Some readers might recall the blurb that was posted about the launch of the first episode of the
Pitch Invasion podcast last month. Pitch Invasion Editor and former Section 8 Chicago Chairman Tom
Dunmore interviewed the former head of Supporters Direct, Dave Boyle.
Boyle is currently preparing to travel to Portland for the Independent Supporters' Council
meeting.
A pitch invasion took center stage during the first half at Anfield this evening, if only
because no one else could. There's something in here about the cat being more productive than Andy
Carroll, too.
Also, it already has at least three Twitter accounts. Of course. (One of them.)
Another cat, a black one, bolted across the Camp Nou pitch this weekend, possibly an ominous
harbinger for their title defense.
This was how it began:
Graphic designer Brent Diskin had long liked soccer, but grew up in a household proud of its
support of Oregon State's college football team, and that was his main sporting interest until very
recently. So how did Diskin end up producing the posters above, upon the Portland Timbers'
elevation to Major League Soccer in 2009?
By Chris Wright
This is a real stinker to start the morning but, as was reported at half-time during last
night's Final Score, 74 people are known to have died and at least 1,000 have been injured in a
mass pitch invasion during the Egyptian league game between rival sides Al-Masry and Al Ahli in the
city of Port Said.
A massive pitch invasion in Port Said, Egypt, following a match between defending champions Al
Ahly and fourth-place Al Masry has, according to state television, led to at least 74 deaths and
more than 1,000 injured in one of the most horrific and large-scale instances of football stadium
violence in recent memory.
Tragic news is coming out of Egypt following today's match between Al-Masry and Al-Ahly in Port
Said, Egypt. After Al-Masry won the match, 3-1, its fans invaded the pitch, forcing Al-Ahly players
to flee to the locker room, where they became trapped. Apparently, Al-Ahly Ultras took to the pitch
too, and the long, violent history between the two clubs was extended.
The death toll is currently mounting tragically in Egypt after a pitch invasion and fire hit Al
Masri's stadium in Port Said on the back of a massive upset over Al Ahly less than one hour ago.
One AP report has it at seven, while another less than 15 minutes later shows it at 35. And yet
another moments later at 40.
The Pitch Invasion podcast, presented by Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore, is now available on iTunes,
so please take a second and leave a rating there if you enjoy the show!
If you haven't listened to it, the inaugural episode was released last week, and featured Wilt
discussing how to start an MLS club with Montreal Impact Jesse Marsch, along with Dunmore
interviewing former Supporters Direct chief executive Dave Boyle about UK and US fan culture.
It's Super Sunday due to the two big EPL North London-Manchester games, but there's also a
couple interesting La Liga matchups and an relevant Eredivisie matchup today:
Super Sunday, Jan 22
Netherlands, Alkmaar-Ajax (8:30amET ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.
The Pitch Invasion Podcast Episode 1
Can't wait to take a listen to this:
"Peter Wilt and Tom Dunmore host the inaugural Pitch Invasion podcast, exploring soccer culture
around the world from the American Midwest. In the first show, Peter and Tom talk first to Montreal
Impact head coach Jesse Marsch about the challenges of starting a soccer club, putting together a
team from scratch, and fan culture in MLS.
Almost five years into the existence of Pitch Invasion, you can now hear the dulcet tones of
Pitch Invasion editor Tom Dunmore and regular contributor Peter Wilt on a new monthly podcast,
featuring interviews with interesting people from the world of soccer.
It's available to stream or download below, and will show up on iTunes shortly.
A significant portion of the proceeds ($10 per scarf) from all pre-orders this week of the
new Pitch Invasion bar scarf will be donated to benefit the Operation Pitch Invasion charity in
Portland, Oregon. Here's why...
When supporters of the Portland Timbers, organized by the 107ist Trust and Timbers Army,
announced in 2011 that they were launching a new charity called Operation Pitch Invasion to support
the growth of the game at the grassroots level in Portland, Pitch Invasion's interest was piqued by
more than just the Doppelgänger.
Castles. Hedges the size of grandstands. Corner flags that have seen better days. New York
Cosmos fans. Luxury suites the size of an outdoor toilet. And real, genuine, muddy football. Pitch
Invasion tours a sampling of Non-League football in England throughout 2011, courtesy of the
wonderful work and dedication to the lower levels of the English game by photographer Paul
Paxford.
