Pitch #9

Inside every issue of Pitch magazine you will find stories, long and short, relating to the thick end of 30 different sports. It’s a genuinely groundbreaking remit and we think a first in the world of magazines.

There’s football, cricket, rugby – both types – golf, MMA, boxing, athletics and F1. And loads of others. We think the mix works brilliantly. Because ultimately we are sports fanatics. First.

You’ll have noticed a tweak to the cover of this issue. It serves to reflect Pep Guardiola’s standing in world sport, and his place within the world’s favourite game. Written by Paul Simpson, it captures the driving factors in the City manager’s rise to greatness. It’s on page 36 as a must-read.

Elsewhere, sport-wise, there’s quite the spread. The nuts and bolts of 3D-printed golf clubs (page 12), as it were. We’ve a couple of excellent tennis features (pages 48 and 64), and we finish off with everyone’s favourite sporting villain, the ‘bent referee’. That’s to be found on page 98.

As ever, the illustrated work is simply tremendous. Never looking better than in the drawings of iconic swimmers, starting on page 28.

And finally, after much cajoling (more like bullying), Pitch art director, Sam Bowles revisits his own professional photography archive. It starts on page 76.