Our Standards
Real people, real names. How we write, how we label it, and what we do when we get something wrong.
Every byline is a real person
Everything on Onside Journal is written by a real, named person whose identity our editors have verified. We don’t publish AI-generated personas, invented writers or anonymous content farms.
Tools are fine. Accountability isn’t optional.
Writers can use whatever tools help them work, AI included: for research, transcription, translation or a second pair of eyes on a draft. We publish in whatever form tells the story best: words, video, audio, photographs or animated diagrams. The person whose name is on the piece is responsible for every word and every fact in it.
Two kinds of writing, clearly labelled
Reporting and analysis covers our explainers, Laws of the Game and match analysis. It is objective. It takes no club’s side, it sources its claims, and on contested decisions it sets out the case on both sides.
Club Desks are opinion. Each desk is written by a supporter of that club and is partisan by design, which is the point. Desk pieces are labelled Opinion with the club’s name. Opinion still has to get the facts right.
Independence
Our general coverage, from explainers and analysis to the Laws of the Game, is never paid for by a club, a club’s owners or a betting company, and we don’t take betting sponsors on it.
Club Desks are opinion, and opinion can be sponsored or paid for, including by clubs and their owners. Paid and sponsored pieces are always labelled as such, so readers know exactly what they are reading.
When we get it wrong
We correct errors promptly and say so. A note at the end of the piece records what changed and when.
Scores and tables
Live scores and tables come from a sports data feed and can lag the real game by a minute or two. The written word on this site comes from people.