Pitch

Inside every issue of Pitch magazine you will find stories, long and short, covering at least 30 different sports. There’s football, cricket, rugby – both types – golf, MMA, boxing, athletics and F1. And loads of others. Because ultimately we are sports fanatics.

ONE FOR ALL

Pitch

FRONT ROW/CONTRIBUTORS

THE FA CUP WILL ALWAYS HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE IN THE HEARTS OF US ‘OLDIES’

SHARE THE WEALTH

In 60 Seconds… with Jake Bugg. • THE SINGER-SONGWRITER SWAPS GUITARS FOR FOOTBALL AS HE SPENDS A MINUTE IN THE STANDS WITH PITCH.

SCHEMATICA Bosco dello Sport Stadium, Venezia FC

Rated. • Clobber for Saturday afternoons on the terrace. Home and away.

Travel Away… • Any sport. Any time. Anywhere.

Didier Drogba

Basic, Better, Best… • THROUGH HISTORY

Subbuteo

No.8 - TV • Why England’s first televised final was watched by fewer people than fit in one end of the stadium itself.

Backyards – No. 15 Clapham Rovers @ Home

Booked. • Jade Cradock sends sport’s hottest literature upstairs for another look.

CUP ANTHEMS Alt. Icons.

MANAGERS In 10 Characters, or Less… • Ten cup-filling personalities. Illustrated.

The Heart of English Football: In Numbers • One of the most instantly recognisable and prestigious trophies, the FA Cup enjoys a mythical status in the metaphorical sporting cabinet. Pitch tells you everything there is to know about the oldest cup competition in the world.

Up set • On the receiving end of one of the tournament’s biggest upsets, Frank Clark relives the desperate lows that can follow a felled giant.

Uphill Down Dale • Taking on the naysayers, Paul Simpson goes searching for the magic they say has vanished. This 150-year odyssey takes on Homer himself, monkey glands, lucky garters, frozen pitches and one - or two - infamous trophies.

The Other Team • Liam Scully is CEO at Lincoln City; he spoke to Pitch about what the FA Cup means to clubs at the foot of the football pyramid, as well as what it means to those further up.

IAN WRIGHT WRIGHT. RIGHT? • A LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL, EVERY BIT AS INSPIRATIONAL AS HIS CAREER IN IT. BUT WHAT MAKES ONE OF THE GAME’S MOST INFECTIOUS CHARACTERS TICK? AND WHY, WHEN HE’S ON OUR SCREENS, DOES IT ALL FEEL OH SO WRIGHT?

DRESS WRIGHT • A fashionista in his own right, the former striker certainly knows how to stand out from the crowd.

British Football's Greatest Grounds • Mike Bayly celebrates the places and faces that make this age-old custom so special.

A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings • A cup tie lasts maybe 100 minutes, but what about its ensuing consequence? Pitch editor Kieran Longworth traces the FA Cup’s far-reaching significance, drawing on improbable heroes and national identity shaped by a single kick or mis-kick of the ball.

A Matter of Life & Football • IN AN EXTRACT FROM HIS BOOK ‘WHATEVER WILL BE, WILL BE’, FELIX WHITE FINDS HIMSELF MESMERISED BY THE FA CUP’S THIRD ROUND, AS THE BIG WIGS MEET THE DREAMERS…

A Game of Two Halves • NIGEL JEMSON’S HIGHS AND LOWS OF KNOCKOUT FOOTBALL

SHOWREEL • SPORT’S CREATIVES TALK ABOUT THEIR WORK, HOW THEY GOT THE SHOT, AND WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT THEIR BELOVED SUBJECTS. THIS TIME IT’S THE TURN OF NATHANIAL HUTCHINSON TO FOLLOW CRYSTAL PALACE ON THEIR HISTORIC EUROPEAN ADVENTURE.

SHOT(S) • OTHERWORLDLY PHOTOGRAPHS FROM A SPECTACULAR SEASON OF SPORT

OBITS • In passing.

Baddies. No.24 William Shillcock • Enter William Shillcock. At best he was one of sport’s worst-ever custodians, curators or caretakers.