After I (Sam) left my creative job working with some of the biggest names in football, including Nike and adidas, to move into corporate life, I missed that connection with the game.
I’m a trustee at the National Football Museum and, after being asked to contribute to conversations about football culture and women’s sport on radio and TV, the idea for Nutmeg Salad was formed.
Ross, a lifelong Man Utd season ticket holder, is a musician, songwriter, photographer and festival director.
He has spent the last 20+ years as a recording artist, playing gigs around the world with Sunderland band The Futureheads, and watching as much football as he can along the way, and seemed like the perfect person to partner with.
Especially since we live in the same house…
Nutmeg Salad isn’t about match reports, transfer rumours or breaking news. There are plenty of others who do that much better than we could. Instead, we’re interested in the culture, mythology, design and traditions that make football magic.
We write about what we think is interesting, entertaining or just plain weird about football culture: music, art, fashion, food, rituals and rivalries.
From European ground hopping to Sunday-league. From high-art through to fashion and music - anywhere that football intersects with popular culture.
We don’t take ourselves too seriously and, for a sport that’s responsible for so much heartbreak, want to look at the joyful, funny and totally bonkers parts of the game. That’s why our tagline is ‘there’s more to football than football.’
Every weekend we publish an article written by one of us about our experiences, opinions and observations about football culture. We also share ‘Good Stuff’ - a round up of the best of football culture that week, from books to kits and merch to art.
It doesn’t matter if readers are lifelong season ticket holders or have never been to a match.
Nutmeg Salad is for people who are curious about the creativity and culture surrounding football and are just as interested in what’s going on off the pitch as on it.
Our content is for anyone who has ever felt something when it comes to football. Even if that feeling is often gut-wrenching disappointment…
We’d love Nutmeg Salad to grow and build a real community of likeminded football fanatics who can share their love of everything from their best vintage eBay football merch purchase to why women’s football fandom doesn’t need to copy the blueprint of the men’s game.
We’re planning on adding other voices into the mix too with interviews and guest articles from interesting people in and around the sport.
We’d love to eventually do some meet ups and events - maybe even a Nutmeg Salad five-a-side football tournament.
You can sign up to Nutmeg Salad here.
Thanks so much for letting us take over this week’s column, Sam. We really appreciate it! 🙏