The Farm's "No Alla Violenza" backdrop is seven years older than the players. Time flies!

The FC Community under 15 team with their league winners trophies, pictured alongside the "No Alla Violenza" message by local band The Farm at the Buckley Hill football pitches in Sefton, Merseyside.

Well done to Wesley Butcher and the FC Community Under 15s - 2025/26 Bootle League Champions!

Dropping tomorrow 🎙️

@derekwatson89.bsky.social and @footballheritage.bsky.social join me on the podcast to discuss Scotland’s #ultra scene 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 📢

Sub/catch up wherever you get your pods

With so much AI-generated imagery about, being a self-employed illustrator can feel a bit daunting.

To support someone who takes a couple of days to produce each illustration, please head over to matthewjiwood.com and take a look, or simply share this post - both hugely appreciated.

Matthew

Festival of Fan Activism (FOFA) Football Fan Groups from across Europe descend on Liverpool for a day of talks and a night of music. Come and be part of it.

🟢Festival of Fan Activism, 13 June, Liverpool
🎤Afternoon speakers include:
Fan-owned HFC Falke (Germany) & FC Dal Pozzo (Italy)
Liverpool Homeless FC
Bootle Inclusion Bucks
🎸Evening live music:
Mel Bowen & The Original Series
Shellsuit
🟢Tickets now available:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-o...

DROPPING SUNDAY 🎙️

Did you see the BBC Scotland three-part documentary on Scottish ultras?

@derekwatson89.bsky.social (speaking here) was in the series and joins me and @footballheritage.bsky.social to discuss Scotland's ultras.

Sub/catch up wherever you get your podcasts

📸 Derek Watson

THE BEAUTIFUL SHAME is my newsletter (in English) about football, politics, and human rights in #SaudiArabia. You can read and subscribe for free (so go ahead, please), but you can also become a paid subscriber and support my work.

👉 pallonateinfaccia.substack.com

"The streets, backs, courts, and beaches are not just places to play; they’re the crucibles where football’s future is forged"

Out 17 August via Pitch Publishing

'Street Football: The Real Grassroots of the Beautiful Game'

#StreetFootball

📸 Toby Binder

I grew up watching African top footballers playing in Europe: today, I talk about them in the new episode of my podcast on the critical and political history of football. Enjoy!

They're great Andrew!

a footballer leaps in the air with her hair out behind her as her opponent falls backwards, the rain is very heavy

footballer with her foot on the ball and opponoents either side

a footballer bends to head the ball while her opponent starts to raise a boot, the eyes are closed

Sliding tackle by a footballer with a grimace Water spraying up off the wet pitch as the ball shoots out for a throw-in

3 women footballers standing with their hands on their hips waiting to restart the game from the centre spot, it's raining heavily, in the background is the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

footballer jumping over the goalkeeper who has grabbed the ball on the ground

sidefoot volleyed pass by a footballer, grass and water spray off the ball - referee watches on from the side of the picture

an athletic bit of dribbling with the outside of the foot in the busy middle of the pitch

@fccommunity.bsky.social lost their cup match against Maghull FC Ladies on Sunday 2-3. It was a tight match which could have gone either way.

Here's some pictures, with another set in a reply.

As you can see the weather was changeable - I found quite challenging to get good photos

Decades of sporting passion and local pride are set to take centre stage at one of the city’s most prestigious landmarks this spring. ⚽

White Hillsborough memorial flame on a black background

With love and solidarity to the victims and survivors of the Hillsborough disaster 15/04/1989

"Justice delayed is justice denied"

FYI I am making my Substack free for everyone again.

Paid subs: Thanks so much for your support. Refunds coming your way

April:

🎙️ Sundays: podcast
✈️ Tuesdays: groundhopping post
🧐 Thursdays: history or culture post

From May, one long-read per week

Sub/follow 👉 outsidewrite.substack.com

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-o...

Morning all, another shameless promotion of this fantastic event💚✊️

Despite only playing in the Scottish second division, Partick Thistle have built a very positive reputation both domestically and abroad, thanks to the fact that the club is completely fan-owned.

ptfc.co.uk/club/governa...

Spain 🇪🇸

The municipality of Cartagena has launched inclusive football tournament bringing together six social organisations to foster inclusion and improve quality of life for people experiencing homelessness or social exclusion.
buff.ly/Q642gEA

Support shaping a game where every fan feels welcome WSL Football is beginning the first phase of developing our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategy, and we want to make sure the voices of fans are part of that picture. We are proud of the...

WSL fans, make sure to take this survey:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Morning Star newspaper page with the headline "Eta makes history with Union Berlin" Other back page story is: "Campaigners protest at Aintree during Grand National"

Today's Morning Star back page, leading with the story of Marie-Louise Eta being appointed interim head coach at Union Berlin's men's team.

🟢Tickets now available
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-o...

Festival of Fan Activism builds on the idea a football club should belong to its community THIS year will see one of the most fan-unfriendly tournaments in the history of association football, but football supporters continue to fight back, determined to make sure the game in some way continues to represent those for whom a club is more than just the entertainment product it is now sold as.

🟢Festival of Fan Activism, 13th June, The Dock Wall, Liverpool L3 7EB
morningstaronline.co.uk/article/fest...

"Players are having the street football spirit coached out of them..."

Out 17 August via Pitch Publishing

'Street Football: The Real Grassroots of the Beautiful Game'

#StreetFootball

📸 David Guttenfelder

We would like to shout out some Non League accounts this Follow Friday.

@romfordfc.bsky.social
@ramsgatefc.bsky.social
@heatonstan.bsky.social
@unionstreetfc.bsky.social
@fccommunity.bsky.social
@hoppersguide.com
@oldspotteddog.bsky.social

#NonLeague

🇬🇧 A very interesting initiative in Liverpool, next June: the Festival of Fan Activism!

⬇️⬇️⬇️

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-o...

White text on a green background. The Festival of Fan Activism logo is at the top. Below this is the date, which is 13th June 2026. The next line is the venue of the event, The Dock Wall in Liverpool. The FC Community logo is bottom right and the foot of the image is a line of coloured blocks in red, blue, yellow, green and orange taken from the FC Community logo.

The Festival of Fan Activism (FOFA) on 13th June is now international!
Ci vediamo a Liverpool 🟢🟡FC dal Pozzo
Wir sehen uns in Liverpool🔵⚫HFC Falke
Tickets available soon, please spread the word!

✍️ I'm looking to expand my collaborations and write about football and politics for English-language publications as well. If you have any suggestions or would like to share this post, I'd owe you a favor!