SPAOTP Status Report

Friends, nomads, people who have strayed onto this site after typing the words 'Kenneth Wolstenholme' into Google...

I have something painfully honest to tell you. As your genial host of Some People Are On The Pitch for some time now, I've felt fulfilled, happy and useful all the while I've been serving you, my fine audience.

For a long time it's been a great source of pride for me that I (along with my former co-blogger, Smart) have produced such a regular supply of articles for you to read, despite the fact that their quality or relevance has probably been called into question on more than one occasion.

Sadly, however, the regularity with which those self same articles have been published recently has fallen, and for that reason I feel I owe you an apology. I'd also like to briefly tell you why SPAOTP hasn't been so bountiful in its reading content lately.

Firstly, my life as the father of a 21-month-old daughter has grown increasingly busier as she's grown older, and the result of this has been a reduction in the time I've had to research, write and put together new articles. Not good when you originally started out giving your visitors a new item to read every day, or at worst every other day.

Then there was the undoubted impact that Smart's recent departure had on SPAOTP. It was always reassuring to know that if there were days when I couldn't think of anything to write about or didn't have the time, Smart would chip in to fill the gap and ensure you had something decent to read in my absence.

I also spared you my presence not so long ago when I endured a brief spell of illness and took a hastily-arranged holiday to recharge my proverbial batteries. Unavoidable, perhaps, but as sole proprietor of this humble blog site, it was always going to leave you tapping your watch and wondering when the next article was going to come along.

All of which led me to arrive at a difficult decision in the last couple of weeks - that it would be best to bring Some People Are On The Pitch to an end while I've still got some credibility left.

The thing is, I'm not actually here to announce the end of Some People Are On The Pitch. With an unerring sense of fortuity, I had the great good fortune to run into a couple of people a couple of nights ago who I'm sure will prove to be this blogsite's saviours.

A few week's back, Terry and Graham, better known as Duffman and Sp3ktor (you may have seen their comments on some of my posts) got in touch and asked if I'd like to meet up with them for a drink as a way of saying hello and doing that rarest of things - meeting someone else who runs a blog site in person.

Duffman and Sp3ktor are two of the men behind the incredibly successful website The Onion Bag. When I met them, they were charming, incredibly complimentary of SPAOTP and seemingly shocked at my decision to shut it down within the next few weeks. What ensued was a discussion which led them to make the kindest of offers - to produce articles for Some People Are On The Pitch which, prior to now, have been a part of their two similarly excellent blog sites - Bundesbag and The Tactics Truck.

In so doing, they said I'd be relieved of the pressure to produce regular posts on my own and would in turn ensure the popularity of SPAOTP would continue for a little while longer.

Knowing what a tremendous job they've done of putting together their fantastic collection of websites, I could hardly refuse. It therefore gives me great pleasure to inform you that thanks to the amazing decency and kindness of Duffman and Spkctor, Some People Are On The Pitch remains very much open for business. I've absolutely no doubt that you'll enjoy their writing and be thoroughly amused by their contributions to our site, so please welcome them on board and thank them for giving SPAOTP a lifeline just when it was needed most.

With thanks to them and all of you,
Chris O.