Who Ate All The Pies

Who Ate All The Pies (WAATP) is a British independent news blog dedicated to covering soccer news, transfer rumors, and highlights with a straightforward, witty, and sarcastic perspective. In addition to all of the aforementioned content, WAATP features “top 10”, “retro” “fail”, “funny” and even “lookalikes” tabs. In all, the diverse and eye-catching content on WAATP makes it a unique and note-worthy soccer blog. Rather than covering recent match highlights and statistics, WAATP is built to be a “one stop shop” for the trivial side of soccer. In this sense, WAATP could be considered to be the “Buzzfeed of soccer.” The blog was founded by Chris Wright and Alan Duffy, and is written and edited by more than ten regular contributors. The blog strictly publishes original work, and celebrates having all its writers available for hire. Since the central requirement for the articles on WAATP is that they provide entertainment value to the soccer community, the editors enjoy the ability to publish new content several times a day. While WAATP mostly covers the English Premier League (EPL) and the Spanish La Liga, it will occasionally discuss other international events. WAATP is accordingly intended for all soccer fans, but those that follow the EPL and La Liga could be particularly more attracted by the content. To this end, while both casual and hardcore fans could enjoy WAATP’s content, readers should not expect detailed coverage on matches, players, tactics or any other component of advanced soccer insight. Instead, they should visit this blog when in search of lighthearted commentary featuring shocking, funny, and impressive highlights that proliferate the soccer universe.

The blog’s name is fittingly inspired by the classic English soccer chant, “who ate all the pies,” which is typically aimed at overweight players, officials, or other supporters. In Britain, it is common tradition for soccer stadiums to sell meat pies before kick-off or at half-time. Since there were not enough pies to meet the high demand of fans on occasion, players that appear overweight would get heckled with the question, “who ate all the pies?” Like the chant, this blog looks to lightheartedly jeer at players, teams, and officials, although bodyweight is by no means criteria. WAATP is likewise inspired by the fan culture of soccer that relentlessly proves its passion and obsession with the sport.

At first sight, it is clear that WAATP is not geared to providing analytics and commentary prevalent in mainstream soccer news. Rather, WAATP utilizes a playful design, vivid photos, and humorous article titles to attract readers. For instance, an article titled “‘I Look in the Mirror and I Like What I See’ – Cristiano Ronaldo Reveals Some Incredibly Unsurprising Things About Himself” mocks the Portuguese superstar for an embarrassingly self-absorbed YouTube interview. While the article itself is short, Wright skillfully picks out some of Ronaldo’s particularly embarrassing quotes. Further, he pairs it with a perfectly appropriate photoshoot of Ronaldo. As controversial a player as Ronaldo is, this article has certainly made its way around soccer followers.

As one would expect, WAATP hopped on the opportunity to cover the infamous “piegate” scandal from January 2017, when Sutton United’s (now former) goalkeeper, Wayne Shaw was charged with involvement in gambling for eating a meat pie during a match, which The Sun offered 8-1 odds on. WAATP published a string of amusing articles, such as “He Ate all the Pies! Sutton Goalkeeper Wayne Shaw Stuffs His Face During Arsenal Clash” and “Get Your Pasty Out! Southampton Fans Serenade Wayne Shaw on Bus Trip to Wembley for EFL Cup Final.” The ridiculous incident underscores the unimaginably bizarre world of soccer, and WAATP proves to be an ideal source for such coverage. The soccer community is comprised of far more than what happens on the pitch. WAATP shines a light on this and provides for a diversion from the obsession over over-analyzed coverage of tactics, injuries, and statistics.

Critics of WAATP might argue that the blog is another source of uncreative “click bait” that spreads trivial and unimportant tidbits of soccer news and gossip. Although this view is certainly valid, it overlooks WAATP’s greater contribution to the sport. By shining light on the characteristically regular absurdities prevalent in the world of soccer, WAATP makes the sport more accessible to fans. Additionally, its coverage gives supporters more content to discuss, ultimately promoting the sport and its place in society. In providing a nonessential, yet unconditionally entertaining domain for the soccer community, WAATP and its editors fill a void commonplace among conventional news sources.” WAATP skillfully combines British wit with football fandom, cumulating in both intelligent and comedic posts that provide a great contribution to the world of soccer.