Studs Up

I mean to write this post a while ago, as in maybe a year ago, as a lot of you have written me asking which football websites I read and if I could recommend any good ones. It’s actually turned out for the better that it took this long for me to get around to it, as my list now is pretty different to what it would have been a while ago.

I’m not including general news or rumour sites in this list, or club-specific sites. Rather, these are the guys (and gals) who make a concerted effort to go in a completely different direction from the pack. From a guy who does a freakin’ football comic strip of all things, I can appreciate that.

So here’s my list, I’m sure I’ll miss out a few of my regulars so apologies if so and I’ll have to do a follow up. If you have your own favourites that aren’t on here, I’d love to hear about them!

Dirty Tackle: Yahoo made Brooks an offer he couldn’t refuse after he’d only been doing DT for a year… so that should tell you something about the quality of his work. He doesn’t report the news, he reports ON the news and that’s a key differentiator from your average football blog. It’s also really the only site out there that reminds me of what I tried to do when I started CaughtOffside back in 2006 (it’s actually a very different site now) in that he makes a concerted effort to be absurd and sarcastic at every turn. The regular creative features like “The Continental” and the Rage List are gems.

Run Of Play: Brian Philips has long treated RoP as his personal literary playground, and that’s a good thing. Between following the adventures of his Pro Evolution team to the gradual release of the Brooklyn Asylum fiction there isn’t a better place to find high concept, pure football writing that, well, you just didn’t think existed anymore amongst the sensationalist tabloid-style stuff that’s gripped football content recently. Most sites chase SEO or Newsnow traffic, Brian and his team write what they want to write. He also just launched a beautiful new site design that fits RoP’s content perfectly. You wouldn’t know it was a football site by looking at it, and I imagine that’s just the way they want it.

Kickette & Ciacha: Do you have an itch for football gossip? Then prepare to get that shit scratched. The girls at Kickette have been friends of mine since my CaughtOffside days and they’ve just continued to get better and better at what they do – ogling crotch shots and tenderly crafted abs. Ciacha brings the same flavour all the way from Poland. I can’t read Polish but it shouldn’t deter you cause, well, you can still look at crotches and stuff. Both sites are actually popular reads for the lads as well as I think they’re secretly hoping for a WAG nip slip or something that inevitably never comes. Hope burns eternal and all that.

The Umbro Blog: Bit weird to have a manufacturer on here, but I didn’t even realise that this site had become a daily visit for me until I started putting together this list. I’ve gotten to know the guys at Umbro a little bit through Studs Up (apparently it’s popular around their offices) and they’ve put a lot of hard, smart work recently into rejuvenating a historic brand from one that was slumping a bit to one that’s arguably been the story of the last few months as far as unique football products. They’ve smartly avoided trying to battle Nike and adidas on glitz and glamour and instead focus on a sense of “indie cool” through carefully tailored products, smart collaborations and focusing on the true football roots of such a historic brand. The Umbro Blog tracks all of that progress with behind the scenes sneak peeks, constant updates on upcoming products and, of course, a Horse XI.

I know there’s more, but these are the ones that jump to my mind right now. I’ll maybe add to the list or do a follow up as I get through my news cycle the next couple days to jog my memory!

- CT