PitchBeat

Write for PitchBeat

Looking for writers.

PitchBeat covers the football the big outlets overlook — grassroots, the women's game, the data nobody else is digging into, the Premier League seen from the bottom up. If that sounds like the football you live inside, I'd like you to write for it.

What we publish

Original reporting and analysis. The angle nobody else is taking. A piece where the question would never occur to a desk editor at Sky or the BBC, because they don't live inside the grassroots game and you do.

Most pieces run 500–900 words. The voice is calm and precise — Guardian long-form crossed with The Athletic, written by a Sunday-league coach who has read too much. No bullet-point listicles, no “in conclusion”, no “in today's fast-paced world”. One specific scene, one good argument, one clean ending.

Topics we love

  • ›Anything in grassroots — volunteer economy, club admin, recruitment, pitch infrastructure, parents, kits, registrations, money.
  • ›The women's game below the cameras — WSL is fine but the surge is on under-10s pitches.
  • ›Data — anything you can count that nobody else has counted. Five-a-side participation. Sunday-league no-shows. Subs-collection rates.
  • ›Smart, specific takes on the EFL, Premier League, England, transfers — but only if the angle is one a Sky reporter wouldn't reach for.
  • ›Coach diaries, treasurer diaries, secretary diaries — what running a club actually feels like.

What you get

  • ›A real byline — your name at the top of every piece you publish.
  • ›A public author page at /authors/your-name with bio, every piece you've written, and a backlink out to wherever you want — your site, Substack, LinkedIn.
  • ›AI-assisted editing — your draft runs through an AI editorial pass that cleans copy, tightens structure, and flags issues. Turnaround in minutes, not weeks. You keep the final say.
  • ›SEO distribution — every piece gets its own permanent URL, sitemap entry, RSS feed, and Google News indexing. Slow-burn, search-led.
  • ›Full ownership of your work — non-exclusive licence. Republish anywhere, link out, take it with you.

How it works

  1. 01Pitch me a one-line idea (email or LinkedIn). If it fits, you get an invite link.
  2. 02Set up your account on PitchBeat — name, byline, a sentence of bio, a photo if you want one, and the URL you want backlinks pointed at.
  3. 03Write in the editor (markdown). Save drafts as often as you like.
  4. 04Hit Submit for review. An AI editorial pass cleans copy and flags anything dodgy. I give the final yes.
  5. 05Goes live with your byline. You get an email with the link and a one-click share button.

Pitch me

Email hello@pitchbeat.co.uk or use the contact form. One paragraph: who you are, what you'd write, why it's a PitchBeat piece. I reply within 48 hours.