Welcome to The Pinch, by the creators of DEM Blades.
DEM Blades fanzine has brought together thousands of Sheffield United fans, encouraged creativity in our fanbase, and promoted the talents of many a Blade. However, we wanted to produce something digital. Something timely. Something that distils the best coverage of Sheffield United Football Club into an accessible package.
A good pinch of stuff about the Blades direct to your email inbox.
The best pinch.
The Pinch.
What exactly is The Pinch?
Good question.
It’s a Sheffield United newsletter, publishing regular articles every Monday and Friday via email and our Substack site – you can subscribe here.
The Pinch gives the best writers a platform to produce pieces on Sheffield United that wouldn’t be published elsewhere. Don’t expect clickbait headlines, Man of the Match candidates, or 200-word articles on what socks John Egan wore for training.
Do expect our writers to care about what they’ve written. Do expect expertise, occasional frivolity and the unexpected. Do expect long-form writing, with expansive looks at the stories that matter – and the stories you might not have read about before.
Season One will run from Monday 11 April until September – more details below.
Subscription
The Pinch is a new alternative to traditional and social media, and so we want to offer a real opportunity for writers: that starts with paying them. All of our writers are paid for their work, and this is made possible through paid subscriptions on Substack.
While one article per week will always be free for all readers, some of our content will exist behind a paywall. Please consider a subscription to get immediate access to all articles and to support our new alternative.
We’re not going to use the tired “for the price of a cup of coffee” pitch – inflation means your £3.50 monthly sub will soon be cheaper than a cappuccino, anyway (and it also contains less sugar).
By paying our contributors for everything they write, we hope to create a consistent level of engaging, professional, insightful work for readers to enjoy. We’d love you to consider a subscription so we can continue to pay all writers fairly for their work.
What to expect from Season One
The Pinch will run as a series of ‘seasons’. Each week, we will publish one article by a guest writer and one article from our in-house team. Safe to say, we’ve gathered together an incredible roster of guest writers for our first season.
These contributors have been plucked from different worlds, from sports journalists to accountants, professional pessimists to podcasters. Each writer brings with them a unique take on Sheffield United, with valuable expertise in various aspects of the club.
Want to write for us?
Get in touch at thepincheditor[@]gmail.com with any writing experience and an idea – we’re all ears.
It’s an exciting time to get on board with The Pinch. We feel there’s room for longer, considered pieces on Sheffield United and topics related to the club that aren’t given the space to develop elsewhere. A place away from the shouting matches of social media, the constraints of advertising and the editorial limitations of a more general audience. We hope you enjoy being part of The Pinch. We can’t wait to get started.
Sam Parry is the co-founder of DEM Blades fanzine and Commissioning Editor of The Pinch. Inside work he writes speeches, and outside of work, he wonders whether he’s ever eaten a truly greasy chip butty.
David Taylor is a writer, editor and former captain of Whiston Parish Church Cricket Club U17s. His writing has appeared in GQ, Esquire and National Geographic Traveller, with broadcast work for BBC Radio 4 and Premier League Productions. A South Stand aficionado (or so he likes to think), David has been a DEM Blades editor since 2018 and is Contributing Editor of The Pinch.
Sam Bajdala-Cressey is the co-founder of DEM Blades and is the designer for the fanzine and now for The Pinch.