Rory Smith
The Observer, Men In Blazers, the Monday Night Club, Libero. Author of "Mister" and "Expected Goals."
- Reposted by Rory Smith"If you don't want it, I know a guy in America who'll take it."
- This is a story I’ve been wanting to write for ages. It’s about how a generation of fans have brought the ultra movement to Scotland, and what that says about fandom, connection and friendship in a world where so much of life is digital observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- I don’t think what’s happening in Scotland is coincidence. If you look at smaller leagues across Europe, something similar is happening. This piece on Bohemians for the NYT touched on it from an Irish perspective. www.nytimes.com/2024/03/02/w...
- But the best example is maybe Sweden, where a decade ago the clubs and the league made a conscious effort to focus on football as something you watch live, not something you consume remotely. I also wrote about that a while ago. www.nytimes.com/2023/11/19/w...
- They’re all part of a pattern, I think. People crave live experiences in general now - festivals, concerts, comedy, whatever - because so many aspects of our culture now happen online. That’s especially true in football, where the active fan has been replaced by a remote consumer.
- I am terrible at actively promoting my work these days, but I am determined to find a way to be better. So let's start with this, a column for @meninblazers.bsky.social on Jude Bellingham the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/jude-belli...
- Because he’s a proper journalist, @shteyngart.bsky.social twice spent a week watching Russian state TV to get a sense of how media constructs our reality. I did the same, on a budget and various other professional commitments, with Real Madrid TV. It was weird. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- I know everyone hates the international break, and that qualifiers seem like a procession of pointless games with an obvious conclusion. But that is only the view from the world's major nations. And football isn't just for the major nations. (Even if it feels like it) observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- A test for whether Bluesky is a healthier environment than Twitter: I broke my own self-imposed rule and wrote about football in Glasgow. I think the toxicity of the Old Firm/Glasgow derby is holding BOTH clubs back. I say this with love. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- Reposted by Rory SmithThe Champions League league phase is underway and Matchday 1 concludes tonight. But does is the new format conducive to more exciting games? @jonawils.bsky.social explains:
- Reposted by Rory SmithNew Libero Welcome back to the Champions League! Can anyone challenge PSG this year? @jonawils.bsky.social @jameshorncastle.bsky.social @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social pod.fo/e/32b5f5
- Reposted by Rory SmithThe Correspondent Newsletter has FLOWN 📫 This week, @rorysmith.bsky.social touches on: 🤔 The PL's 20 most interesting players 💙 A Grealish for the Labubu generation 🌳 The English top-flight's wildest owner 🤍 Why Spurs fans might miss Daniel Levy READ IT HERE: mibcourage.co/4gkf9b3
- This week's @meninblazers.bsky.social newsletter tries to explore how transfer culture got bigger than actual football, and what that means for how we interact with players, how we watch the game, and who we are as fans. the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com/p/transfer-w...
- And if you like it, feel free to sign up to receive it straight to your inbox every week -- FOR FREE -- so that I don't have to remind you on here the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com
- I’d been fascinated by a mystery all summer. It was an itch I had to scratch. A question burning in my brain. Was…was Indy Kaila now a legitimate news source? An investigation into the man/men/myth legend who has dominated this transfer (gossip) window. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- As of today, I am back in the newslettering game, thanks to the lovely people at Men In Blazers. If you -- yes, you -- want to read the first one, and get a free map, then you should enter your email and no other personal details here. the-correspondent-rory-smith-newsletter.beehiiv.com/subscribe
- We’ve now done two @liberopodcast.bsky.social episodes on whether football has grown too big for its own good. The first is mainly about why it is that one sport grew so much, so fast, in the 1990s. pod.fo/e/2f5917
- And the second is about what that means for all of the other sports, and for football itself. I wouldn’t normally say this about something I’m involved with but I think they’re really interesting conversations. pod.fo/e/2f80e6
- PSG have won the Champions League, at long last, and all it took was eight managers, 14 years, £2bn in transfer fees, more in wages, one hyperinflationary spiral and the complete restricting of European football. Easy to love the team. Less so the project. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- Absolutely delighted to be writing, as well as talking, for @meninblazers.bsky.social. Newsletter will go out every Thursday, and you can read the first one — about Lautaro Martinez, and how we judge players — and sign up here: mibcourage.co/4kDA7CG
- Reposted by Rory SmithTalking Saturday's Champions League final with two of the biggest Premfaces out there, @jameshorncastle.bsky.social and @rorysmith.bsky.social. On today's @liberopodcast.bsky.social podfollow.com/libero/episo...
- Reposted by Rory SmithDispatches from Libero's Bilbao Bureau bring word of an all-English final that was not the greatest advert for the 'Best League in the World™', so instead @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, @brewin.bsky.social and @rorysmith.bsky.social discuss the Italian perspective on football in 2025
- The only time most of us engage with motorbike racing is when someone dies. I’d always wondered how they managed to race on when they’d lost a friend and a colleague. But I didn’t understand how being so conscious of death changes the way you interact with it. observer.co.uk/news/sport/a...
- Reposted by Rory SmithCarlo and Caipirinhas. An Italian in Brazil. The cultural moment. And what he has left for Xabi in Madrid with @rorysmith.bsky.social and @brewin.bsky.social pod.fo/e/2d51b2
- Reposted by Rory SmithNew Libero. What are the secrets of Bodo/Glimt and can their success be easily emulated? And a look at Liverpool’s title celebration at Anfield. What does it mean for the fans, Arne Slot and FSG? @rorysmith.bsky.social @brewin.bsky.social @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social pod.fo/e/2ce9a4
- Reposted by Rory SmithPSG v Manchester City: who has the better strategy? @rorysmith.bsky.social and @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social on the new episode of Libero.
- Reposted by Rory SmithNew Libero. Talking Paris Saint-Germain and Crystal Palace. How do football clubs represent their local area in an era of homogeneity? @rorysmith.bsky.social @brewin.bsky.social and @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social discuss podfollow.com/1804708562
- Reposted by Rory SmithLibero 006 out now youtu.be/Re46voPYfco
- Are clubs slowly trying to get rid of season ticket holders? Is the Baller League the future? Is it OK that Chelsea sold their women's team to themselves? Episode five of Libero, with @jonathanliew.bsky.social @migueldelaney.bsky.social and @jonawils.bsky.social) podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/l...
- Two debutants on today's Libero: @jackpittbrooke.bsky.social and @jameshorncastle.bsky.social, who would like you to know he speaks Italian. @jonawils.bsky.social and @brewin.bsky.social, too, talking about Trent and treachery, trophies and transfers. podfollow.com/1804708562
- Thanks to the technological expertise of @tariqpanja.bsky.social, hot new podcast Libero (@liberopodcast.bsky.social) is now on the last uncorrupted algorithm in the world podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l...
- Received wisdom has always said that India, the world's most populous country, will never really love football, the world's most popular sport. With massive help from Christian Letourneau, we explored how true that stereotype is. (TL;DR: it isn't, really) www.nytimes.com/athletic/621...
- Had a lot of fun on hot new start-up podcast @liberopodcast.bsky.social, with hot new voices @jonawils.bsky.social and @brewin.bsky.social. We talked about England, jam, Brighton and which nation is the foreignest www.youtube.com/@liberopodca...
