Before I read The Green Soccer Journal, I couldn't envisage a football-centered magazine that combined the laddish sport with creativity and style. Perhaps that's because it didn't really exist. This gap in the market inspired Adam Towle and James Roper to create a new kind of magazine: one for the footie fanatic who appreciates not only sports, but style and luxury, too. I spoke to Adam and James about their latest issue to find out how they integrated creativity into sports news, why they chose Arsenal and German National forward Lukas Podolski for the cover, and their predictions for the upcoming World Cup.
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Eloise Moran: What can we expect from issue six of The Green Soccer Journal?
Adam Towle: Issue six is the first installment of our new quarterly format, which includes an assortment of exclusive interviews with players and personalities as well as the introduction of short illustrated pieces by a selection of renowned contributors. Our cover shoot with Lukas Podolski and [photographer] Mel Bles was a really great experience and Lukas was a pleasure to work with. We also created a video interview with him for the first time, where you really get an insight into his personality and obsession with the word 'power'!
In addition to our high profile players, including Edin Džeko of Manchester City, we also like to explore the rest of the football league and traveled to Notts County where we scouted their reserve goalkeeper for our collections feature with [photographer] Devin Blair and [stylist] Stephen Mann. By producing the magazine four times a year, we hope to become more active around the football calendar and generate more opportunities to work with players, clubs, and brands.
What initially gave you the idea to start the magazine?
AT: There was no real strategy behind the decision. It was simply a case of creating something that we didn't feel existed. Both of us studied fashion and design at university and have always been surrounded by magazines, but at the time there wasn't anything that represented football in the way that fashion, art, business, and music tend to be portrayed. And for the most popular sport in the world, we thought we would have a go ourselves. It was a passion project that quickly evolved into a full-time occupation and we haven't looked back since.
How is GSJ different from your average football mag?
AT: Most football titles tend to have a certain formula of stats, infographics, sports and product photography, and big headlines. We wanted to strip this back and create something more timeless and engaging. We treat every feature with a lot of care and attention, which sometimes seems like a big ask when working with footballers and agents, but when they see the results it's always worth the effort.
Access to the athletes is very tricky, which is why most football magazines tend to use the PR material supplied to them. Players only have a certain amount of appearances a year and these interviews are either exclusive or the content is shared across an assortment of magazines and newspapers. All of our interviews are exclusive to GSJ, which has always been the way we have worked and we have to pass a lot of things up. However, this is why our content always appears different from other sports titles and we are very passionate about creating something unique, which our readers appreciate.
How do you integrate creativity into the magazine?
AT: This is something we have conversations about on a daily basis. There are only
Shop the Green Soccer Journal at OC London
Eloise Moran: What can we expect from issue six of The Green Soccer Journal?
Adam Towle: Issue six is the first installment of our new quarterly format, which includes an assortment of exclusive interviews with players and personalities as well as the introduction of short illustrated pieces by a selection of renowned contributors. Our cover shoot with Lukas Podolski and [photographer] Mel Bles was a really great experience and Lukas was a pleasure to work with. We also created a video interview with him for the first time, where you really get an insight into his personality and obsession with the word 'power'!
In addition to our high profile players, including Edin Džeko of Manchester City, we also like to explore the rest of the football league and traveled to Notts County where we scouted their reserve goalkeeper for our collections feature with [photographer] Devin Blair and [stylist] Stephen Mann. By producing the magazine four times a year, we hope to become more active around the football calendar and generate more opportunities to work with players, clubs, and brands.
What initially gave you the idea to start the magazine?
AT: There was no real strategy behind the decision. It was simply a case of creating something that we didn't feel existed. Both of us studied fashion and design at university and have always been surrounded by magazines, but at the time there wasn't anything that represented football in the way that fashion, art, business, and music tend to be portrayed. And for the most popular sport in the world, we thought we would have a go ourselves. It was a passion project that quickly evolved into a full-time occupation and we haven't looked back since.
How is GSJ different from your average football mag?
AT: Most football titles tend to have a certain formula of stats, infographics, sports and product photography, and big headlines. We wanted to strip this back and create something more timeless and engaging. We treat every feature with a lot of care and attention, which sometimes seems like a big ask when working with footballers and agents, but when they see the results it's always worth the effort.
Access to the athletes is very tricky, which is why most football magazines tend to use the PR material supplied to them. Players only have a certain amount of appearances a year and these interviews are either exclusive or the content is shared across an assortment of magazines and newspapers. All of our interviews are exclusive to GSJ, which has always been the way we have worked and we have to pass a lot of things up. However, this is why our content always appears different from other sports titles and we are very passionate about creating something unique, which our readers appreciate.
How do you integrate creativity into the magazine?
AT: This is something we have conversations about on a daily basis. There are only