Once again,  is here to provide a healthy dose of cerebral, engaging football writing, a cut above the standard lean fare available to the discerning reader (we hope but also believe). It’s been a real pleasure of mine to be part of Mark Godfrey’s magazine, based on his excellent site, for most of the ten issues published thus far.

Issue 10 tackles a wide variety of topics, governed by the theme of the Ten Commandments.

I have looked at not taking the Lord’s name in vain, and written about my favourite footballer ever, Matt Le Tissier. Here is an excerpt:

“Matthew Henry was not a Puritan, but he was a Non-Conformist and would have been a Puritan but for being born around 100 years too late. Henry was a theologian and minister who wrote an extensive, exhaustive even, commentary on the Bible in six volumes. He called it Commentary on the Whole Bible, just in case there was any room for doubting the serious and all-encompassing nature of his work. In his exposition of Exodus 20:7, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (KJV), Henry states that “the third commandment concerns the manner of our worship, that it be done with all possible reverence and seriousness.” Henry cites five ways of breaking this third of The Ten Commandments: hypocritically professing God’s name but not living up to that profession; breaking an oath sworn on God’s name; making such oaths rashly; making false oaths; and using God’s name “lightly or carelessly, without any regard to its awful significancy.” Henry goes on: “The profanation of the forms of devotion is forbidden, as well as the profanation of the forms of swearing; as also the profanation of any of those things whereby God makes himself known, his word, or any of his institutions; when they are either turned into charms and spells, or into jest and sport, the name of God is taken in vain.”

Which brings us to Matthew Le Tissier.

Because everyone knows, or ought to, that Matthew Le Tissier is Le God…At Southampton, he was, and still is, adored. The Dell was his temple, the terrace chants his liturgy. He is arguably the most famous one-club man after Steven Gerrard in the Premier League era, his loyalty possibly bolstered by the comforts of familiar surroundings, but certainly unswerving and rightly celebrated.”

The whole piece, and nine other themed articles and a look at football in Israel and Palestine, can be found in the magazine, which is also full of superb and unqiue artwork. The illustration for my Le Tissier piece is by , whose Behance site is well worth a visit too.

You can buy  and you should. Because it’s ace and, in some ways more importantly, it’s independent and written by people who are passionate about bringing a different style of football writing to you, something more thought-provoking, more challenging, and, ultimately, more satisfying, than the usual click-bait rubbish. I hope you enjoy…