ASSOCIATED IS A NEW SOCCER & STYLE MAGAZINE DOCUMENTING THE ‘BEAUTIFUL GAME’
Soccer is a melting pot of cultures and playing styles. Bringing people together by the power of the ball, there is nothing quite like it.
Associated’s arrival on the scene marks a turning point in the world of American soccer – soccer players are now sex symbols beyond sightings of David Beckham in his underwear trying to increase the size of his wallet. Soccer has now reached a new level of social value and being a soccer player is hot, trendy, cool or whatever word is associated with today’s vibe. And, forgetting about the greenhouse effect of printing on paper – it is great to see a new magazine launching, and this one is about urban soccer.
Associated’s great soccer photography with creativity captures the raw essence of the beautiful game – on and off the field.
Just kicking off their second issue, Associated is a new magazine capturing the style of soccer with powerful and strong visuals that has hit the streets of NYC and other soccer meccas and is shooting to be the top of the hot, new trend of America’s love affair with this planet’s favorite sport.
“Football in New York is just like most things in America. It’s a clash of cultures. It’s so diverse but at the same time very unifying-it creates a different love and passion for the game.”
SoccerToday just interviewed Allan Kennedy, Editor and Jonathan Chaffin, Publisher of Associated on their new ‘baby’ and why they are going through all this work to glamorize soccer.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why Associated – Style of the game?
Allan Kennedy: We came up with Associated after a brainstorming session and because it is Association Football we thought it was a cool spin. Our name also suggests a sense of community and bringing people together.
Style of the Game – the tag line – is a play on words that brings together fashion and soccer.
Diane Scavuzzo: How is Associated different from other soccer publications?
Jonathan Chaffin: We don’t consider ourselves to be just “another soccer publication.” We feel we have an original perspective on documenting soccer. Allan worked for men’s fashion publications for 15 years, as has the Creative Director, Steven Baillie.
We brought that experience of creating iconic and stylized imagery to the world of soccer. We also have an ‘old school’ romantic notion of the game. We were followers of the game before the ESPN/SKY era when soccer was a little more accessible and raw.
Diane Scavuzzo: Who came up with the idea of promoting soccer players as sex symbols?
Allan Kennedy: The soccer physique is much more attainable and normal when compared to athletes of other American Sports like Baseball, Football and Basketball.
Soccer is a game that relies upon natural abilities as much as athleticism which makes it superior to sports that breed young men to be almost super human in size. People relate to that better and so while we personally weren’t trying to portray them as ’sex symbols’ we were well aware that people would be attracted to men who were fit and athletic without being freakish.
Diane Scavuzzo: Who do you think will read the magazine?
Jonathan Chaffiny: Anyone who has an interest in soccer and who loves great photography will love the magazine. We want to make soccer as visually iconic as surfing and we think the people that play it are just as cool and the stories they have to tell are just as interesting. A large part of what we do is aimed at teenagers of both sexes as well as the more sophisticated reader.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why a print magazine?
Allan Kennedy: Steven and I have spent our careers in glossy mags and we both felt the nostalgia that newsprint engenders would excite people. It’s also less precious than a glossy magazine so teenagers would warm to it. We were also conscious for the more romantic, to remind them of the time before digital, when following sports meant reading the newspaper. That is maybe more of a European perspective though as soccer newspapers are more common there.
The digital version is an edited version of the magazine but in time we will develop that into something with more video content. We don’t necessarily want to be part of the ‘information age’ we’d rather just provide the beauty and the gloss to the image of soccer.
Diane Scavuzzo: Where can people get it?
Jonathan Chaffin: We have a distributor that supplies stores across the country but people can also subscribe online and through our website.
Diane Scavuzzo: What is your editorial slant? Take on soccer today?
Allan Kennedy: Like we said, we want to define the image of soccer and be less about the ‘gossip.’
I have loved soccer since I was old enough to walk and the game has changed since I first played. I think it’s way to commercialized now and the players get paid far too much money but the game is marked across the world today so I guess that was inevitable. I used to love watching games in Scotland on standing areas where large crowds would sway and move like a giant wave. It was much more visceral experience then and maybe a little more dangerous.
Diane Scavuzzo: Why soccer?
Allan Kennedy: I played from a young age and attended my first game when I was 9 years old and became addicted. Nowadays you can watch almost every game from every continent so it’s much easier to get your soccer fix. Through my experiences of watching the game and reading comic books when I was a kid that I have a rich wealth of soccer inspired ideas that we can shoot but with an American twist to them. It’s very important for us to put the American slant on it because we think that’s what makes us unique from any other soccer magazine.
