As any fan will know, football is much more than just a game of two halves – it is a way of life, a culture and, above all, a deep passion. As such, everyone has their own opinion on all aspects of the beautiful game, from last weekend’s action to who the prime candidates for the title and relegation are. Usually they aren’t afraid to express it either! There was a time when football discussions would take place in pubs, households, and workplaces – and they still do – except now there’s a new platform on the scene: blogs.
In the internet’s infancy, local forums were one of the only ways for football fans to express their opinion to a comparatively wide audience. With the potential of modern blogging platforms, however, anyone can share their insights with the entire world over the internet. It’s pretty easy to do so, and there is even a football specific domain name ending (.football), which is available to budding bloggers.

If you’re considering starting a football fan blog of your own and need some inspiration, or you’re simply looking for another source of footie analysis to complement our football news feed, these five sites are a great place to start.

ArsenalFan TV

Having only been established in 2012, ArsenalFanTV has gone from strength to strength in recent years, bringing up-to-the-minute news, comment, and analysis to Gooners across the globe. The website, and its flagship YouTube channel, serves as a portal for Arsenal fans to express their views, and as such retains its status as a blog for the fans, by the fans. Its status has now risen to the point where, this season, even Gary Neville weighed in with his views on the site.

Copa90

Copa90 is all about the strong cultural identity of being a football fan in the modern age. Although it is part of a wider network of brands, its content is led by a collective of contributors, ensuring that it remains an authentic source of fan-centric dialogue. On the website, you’ll find a variety of features from comment pieces, listicles, and video content including their trademark ‘FIFA and Chill’ interview series.

Collymore.com

Former Nottingham Forest and Liverpool player Stan Collymore is attracting attention for all the right reasons through his personal website, Collymore.com. So much so that he won the fans’ choice for the ‘Best Football Influencer’ at 2016’s Football Blogging Awards. Collymore hasn’t been a stranger to controversy during his post-football career, so it’s great to see his website directing the focus back to where it really matters – the game. With his ‘Call Collymore’ live podcast and blog content, Stan displays his expertise and personal insight for fans to chew over.

CaughtOffside

Their self-appointed status as “the world’s most popular independent football blog” may be up for debate, but there’s no doubt that CaughtOffside is a valuable resource for global football news, transfer rumours, and interest pieces. What’s more, the site also features a category dedicated to the wildly popular management simulation game Football Manager.

The Boot Room

Last, but not least, The Boot Room is another quality source of opinion and astute analysis of the game we all know and love. Thanks to the fact that they accept contributions from writers and bloggers across the world, this site is a melting pot for a variety of fresh perspectives and views. With an impressively broad selection of dedicated club pages for English teams down to League 2, plus a range of international league categories, The Boot Room is a great place to keep your eye on the ball.