About On The Terraces
This is a website about football history, heritage, nostalgia, and culture from across the globe.
Don't worry, I know what you are thinking. I'm probably thinking the same thing myself.
Namely, oh God, not another middle-aged man talking about football from back in his day, and his dad's day, AND his grandad's day. That's just what the internet has been crying out for.
And you'd be right, but I'm going to do it anyway and here's why.
About twenty years ago I found myself wanting to scratch a particular itch to be a football writer. I had opinions, occasional good ones, many not so good, and I wanted a way to get those out into the world. So I started a blog, as was the new custom at the time.
And it grew, and other people joined and wrote about football alongside me, and all was good. Then I got greedy and took on some paid football writing jobs, like being a World Soccer Editor on About.com for the New York Times Company and then it became a job. The fun departed, the money wasn't worth it, and I hung up my boots and left the "industry". (Read about it all in my article "I Want To Be A Football Writer When I Grow Up")
After that I drifted like a washed up 1970s superstar from gig to gig, forum to forum, social media site to social media site, trying to find a reason to ever sit down and write about football again.
More recently I've been getting more of a buzz from football nostalgia, reading newsletters and listening to podcasts that look back at days gone by, the stories, the players, the clubs, the history that made football the most loved sport in the world.
And I realised that's where I want to get involved again.
I'll follow the latest transfer gossip as much as the next modern fan. I'll watch the games on TV and spend a fortune flying the family to London to go to a world class arena to watch the Premier League. But I don't want to write about it too much.
I want to explore the history and the myths, not the latest media-trained-to-within-an-inch-of-their-lives utterings from today's players and coaches. The future isn't written yet, but maybe there's a lot more we can find out and enjoy about the past to help us remember why we fell in love with this infuriating game in the first place.
I'm Alan, welcome to On The Terraces.
Who am I?
My name is Alan Hylands. I'm a football fan and writer from Northern Ireland. I have been a World Soccer editor for About.com and The New York Times Company, and have contributed to several other football websites over the years.
You can contact me by:
- email (alan AT alanhylands DOT com)
- or on Bluesky