Back Of The Net: more fine football things we've found online by Aaron› 14 Sep 2012

Another week, another Back Of The Net post, the first time in quite a long time that we've been able to rustle up such regular reportage. Perhaps its the amount of quality bits of football-related paraphernalia we've been able to dig up. Or, perhaps it's just the fact that it's raining outside so we can't just skip off for a game of football. Either way, enjoy this rare double header while it's here!

We start this week by looking ahead to this weekend's action, and the return of domestic football after the international break. The top flight season has had a bit of a stop-start nature so far, with the transfer window closing just before the last round of fixtures and only kicking back into life tomorrow, but we're all ready to get back up and running this weekend. Some players will be raring to go more than others, particularly those who moved to a new club before the window closed, but are yet to kick a ball in anger for their new teams. The Guardian have picked out six players who could make their debuts this weekend, and the reasons why they could be worth keeping an eye on, underlining once again the sheer amount of stories you can pick out of a single football game.

The stories you can pick out of a whole football season are almost impossible to measure, but what if you tried to make a piece of music out of it? That's the unusual idea behind the absurdly ambitious project from an infographic site called The Bootiful Game. Assigning each team in the Premier League a different musical note which sounds every time they scored a goal over the season, the guys behind this blog have created a truly unique piece of music. The soothing ambience of the music is at odds with the drama it soundtracks, but the variety of tones and textures really does give a flavour of the various ups and downs experienced by each club. You can listen to it here.

From the sublime to the ridiculous in one easy step, with another Tumblr page we've stumbled upon this week. Another very literal title for this one as well, as we salute the surreal world of Awkward Photos From Football Photo Shoots . The pic from that infamous Blackburn Rovers video that we feature at the top of the page is actually one of the most natural looking on the site, especially compared to 'Zinedine Zidance laughs at a cake' and 'Malcolm MacDonald laughs at a beauty show contestant', while there's more pictures of Gary Lineker in daft outfits than anyone could ever need - take a look here.

A few of those photos are excellent evidence for the claim that football in the past wasn't all it's sometimes cracked up to be, and nostalgia can get the better of us. That's definitely the case with this excellent post from The Football Attic, which digs up some of the worst bits of tat you could buy to sit alongside your Subbuteo kit. The game itself is undoubtedly an essential piece of football's history, but floodlights and specialist throw-in takers that couldn't really throw the ball? Not so much.

Finally this week, there's an excellent article up on True Colours Football Kits that delves into a question we get asked quite often - when it comes to football kits, what constitutes a clash? Why do teams sometimes wear an away kit or even a third kit, when their traditional home colours will do? True Colours dig under the surface and discover that, more often than not, the decision isn't with the clubs. For anyone with a keen interest in this side question, there's an interest debate going on in the comments as well.

That should all be enough to distract you for another few hours at least before the weekend kicks in - if you spot anything online that you think deserves to be in a future Back Of The Net, be sure to drop us a line!

Category:
Football Stories