The global soccer scene is far too expansive to be adequately covered by any one website. But part of what we think makes SB Nation great is that we have more than 50 blogs and communities covering various teams all around the globe. This is a collection of some of the best and most interesting stuff those sites created in 2015:
- The 2015/16 Premier League season preview from We Ain't Got No History's was truly something to behold. It was not only one of the best things our blogs produced this year, but it's surely among the most impressive projects ever created by a SBN team blog.
- This was probably the most heart-warming thing we did: First, there was The Short Fuse community rallying behind site manager Thomas Wachtel to help raise half of his $5,000 medical bill. But what was truly amazing was Cartilage Free Captain's community stepping in to help raise the other half. You can read about that here.
- Which brings us to the second part of this great story: CFC got to "take over" The Short Fuse for a day. The result was some really great content that was fun, especially if you have a vested interest in the North London Derby.
- Of course, CFC doing something fun and popular was hardly surprising. This bit about the new kit being some kind of Illuminati message was a wonderful example of a blog reveling in its tone and voice. And, yet, it still had time for some truly groundbreaking statistical analysis.
- One of our Barcelona bloggers got to experience what it was like to train at La Masia.
- It only lasted one episode, but the production value of The Mane Land's attempt at a video show was impressive.
- Hudson River Blue's explainer on Jason Kreis being fired by New York City FC was a great read and a real service to its readers. It also was at the forefront of calling out the police treatment of NYCFC fans.
- Being an Aston Villa fan is hard, something 7500 to Holte has talked about at length over the past two years (for instance, this collection of Aston Villa anagrams). But they continue to put out wonderful content and this story looking at the history of the poppy was particularly impressive.
- Speaking of covering bad teams, this story debunking the myth that relegation would be good for Newcastle was a near-perfect example of the kind of tone SB Nation has become known for: straightforward, passionate and informative.
- Of course, sometimes teams that start poorly manage to turn things around. That was the case with Napoli this season, and The Siren's Song broke down how their defense lead their charge up to briefly holding first place in Serie A this fall.
- We launched two new blogs this year -- Dirty South Soccer (Atlanta United) and Into the Calderon (Atlético Madrid). They've both hit the ground running, but DSS's ability to snag an interview with Atlanta United's team president was a great example of our growing influence in the soccer world.
- Proving that blogs can break news as well as anyone, Black and Red United was the first to get their hands on the new D.C. United badge.
- More great reporting: Once a Metro's coverage of the "Rainbow Connection" and digging into questionable training compensation issues.
- Our Fiorentina blogger scored an interview with a club legend and shared the experience with his father.
- Liverpool Offside called out some of the inherit racism in forcing a hair clause into Mario Balotelli's contract at AC Milan.
- Managing Madrid shown a light on a supporters group that's trying to combat racism at the Bernabeu with this interview.
- Our blogs have been among the leaders in dispelling this idea of "bloggers in their basement," something that was exemplified by Dynamo Theory's oral history of Houston's championship runs.
- The Bent Musket did something similar in looking back at the 2007 U.S. Open Cup title.
- Of course, there's nothing wrong with some good ol' fashioned blogging either, something exemplified by Chiesa Di Totti marveling at their namesake's continued effectiveness.
- Bavarian Football Work gave Bastian Schweinsteiger the farewell he deserved.
- Lion of Vienna Suite has done a great job covering the club's financial troubles, and this story exemplifies the frustrations as well as any.
- Sounder at Heart did a great job of event coverage, dubbing the infamous U.S. Open Cup match against the Timbers the "Red Card Wedding." The coverage was perhaps best exemplified by their story effectively calling Clint Dempsey "their asshole."
- Brotherly Game continued to update their exhaustive attempt to determine the top 500 teams in North America, and their coverage of MLS Homegrown Player rules was a useful tool for any fan of the league.
* * *
There are currently 53 SB Nation soccer blogs, and they wrote nearly 45,000 stories in 2015. This collection of stories merely scratches the surface of what they did and in 2016 compiling this list will likely be even harder.