The Athletic

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:23 pm

This is an American sports website that has recently launched in the UK. People have probably noticed it as they've signed up a lot of big names in terms of UK sports journalism.

I signed up on a trial subscription and I've got to say it's not bad. They actually have a specific Burnley journalist and he's done some decent articles. There's not much in the way of standard match reports and transfer gossip but some interesting analysis pieces on how we play and background pieces on some of the players like Pope and Barnes that have a bit more than the usual fluff.

Also plenty of articles with our ex-players like Blake, Branch, Duff, etc. and some good articles on other teams and other sports.

It's not for everyone and obviously isn't free but for the price I'm quite enjoying it.

(This does read a bit like an advert but I'm not associated with it in any way, just thought people may appreciate a heads up.)

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:28 pm

The Burnley correspondent is a Liverpool fan who has just graduated - it's his first job. Remarkable really given they've been signing up a lot of well known local journalists to cover specific clubs - such as Phil Hay (Leeds), Paul Taylor (Nottm Forest), Andy Naylor (Brighton) etc.

There are some national UK journalists who are scoffing and say it won't last but it has attracted the likes of Oliver Kay and Jack Pitt-Brook while Daniel Taylor is on his way at some point.

Royboyclaret · Post by **Royboyclaret** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:39 pm

Pretty certain Chester Perry has linked a couple of the articles on the Magic Money Tree thread.

Local cricketer · Post by **Local cricketer** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:53 pm

ClaretTony wrote:The Burnley correspondent is a Liverpool fan who has just graduated - it's his first job. Remarkable really given they've been signing up a lot of well known local journalists to cover specific clubs - such as Phil Hay (Leeds), Paul Taylor (Nottm Forest), Andy Naylor (Brighton) etc.

There are some national UK journalists who are scoffing and say it won't last but it has attracted the likes of Oliver Kay and Jack Pitt-Brook while Daniel Taylor is on his way at some point.

Did Bodes not get a invite?

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 3:03 pm

Royboyclaret wrote:Pretty certain Chester Perry has linked a couple of the articles on the Magic Money Tree thread.

If he has you won’t be able to read them without a subscription

Chester Perry · Post by **Chester Perry** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 3:06 pm

ClaretTony wrote:If he has you won’t be able to read them without a subscription

they were free to view - none are now unless it is the first article by the writer - which is usually a promotion of what they are hoping to achieve

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 4:41 pm

Yes, I was a bit concerned by it being a fairly rookie writer with no real Burnley connection and I suspect they haven't got much in the way of contacts at the club but they seem to be putting the effort in. The articles on Barnes and Pope for instance had plenty of quotes from ex-managers and the like and the ex-player ones are quite extensive.

There are a lot of good articles on business in American sports, not so many of the same calibre for UK sports yet though.

Tricky Trevor · Post by **Tricky Trevor** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:51 pm

Don’t think much of their research if they had to turn to a Liverpool fan to cover us.
I could have put a name forward. He’s sort of retired but can’t stop writing and knows his Clarets inside out.

thatdberight · Post by **thatdberight** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:54 pm

Tricky Trevor wrote:Don’t think much of their research if they had to turn to a Liverpool fan to cover us.
I could have put a name forward. He’s sort of retired but can’t stop writing and knows his Clarets inside out.

Maybe they were looking for journalists, not fans.

JohnDearyMe · Post by **JohnDearyMe** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:56 pm

ClaretTony wrote:The Burnley correspondent is a Liverpool fan who has just graduated - it's his first job. Remarkable really given they've been signing up a lot of well known local journalists to cover specific clubs - such as Phil Hay (Leeds), Paul Taylor (Nottm Forest), Andy Naylor (Brighton) etc.

There are some national UK journalists who are scoffing and say it won't last but it has attracted the likes of Oliver Kay and Jack Pitt-Brook while Daniel Taylor is on his way at some point.

According to Private Eye they've blown a lot of national newspapers out of the water with the salaries they are offering

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 7:33 pm

JohnDearyMe wrote:According to Private Eye they've blown a lot of national newspapers out of the water with the salaries they are offering

Out of the water and some more I believe. That’s how they’ve been able to recruit the likes of Oliver Kay from The Times.

