Must Read Soccer and other soccer blogs

June 6, 2010 8:45 AM

Must Read Soccer has one aim: To bring you the best writing in English on football, wherever we find it, fresh almost daily, and without favor.

For good measure, it also brings you the Worst Soccer Writing of the Week:

Get the restrainers ready, nurse. Diego’s demons are coming out to play. He’s as skittish as a Mother Superior tricked into ­kneeling on a whoopee cushion in a confessional.

Related blogs of note:

The Run of Play is a blog about the wonder and terror of soccer. ... we walk the forgotten byways of football with a lonely tread, searching for the beautiful, the bewildering, the haunting, and the absurd.

Kickette is the number one authority on the web for all things fun, fluffy and footie-related. Multi-millionaire football star shenanigans, exclusive WAG gossip and snarky fashion analysis are the reason we exist. We promise to never write about real news like transfers, sports stats or the offside rule – because we know you’re already getting that information elsewhere. Instead, we pledge to offer as much in-depth frivolity and superficial reports of hot players and their nice automobiles as is possible within our regular manicure schedules.

Pitch Invasion is a blog exploring soccer (or football, if you prefer) culture around the world. We aim to cover topics or perspectives missed by the mainstream media, with a focus on supporter culture, the history of football, women’s football, photography and the political and economic aspects of the sport.

posted by Joe Beese (16 comments total)

Must Read Soccer is worthwhile, but it tends to link to the same writers over and over again. If you're already reading The Run of Play, Must Read Soccer can be redundant.

Other worthwhile blogs:

- From a Left Wing: The Cultural Politics of Soccer

- Futfanatico

- Sport is a TV Show
posted by asterix at 9:03 AM on June 6, 2010

Zonal Marking!
posted by WalterMitty at 9:10 AM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm a big fan of Unprofessional Foul.
posted by inigo2 at 9:16 AM on June 6, 2010

Come for the hype, stay for the dives.
posted by furtive at 9:22 AM on June 6, 2010

This is good. Thank you.
posted by .kobayashi. at 9:24 AM on June 6, 2010

Come for the hype, stay for the dives.

Come for the good articles and comments, stay for the douchey snark.
posted by inigo2 at 9:34 AM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

So, is this just another conspiracy to delay my dissertation yet again?
posted by oddman at 9:48 AM on June 6, 2010

2/3 of the "bad writing" columns are Guardian pieces. Looks to me like he's not really understanding the paper's wicked sarcasm.
posted by L'OM at 9:57 AM on June 6, 2010

Oh please - Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail as 'must read'?
posted by DanCall at 10:02 AM on June 6, 2010

NYTimes on how a soccer star is made via metachat.
posted by joost de vries at 10:06 AM on June 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

I often find the Guardian's writing about football more entertaining than the game itself, e.g, the always witty 'Minute by Minute' liveblogging of matches which is pretty much my only way of following the Premiership these days.
Their rundowns of the past year in European football are rather amusing too.
posted by Flashman at 10:22 AM on June 6, 2010

Just want to say that yes, the Guardian's match liveblogging is excellent, and well worth following during the World Cup.

And that NYT (Mag) Ajax is article is also an awesome read and it really delves into differences between, and perceptions of, association football in Europe and America.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:17 AM on June 6, 2010

Nice links.
posted by Yiba at 11:30 AM on June 6, 2010

wow, this is awesome. Thanks!
posted by jacalata at 2:11 PM on June 6, 2010

This is great.

PLUS, it led me to this awesome picture of how South American culture differs from my own. (It's Cabanas -the Paraguayan that got shot - and the President of Paraguay).
posted by doublehappy at 2:42 PM on June 6, 2010

I'll second goodnewsfortheinsane's call on The Guardian's football coverage.

The best football podcasts are The Football Ramble and The Guardian's Football Weekly.
posted by iso_bars at 3:08 PM on June 6, 2010