Over the last twelve months the articles I’ve written on this Substack have been read more than 500,000 times.
Half a million reads.
Half a million moments where someone stopped scrolling and decided to read about football.
Not just the results.
Not just the transfer rumours.
But the soul of the game.
Supporters.
Communities.
Culture.
That tells me something important.
There are thousands of people who believe football should still belong to the people who built it.
And that belief matters.
Because the relationship between football clubs and their supporters has been slowly weakening for years.
Rebuilding that relationship may be the most important challenge the game faces.
Why This Substack Exists
For the last year I’ve been writing about football from a slightly different perspective.
Not just what is happening.
But why it is happening.
Why clubs make the decisions they do.
Why supporters often feel disconnected from the institutions they love.
Why the culture of football matters just as much as the business of football.
The response has been extraordinary.
But writing alone is not enough.
The next stage is about building something around these ideas.
A community.
A place where supporters and football people can talk honestly about the future of the game.
The First Person Who Stepped Forward
Every project begins with someone willing to go first.
Today that person was Dom Hanrahan.
Dom just became the first paid supporter of this Substack.
He didn’t have to.
He chose to.
And early belief like that matters more than most people realise.
Because the people who join now will be the people who helped shape this from the beginning.
Inside Football — What You Don’t See
One of the things I’ll be doing on the paid side of this Substack is commenting on emerging stories inside football.
Not as a journalist chasing headlines.
But from the perspective of someone who spent nearly ten years working inside the football industry, involved in negotiations, player representation and the kind of conversations supporters rarely see.
Too much football coverage focuses on rumours.
But the real story is usually under the surface.
Why clubs sign certain players.
Why deals collapse.
Why owners behave the way they do.
Why supporters are sometimes the last people to understand what is really happening inside their clubs.
Inside the paid community I’ll be looking under the hood of football decisions and explaining how the industry really works.
Because once you understand the mechanics of football, the headlines start to make a lot more sense.
The Chief Supporter Officer Idea
I’m also currently developing something I believe football desperately needs.
A framework around a role called the Chief Supporter Officer.
A senior role inside football clubs responsible for protecting the relationship between the club and its supporters.
Not marketing.
Not PR.
Real representation.
Football clubs are not just businesses.
They are cultural institutions built by communities.
And supporters deserve a voice inside the institutions they built.
I’ll be developing this framework openly with paid members.
Building a Community Around Football
This won’t stop with writing.
The plan is to build a real community around these ideas.
Podcasts.
Live conversations.
And small tour events where supporters can meet, talk football and share ideas about the future of the game.
Not corporate conferences.
Just rooms full of people who care about football.
Because sometimes you don’t need a stadium or a television broadcast.
You just need to sit with people who understand what the game means.
And that kind of community is good for the soul.
Founding Members
Dom Hanrahan is Founding Member No.1.
The first 200 paid members will become founding members of this community.
The people who were here when this was still just an idea.
Not when it became fashionable.
When it was just beginning.
If You’ve Been Reading
If you’ve been reading these articles over the past year and believe the relationship between football clubs and supporters needs rebuilding, consider becoming a paid member.
It helps support the writing.
It helps develop the ideas.
And it helps build a community around people who care deeply about the future of the game.
The writing will continue either way.
But the real conversation is just beginning.
Scott “Matchmaker” Michaels