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:05 pm

Tricky Trevor wrote:Don’t think much of their research if they had to turn to a Liverpool fan to cover us.
I could have put a name forward. He’s sort of retired but can’t stop writing and knows his Clarets inside out.

Personally I wouldn't particularly want a Burnley fan covering us, I prefer a bit more of an objective view. I find ClaretsPlayer commentary pretty much unlistenable to for instance as it's so biased.

SGr · Post by **SGr** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 8:14 pm

Naylor is a Stoke City supporter yet has covered BHA for years. Can't say I'm bothered who does the coverage for us as long as it is objective and well written.

Swizzlestick · Post by **Swizzlestick** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 9:06 pm

And Phil Hay, whose covered Leeds for as long I can remember, is a Hearts fan.

tarkys_ears · Post by **tarkys_ears** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 9:22 pm

When Barstool gets here give me a nudge

Hipper · Post by **Hipper** » Thu Sep 26, 2019 9:51 pm

Is Peter Higgs still active?

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 9:39 am

SGr wrote:Naylor is a Stoke City supporter yet has covered BHA for years. Can't say I'm bothered who does the coverage for us as long as it is objective and well written.

He is a Stoke fan. My only gripe with Naylor was his fuelling of the Bong/Rodriguez story.

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 9:41 am

Hipper wrote:Is Peter Higgs still active?

Retired now - haven't seen him for a while either. Last time I saw him was at White Hart Lane for a Premier League game. Peter's a Reading fan and I think he'd moved back down there and had a season ticket at Reading. Top bloke and superb writer.

williamjblazkowicz · Post by **williamjblazkowicz** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:19 pm

Hadn't heard of it before but sounds interesting as I'm interested in NFL as well as football/Burnley related stuff. I see there's a 7-day free trial so I'll give it a go, thanks.

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:39 pm

There's a lot of NFL stuff on there. I'm not that interested in the sport itself but I'm quite interested in the business around it and have read some interesting stuff on things like gambling and alcohol at college football.

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 1:06 pm

I signed up to The Athletic after aggi's recommendation and, I have to say, it's fantastic. I was only going to do the free trial to have a nosey, especially with all the free content around, but I'm now going to pay the annual fee.

This link will get you 40% off https://theathletic.co.uk/checkout?pc=r ... by=3163973" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Clarets4me · Post by **Clarets4me** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 4:57 pm

Signed up a couple of weeks ago, it's excellent ..

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 5:00 pm

Fretters wrote:I signed up to The Athletic after aggi's recommendation and, I have to say, it's fantastic. I was only going to do the free trial to have a nosey, especially with all the free content around, but I'm now going to pay the annual fee.

This link will get you 40% off https://theathletic.co.uk/checkout?pc=r ... by=3163973" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They are still doing 50% off

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 5:12 pm

How many reports on Burnley are there per week?

aggi · Post by **aggi** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 5:30 pm

FactualFrank wrote:How many reports on Burnley are there per week?

I'd say probably three that are specifically about Burnley/players (past and present) and then another couple that touch on us, for instance an article on Hart or Premier League generally or something.

There's not much in terms of conventional match reports, transfer gossip, etc. For instance the last few were an article on Chris Wood focusing on his early days in NZ, an article on not keeping clean sheets away from home and a profile/interview with Duff.

williamjblazkowicz · Post by **williamjblazkowicz** » Tue Oct 01, 2019 6:25 pm

I also signed up the other day having seen this thread and have found the quality of the content to be very good. In terms of Burnley, some interesting articles on past and present players including Robbie Blake, Michael Duff, Chris Wood and Joe Hart. Obviously loads of other content on other PL teams and wider issues in football. If you're into any American sports such as NFL or NBA, there's loads of good stuff there too.

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:20 pm

ClaretTony wrote:They are still doing 50% off

Ignore my link then, that's a bit odd!

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:25 pm

Fretters wrote:Ignore my link then, that's a bit odd!

