Believe it or not, there’s plenty of quality soccer writing in this country outside the auspicious bounds of WSOTP.  In fact, finding the crème de la crème of American soccer scribes might require you to look outside of the digital realm, and back into the ancient art of print media. And luckily enough for us Americans, we have a new pair of quarterly soccer-only publications here to fulfill that need: Howler and XI. And while having two American print quarterlies might seem a bit redundant, each puts a unique spin on the concept that makes it worth giving each a look.

Howler is more akin to what you might consider a traditional sport-specific magazine — original stories, opinion pieces, photography and art — but just done the right way. Each issue features 112 heavy-stock, 10×12 pages that even the fancy-pants over at New York Magazine were inclined to call both “beautiful” and “brilliant”. And if you want a sneak peek at what they have to offer, be sure to check out their Tumblr blog.

Meanwhile XI, while still offering up top-notch content, goes about it a little more simply and minimalist than it’s competing publication. Each edition is based around a single topic within the world of football — issue one being Americans abroad — and offers up eleven different “insightful, original contributions by people who see soccer not just as a sport but as part of society” on that topic. And as you might expect, they’ve got a Tumblr too.

And they say print is dead.

CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT  |  xiquarterly.com
CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT  |  howlermagazine.com