With the Pitch Invasion book release party tonight in Chicago, today seemed a propitious time to
launch the new Pitch Invasion online store.
Through the weekend, you can take 20% off all the store items by entering the coupon code "PI"
at checkout. The store features The Very Best of Pitch Invasion book, stylish PI stickers and
buttons, and an all new Pitch Invasion scarf an embroidered bar scarf available in very limited
quantities via pre-order until January 30th.
Whipping Stephen Warnock Ep.20 The O'Neill Appeal by Off The Post on Mixcloud Happy New Year one
and all! The Off The Post Podcast is the audio equivalent of a hangover on New Year's Day:
uncomfortable at times, occasionally vomit-inducing, but if you get your head down you can just
about push through it.
At first I got really excited about this article at Pitch Invasion on the default MLS uniform
font. I think expanding the font palette is a good idea, as is giving teams more leeway in choosing
their own font (probably).
But then the article delves into some bad photoshop with some strangely complimentary remarks
about these pieces of crap.
Tom Dunmore has packaged up old Pitch Invasion articles into a new book, The Very Best of Pitch
Invasion. Available in paperback and digital for $12 and $6, respectively.
Common sense has prevailed.
The Dutch football federation has rescinded the red card given to AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Esteban
Alvarado in the aftermath of Wednesday's pitch invasion during a cup game against Ajax.
The goalkeeper was the target of a fan who ran onto the field right at the player in the 36th
minute of the match.
Christmas time fast approaches. Slowly, the universe disconnects from the web. We sip eggnog. We
talk with family members. We exchange gifts. Co-workers get embarrassingly drunk at holiday
parties. Dormant hands get grabby. Title VII lawsuits get filed soon thereafter. But before you
sign that release of claim waiver and confidentiality agreement, enjoy these footy links:
Remember when FIFA said they were going to release documents on December 17th and we got all
excited?
Pitch Invasion Press is proud to add its second title to the Pitch Invasion ebookstore,
An Illustrated Guide to Soccer & Spanish by Elliott Turner.
The execution of this marvelous concept to teach a little bit of Spanish through a little bit of
soccer is as good as the idea, with a series of charming illustrations by Erik Ebeling making it a
breezy, informative and enjoyable read.
L'Impact Montréal, we love you and your Muppets
Over in Quebec (and the whole of North America), the Montréal Impact are starting to create a
steady buzz in the football community as they get ready to join MLS. I wrote a piece for The
Football Ramble on the unique challenges facing L'Impact.
Founded in 2006 by Tom Dunmore, Pitch Invasion remains the cream of the crop of independent
football writing on the internet. It has been packed to the brim with quality for five years, which
is precisely why a "Very Best of Pitch Invasion" book was compiled by Mr. Dunmore. As an Englishman
from Brighton who moved to Chicago to get his PhD at the University of Chicago, Tom has since taken
to MLS and even became the chairman of Section 8, the supporters group of the Chicago Fire.
Founded in 2006 by Tom Dunmore, Pitch Invasion remains the cream of the crop of independent
football writing on the internet. It has been packed to the brim with quality for five years, which
is precisely why a "Very Best of Pitch Invasion" book was compiled by Mr. Dunmore. As an Englishman
from Brighton who moved to Chicago to get his PhD at the University of Chicago, Tom has since taken
to MLS and even became the chairman of Section 8, the supporters group of the Chicago Fire.
The Very Best of Pitch Invasion, an anthology of 39 essays from this site since
2007, was released in digital and print editions last Friday.
The print edition is available on Amazon in the United States, and today (Monday) is the LAST
day to order it in time for Christmas delivery!
Download Preface Download Contents
Download Sample Essay
The aim of the award-winning international soccer blog Pitch Invasion has been to publish
thoughtful, long-form writing that digs well below the headlines, and explores the culture of
sport, the engagement of fans with the spectacle of world soccer and the game's forgotten
history.
By Chris Wright
This is the new 58,145-capacity National Stadium on the banks of the Vistula that meanders
through Warsaw, and it's where the opening game of Euro 2012 between Poland and Greece will be
played. It's also incredibly beautiful by night, as seen here...