It keeps switching between 25% and 50% with an occasional 40%

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 1:37 pm

ClaretTony wrote:It keeps switching between 25% and 50% with an occasional 40%

Seems to be 20% off if you sign up annually at the moment - https://theathletic.co.uk/checkout/?plan_id=45&pc=def20" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Wed Oct 02, 2019 2:10 pm

Still 50% offers all over social media or were yesterday

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 8:44 am

I naively signed up to a week’s free trial, unaware that at the end of the week I would be billed automatically for £60 for a FULL YEAR. I paid via PayPal to the Apple App Store.
Tried requesting a refund from Apple which was turned down automatically. Really stumped as to what to do next.
Pretty annoying, there’s no forewarning that you are about to be billed, and it’s so easy to click YES on something when it’s portrayed as being free.
Any advice as to what to do next would be really appreciated.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 9:44 am

All sorted!
Eventually got through to Apple and managed to talk to someone on the phone. They agreed to a full refund.

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 10:48 am

chekhov wrote:I naively signed up to a week’s free trial, unaware that at the end of the week I would be billed automatically for £60 for a FULL YEAR. I paid via PayPal to the Apple App Store.
Tried requesting a refund from Apple which was turned down automatically. Really stumped as to what to do next.
Pretty annoying, there’s no forewarning that you are about to be billed, and it’s so easy to click YES on something when it’s portrayed as being free.
Any advice as to what to do next would be really appreciated.

I hate to say this but I thought they made it perfectly clear that I'd be billed after my trial. Still, glad you're sorted!

Quickenthetempo · Post by **Quickenthetempo** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 10:58 am

Fretters wrote:I hate to say this but I thought they made it perfectly clear that I'd be billed after my trial. Still, glad you're sorted!

Then it's not a trial then is it? It's a free week with a years subscription.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 11:37 am

Quickenthetempo wrote:Then it's not a trial then is it? It's a free week with a years subscription.

Yes it’s clearly a tactic to get people to sign up unwittingly. Otherwise they wouldn’t do it like this.

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 11:46 am

Quickenthetempo wrote:Then it's not a trial then is it? It's a free week with a years subscription.

No, it would be that if you paid up front and got 53 weeks for the price of 52. You get your free week before the money comes out (yes, you have to remember the cancel but that's pretty standard these days).

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 12:15 pm

chekhov wrote:I naively signed up to a week’s free trial, unaware that at the end of the week I would be billed automatically for £60 for a FULL YEAR. I paid via PayPal to the Apple App Store.
Tried requesting a refund from Apple which was turned down automatically. Really stumped as to what to do next.
Pretty annoying, there’s no forewarning that you are about to be billed, and it’s so easy to click YES on something when it’s portrayed as being free.
Any advice as to what to do next would be really appreciated.

If a site wants payment details for a trial, it's pretty much always so they can do the above.

I would file a dispute in your Paypal account, it's worth a try. Tell them you didn't feel it was clear enough that money would be taken out, and certainly not for a full year.

Quickenthetempo · Post by **Quickenthetempo** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 1:05 pm

Fretters wrote:No, it would be that if you paid up front and got 53 weeks for the price of 52. You get your free week before the money comes out (yes, you have to remember the cancel but that's pretty standard these days).

If you read his post he writes as if it hasn't come to the end of the week, therefore hasn't forgotten to cancel.

But he will get charged anyway.

That's the devil in the detail.

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:25 pm

Quickenthetempo wrote:If you read his post he writes as if it hasn't come to the end of the week, therefore hasn't forgotten to cancel.

But he will get charged anyway.

That's the devil in the detail.

If he was charged before the end of the week then yeah, that's wrong. My payment was taken today, a week after I started my trial.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:29 pm

Quickenthetempo wrote:If you read his post he writes as if it hasn't come to the end of the week, therefore hasn't forgotten to cancel.

Not to me. It reads "unaware that at the end of the week I would be billed automatically for £60 for a FULL YEAR" suggesting he'd come to the end of the week, only just realised he'd be billed for a full year and was miffed after it left his account.

Dyched · Post by **Dyched** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:32 pm

Fretters wrote:If he was charged before the end of the week then yeah, that's wrong. My payment was taken today, a week after I started my trial.

That’s normal.

If you ever get a free trial with anything be it Spotify, Amazon, Netflix, any other film player that’s on Amazon then you’ve agreed to it by making an account. The account is actively “open” and you need to cancel it yourself. Once you’ve gone over the allotted free time you’ve agreed to pay for the service until you cancel.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:35 pm

Dyched wrote:That’s normal.

