About Theball
Stories worth
looking twice at.
Theball is an independent football publication exploring fictional stories, unusual ideas, satirical investigations, observations, and the occasional complete absurdity.
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What is Theball?
Theball is an independent football publication created to experiment with storytelling, satire, parody, and commentary about the world surrounding the beautiful game.
Our stories explore football culture, clubs, players, money, power, politics, media, and the many strange things that happen around the sport. Some ideas are inspired by real-world conversations and circumstances; others begin with an entirely imaginary premise.
The common thread is simple: we want to make things that are interesting enough to stop you scrolling, make you think, or make you laugh.
A note on our stories
Fiction inspired by the real world.
All fictional stories, characters, scenarios, and investigations published by Theball are works of imagination created for entertainment, satire, parody, or commentary. They should not be interpreted as factual reporting or evidence that an alleged event actually occurred.
Our fiction may draw inspiration from real-world football clubs, players, managers, public figures, organisations, events, controversies, statements, and broader social or political circumstances. Such references may be exaggerated, reimagined, combined with invented details, or used to make a satirical point.
A recognisable name, resemblance, setting, or real-world reference does not mean that a fictional scenario is accurate or that the people or organisations mentioned participated in the events described. Any invented dialogue, allegations, evidence, documents, or investigative narratives are part of the fictional work unless explicitly identified and substantiated as factual.
Any resemblance to actual events or circumstances beyond the specific references intended for satire or commentary may be coincidental. Readers should consider the article's context and any accompanying satire or fiction notice before drawing conclusions.
Not everything needs to be important.
It just needs to be worth reading.
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Investigation Pieces
Fictional investigations written in the style of serious journalism. They may explore strange events, suspicious circumstances, invented evidence, questionable motives, or scenarios that sound almost believable.
These are creative works, not reports of actual investigations. Real-world references may be used for satire, parody, or commentary.
Read Investigation Pieces →03
Case Files
Ongoing fictional investigations told across multiple articles. Each case develops over time, introducing new characters, invented evidence, unexpected twists, and occasionally more questions than answers.
Case Files form part of Theball's fictional storytelling universe. They should not be treated as real investigations, verified allegations, or factual accounts.
Open the Case Files →04 · Editorial approach
Serious when it needs to be.
Ridiculous when it should be.
Theball explores the space between football commentary, cultural observation, fictional storytelling, and satire. We use humour, exaggeration, and imaginary scenarios to examine the sport and the world around it.
Our work may reference real-world events and public figures, but a real-world reference does not make the surrounding fictional narrative factual. Invented dialogue, scenarios, characters, and investigative details should be understood in that context.
We aim to make the nature of our fictional and satirical content clear to readers. Where a piece is presented as factual commentary or reporting, readers should distinguish verifiable claims from opinion, interpretation, and humour.
An independent football publication for stories, ideas, fictional investigations, satire, and things that probably should not have happened.