Sunday, July 04, 2010

SPAOTP: Nearly time to go...

With a week to go before the 2010 World Cup comes to an end, it's time to tell you that next Sunday will also, sadly, see the end of Some People Are On The Pitch.

After four years of blogging about football and all its interesting facets, I've decided that the time is right to bring an end to this humble little project of ours.

And I say 'ours' because although I was the one that created this website back in 2006, it's been my great good fortune to share the writing duties over the last two years with a couple of outstanding friends – Terry Duffelen and Graham Sibley. Without them, SPAOTP would have foundered back in the early part of 2008. As it is, they came along at exactly the right time to help reinvent the site and give it a fresh sense of purpose.

The fact that SPAOTP has become a well-known football blog among the many thousands on the web is, I'd like to think, a testament to the efforts each of us have made in writing articles that have gone on to be read by many, many people around the world.

Unfortunately for me, an ever decreasing amount of free time has left me frustratingly unable to write more and do more to improve the popularity of the website. As a husband and father, my life has become ever more busy with the everyday work required just to support my own family. With that in mind, I must concede that there's nothing else I can do to help Some People Are On The Pitch compete against so many excellent football blogs.

I've therefore decided, in consultation with Terry and Graham, to bring an end to SPAOTP on the day of the World Cup Final, one week from today. But before you ask, I won't be strolling off into the sunset never to be seen again. Nor, for that matter, will SPAOTP's flame be completely extinguished.

Terry and Graham have kindly given me the opportunity to contribute on an occasional basis to a new website that's been created called Football Fairground. On it, some old familiar features like the TV Previews, Bundesbag and Football Americana will combine with our other web projects such as The Onion Bag and The Sound of Football to provide a wide range of wonderful content all under one roof.

We hope you like the new site and we hope, too, that you enjoy the final week of Some People Are On The Pitch. The time for handing out thanks and getting all nostalgic will come later, but for now it's back to the blog…

Best wishes,
Chris O.

7 comments:

Rich J (Sofa Soccer) said...

I'll be very sad to see SPAOTP come to an end Chris. Though I only discovered it in the last year, it's been a regular stop off on my internet travels. Not only that, but through SPAOTP, the Sound Of Football Podcast and my correspondence with you, I have been inspired to start blogging myself. Thank you (and Graham and Terry) for many happy hours of reading and listening and I'll carry on doing so with the new fairground and onion bag :)
All the best for the future!

Dame of Extra Time said...

Very sad to see one of the first football blogs I ever started reading come to an end. Thanks for all the great posts over the years.

Chris O said...

Thanks Capt. Very nice words indeed, and it'll be great to have your continued support in the future too.

Thanks also Dame! Nice to know you found our posts enjoyable. Keep up the good work, by the way! :)

P Shaw said...

Going to be hard to see the first football blog I read go after four great years. This blog introduced me to all the others I now go on: the onion bag, epltalk, just-football etc...

There has been great blogs on here, not least the Friday List Of Little Or No Consequence, Seven shades of, League Of The Week & the great blogs on kits past and present. It has also been great to listen to the Podcasts you regualarly put out.

All good things must come to an end, good luck with your future, I've really enjoyed your regular musings and I hope to take up regualr blogging myself thanks to this blog. Well done lads.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris & Co.
Really sad to see that this very complete blog about football is going to stop. As you know, Chris, I am not a big football fan but you don't have to be in order to appreciate when a blog is good, with lots of time and energy invested on it.
well done for the good work during this years and the only positive bit I can mention is that from now on you'll have more time to look into my weird blog!! Great! Coffee Tambourine.

Teena in Toronto said...

You're leaving on your blogoversary!

Happy blogoversary :)

Chris O said...

Thank you, P. Your support over the years has not gone unnoticed and has always been greatly welcomed. :)

CT - I will indeed be able to visit your blog more often now! Thanks for your kind words old friend... :)

And thanks for the blogoversary wishes, Teena... :)

We Love SPAOTP!

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