premier League. A lot of transfer speculation plus video clips and more.
18. the best eleven (thebesteleven.com) – Like stats, maps and lists? You’ll love this. One recent fascinating post listed every nation’s foreign born players at this summer’s World Cup, Diego Costa needn’t have felt lonely – there’s quite a few.
19. paste magazine (pastemagazine.com/soccer) – Being American this one’s largely focussed on the red, white and blue football related goings on but it’s produced some very readable content on the World Cup of late too. In addition the rest of the site, should you need a break from soccer, will keep you entertained for longer than you planned.
20. who ate all the pies (whoateallthepies.tv) – One of the easiest to accidentally lose two hours flicking through. A very varied blog full of tweetable content, top 10s, picture galleries, creative football art and a kits and fashion section. It has it all and yet you’re never really sure what to expect.
21. the elastico (theelastico.com) – An extensive scouting and talent watching blog of players around the world. Another for the Football Manager enthusiasts to bookmark. (That’s definitely maybe the last Football Manager reference).
22. in for the hat trick (Inforthehattrick.net) – Informative and intelligent football writing on the topics of the Premier League, the Champions League and occasionally the MLS. It’s so intelligent it even has a book reviews section.
23. backpage football (backpagefootball.com) – Over 25,000 Twitter followers can’t be wrong. Very popular site for a reason with its own podcast, plus it’s chokablok with content and easy to navigate. Furthermore features frequently creative articles such as ‘America Samoa has the answer’!’ which concerned itself with the tale of how the US contributed to the development of football within the nation, and how this can be replicated elsewhere.
24. the football attic (thefootballattic.blogspot.co.uk) – Entertainment and nostalgia often go hand in hand and for footballing purposes this hits the spot. Panini sticker albums galore and its own podcasts; it’ll make you feel all warm inside.
25. football economy (footballeconomy.com) – News and analysis on the economic state of football and its clubs across the world written in an informative and accessible manner, though often inevitably rather bleak with news of the financial struggles of lower tier clubs.
26. crack goalie (crackgoalie.tumblr.com) – Whilst it appears this blog may be dead it’s worth a visit for its archived posts. Brains over beauty here with a basic layout, its creator focusses solely on the quality of the writing. Smart and original pieces from around the globe tie in football with economic and political debate and more. Note: The name comes from the author Vladimir Nabokov’s description of his time spent goalkeeping at Cambridge. Apparently.
27. beyond the last man (beyondthelastman.com) – A retro football blog containing posts on topics from all over footballing history with a primary focus on the 1950s to the 1980s. Clearly a labour of love with the amount of research that must go into the site; for example its current WW1 era feature. Feeling nostalgic about the days the likes of 18 year old Luke Shaw weren’t on £100,000 + a week to kick a ball about? This one’s for you.
28. two hundred percent (twohundredpercent.net) – Good writing which is both engaging to read yet not too heavy. Updated often with a sleek and cool black and white website.
29. spirit of mirko (spiritofmirko.com) – The writers here seem to write and publish any ideas that come into their heads, and it works. I read one titled ‘The 5 Best Danish Football Songs’, then another which listed all the players from the Premiership to League Two whose first and surnames begin with the same letter. I’m hooked.
30. when saturday comes (wsc.co.uk) – Born out of the magazine of the same name (Britain’s leading independent football magazine that is) the website continues its work and aim: to provide a voice for the intelligent football supporter.
31. no standing (nostanding13.wordpress.com) – A collection of cool, old football photos, and far more contemporary pieces. A confused and enjoyable array of football based content.
32. natter football (natterfootball.co.uk) – A great source of football fun; its a fan-run site for the fans after all. Songs about Luis Suarez to drawings of Lionel Messi and everything inbetween. Visit and you might just unearth a gem.
33. futbolita (futbolita.com) – The ‘female football voice’. This covers football and fan cultures of Europe and Latin America with the odd exclusive interview with some pretty big names…
34. french football weekly (frenchfootballweekly.com) – Guess what this one’s about? The amount of writers they have on board mean you never need wonder about the latest Ligue 1 acquisition to arrive at Newcastle ever again.
35. the shin guardian (theshinguardian.com) – A fantastic blog which focuses on players from the US in order to further promote the sport within that country. Likely to experience some more visitors following their World Cup performance.
36. snap kaka pop (snapkakapop.blogspot.com) – A great blog on all things Brazilian football. What better time to read it?
37. benefoot (benefoot.net) – With Belgium currently producing some of the world’s finest players and Holland having just missed out on the final this blog is a must-read as it specialises on all things Dutch and Belgian football. And it’s in English. Learn about the new Benteke before your friends do.
38. rinaldi’s blog (giancarlorinaldi.tumblr.com) – Miss the days of Football Italia? Here’s the online equivalent; the one stop shop for Italian football. It may not have James Richardson but its hundred-word heores section will distract you just enough for that not to matter.
39. play the game (playthegame.org) – The first fully serious site to make the list. A Danish site which aims to strengthen the ethical foundation of sport and promote democracy, transparency and freedom of expression within it. Worthy of support.
40. 90 minutes more (90minutesmore.co.uk) – Winner of ‘Best Female Blog’ last year. Not afraid to take on serious issues surrounding and within the sport. Never short of an engaging read.

 

So that concludes the forty. Doubtless we have missed many, there are quite a few worthy blogs out there after all. Please do let us know should we have missed one that absolutely has to be in any respectable top forty list.