Such a handsome brute.
Psst, you might have noticed we've scaled Pitch Invasion down to periodic lengthy essays and
photo features. We're happier this way, without feeling we need to post every day and with more
focus on crafting quality posts (hopefully!).
But we still find interesting stuff elsewhere every day.
A year ago last month, I wrote a six part series for Pitch Invasion called "Football, blogs and
newspapers unite?" in which I pushed for a newspaper/blog network as the future of digital sports
journalism. Here's me:
Moreover, many papers are mulling over switching their hard news content over to
paid-for smart phone, or iPad-like apps.
By Chris Wright
With football team's now staging naked ballets in training and employing unicorns to canter down
rainbows and deliver the matchball before kick-off, it's perhaps understandable that fans at Slavia
Prague's match against Viktoria Plzen over the weekend thought they were being treated to a bit of
half-time entertainment when a rogue parachutist plummeted from nowhere and landed on the pitch
during the interval.
Google+ has finally allowed "brands" on its social network. Check out the Pitch Invasion page
here. We're going to try and use it more creatively than just as another tool to push out links and
the like as we're embarking on some other projects, particularly publishing, we'll be posting some
behind the scenes stuff and most importantly looking for feedback from readers as we put projects
together.
While one of the great things about football is the role that club supporters can play during
matches: songs, chants, and visual displays can sometimes inspire their club to find that next goal
or not give up the lead during a match. Unfortunately, this past weekend some fans of Petrolul
Ploiești in Romania took things a step further when one fan, Dragos Petrut Enache, sucker punched
a Steaua București defender, George Galamaz.
Crazy keeper The turncoat! After Montenegro dramatically snatched a point against 10-man England
the story was all about how the minnows' had secured a Euro 2012 play-off spot. Cue jubilant scenes
among the Montenegro fans, which spilled over into a pitch invasion. The broadcaster was focusing
on the joyous celebrations when who should appear in [.
Things got ugly in Wednesday's Bosnian Cup match between FK Velež Mostar and H K Zrinjski
Mostar in the ethnically divided town's derby match when Zrinjski fans invaded the pitch to chase
visiting Velez players. The incident occurred in second half stoppage time right after Rijad Demic
scored for Velez.
Men are pigs. Bullish, impatient, mindless, and above all selfish. It is why I only love women.
And apparently, so do the Turks. In an effort to punish clubs for crowd trouble while acknowledging
that such trouble comes from a small percentage of individuals, the Turkish Football Federation
proposed barring all males over the age of 12 from the stands as punishment.
The Turkish Football Federation launches its "broadside" against men
In Iran, women are banned from watching football matches. Jafar Panahi's "Offside" tells the
story of several young women who dress up as boys and try and sneak into a 2006 World Cup match
between Iran and Bahrain. It is a heartwarming and often comical tale of Iran's youth chafing at
the heavy handed social mores skewed against women which are laid down by the orthodox clergy.
It was ladies and children under-12 night in the Fenerbahce vs. Maispor game due to a ban on men
handed down by the Turkish FA due to a violent pitch invasion that occurred during a pre-season
friendly. Our friends at Soccerpolitics wrote a great analysis of the meaning behind the night's
events.
Slowly, we're taking over the football world. Image: AP Photo.
With misbehaviour by fans in Europe plummeting to new depths of depravity, football associations
are becoming increasingly innovative in their sanctions.
So congratulations to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), whose latest punishment is in
honour of the firecracker wielding, pitch invading supporters who've been troubling their fixtures
as of late.
If you follow the Pitch Invasion twitter account, you might have seen mention of a new
side-project: Stadium Porn, a site all about stadiums, not porn. So far, we have lasciviously
looked at the Amex in Brighton, England; Estadio de Fútbol Monterrey in Mexico; Mineirão, Belo
Horizonte, Brazil; and Stadio di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Pitch Invasion is getting into the eBook publishing business. We have a couple of original books
in the works, and we'd like to know just a little about your interest in eBooks. We would really
appreciate your feedback as we get this venture underway.
Please fill out the form below and hit submit one lucky person randomly drawn from all
the submissions by September 30th 2011 will win a $25 Amazon gift certificate!