If you ever get a free trial with anything be it Spotify, Amazon, Netflix, any other film player that’s on Amazon then you’ve agreed to it by making an account. The account is actively “open” and you need to cancel it yourself. Once you’ve gone over the allotted free time you’ve agreed to pay for the service until you cancel.

I think that's what Fretters was alluding to - that his money went out today, as it should.

Quickenthetempo · Post by **Quickenthetempo** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 3:51 pm

FactualFrank wrote:Not to me. It reads "unaware that at the end of the week I would be billed automatically for £60 for a FULL YEAR" suggesting he'd come to the end of the week, only just realised he'd be billed for a full year and was miffed after it left his account.

As you and Fretters say that is normal practice.

I might have read it wrong. The poster can tell us.

FactualFrank · Post by **FactualFrank** » Fri Oct 04, 2019 4:03 pm

Quickenthetempo wrote:As you and Fretters say that is normal practice.
I might have read it wrong. The poster can tell us.

It's not normal to automatically take out a full year's worth, but guess it may have mentioned that when signing up for the trial (in font size 2...)

Whenever I've had a free trial you get charged for a month, following the end of the free trial. That's why I said he sounded miffed that he was charged for 12 months. That's not normal practice in my experience.

Fretters · Post by **Fretters** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 12:46 am

FactualFrank wrote:It's not normal to automatically take out a full year's worth, but guess it may have mentioned that when signing up for the trial (in font size 2...)

Whenever I've had a free trial you get charged for a month, following the end of the free trial. That's why I said he sounded miffed that he was charged for 12 months. That's not normal practice in my experience.

It asks you to click annual or monthly when you're signing up, and gives you prices for both. Like I say, it was all pretty clear.

chekhov · Post by **chekhov** » Sat Oct 05, 2019 11:52 am

Quickenthetempo wrote:As you and Fretters say that is normal practice.

I might have read it wrong. The poster can tell us.

It’s correct what Frank says that I had forgot to cancel before the end of the trial week.
It’s also correct that under the terms of the agreement I signed up to they were entitled to bill me. However I maintain that as a business practice this underhand and just a way of getting people to unwittingly part with their money.
Initially I asked via a standard email form on the Apple site for a refund explaining the situation I’d got into. I was turned down automatically and instantly.
It was only when I managed, after trawling through the site that I manage to find a link where an Apple employee phoned me. I explained exactly what I’d done previously on the email, yet this time he allowed me a full refund.
The only way to explain this is that they relying on folk not being bothered or able to jump through the hoops, in order to maximise income. In my naive view this is unethical. Not surprising though.

Clarets4me · Post by **Clarets4me** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 9:51 pm

If anyone's subscribed to this, please read Daniel Taylor's first offering about how Brian Clough showed kindness to two young lads from Sunderland, who were having problems at home ... great story !

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 10:40 pm

Clarets4me wrote:If anyone's subscribed to this, please read Daniel Taylor's first offering about how Brian Clough showed kindness to two young lads from Sunderland, who were having problems at home ... great story !

Daniel Taylor is a fantastic writer and it was him interviewing Andy Woodward that led to the whole exposure of young boys at clubs being abused and the subsequent sentences given to Barry Bennell and others.

I’ve read the Clough story which showed to me he did have a good side to him.

I doubt I’d have subscribed but I knew both Oliver Kay and Daniel Taylor we’re moving there and that persuaded me.

paulatky · Post by **paulatky** » Wed Oct 16, 2019 11:10 pm

I think Dan Levene who does some work for Talksport and is a Chelsea fan also writes for the Athletic.
He wasnt complimentary about Burnley after the “anti-football” game at their place last season

ClaretTony · Post by **ClaretTony** » Thu Oct 17, 2019 8:53 am

paulatky wrote:I think Dan Levene who does some work for Talksport and is a Chelsea fan also writes for the Athletic.
He wasnt complimentary about Burnley after the “anti-football” game at their place last season

He does write for the Athletic. Jack Pitt-Brooke is another with the Athletic who had been somewhat less than complimentary about out style too after a game against Chelsea.