Hail GFOP!

We hope you had a restful holiday, enjoyed the time with your family and tried to take it easy on the eggnog. We’re back with one last Raven of the year to thank the people who make this newsletter such a joy to work on: every single one of you. Week in and week out, you’ve made us laugh with your excellent Mad Libs, ponder deeply at your insightful questions, and tear up from the heartfelt moments you’ve shared with us. 

It’s been an extraordinary year in the Premier League, and in life. Just think:

• We watched as Arsenal almost won a title, but failed to hang on, and we’ve witnessed Mikel Arteta strengthen their force with an even deeper squad to hopefully reverse course in the spring.

• We basked in the glow of Arne Slot’s glorious title-winning introduction to English football, and now we’re wondering if he’ll even make it to the end of Liverpool’s season at the helm.

• And most of all, we rode the roller coaster of emotions that is Everton Football Club. With the return of St. David Moyes, the team fought back from the brink of relegation as we said farewell to Goodison Park and hello to their shiny new shrine to the game, the big Hill Dickinson, while the club learned to play actual coherent football once again.

And now, we welcome 2026 — the year that the World Cup returns to our shores and all football-watching eyes will be on the United States, Mexico and Canada as we host what will undoubtedly be the biggest and most World Cup to ever World Cup. It will be a surreal spectacle, but most of all, it will be glorious, because even in these turbulent times, great football will be played, memories will be made and we will witness things on a pitch that we’ve never seen before. Adding the fact that it will happen in stadiums in Dallas, Guadalajara and Vancouver makes it all the more wondrous.

We have so many big things coming across the Men in Blazers network this year, whether that’s on the pod, in this very newsletter or in person when we visit a city (hopefully) near you. We can’t wait to go on this massive journey with you all and hope that you’ll continue sending us your thoughts, your questions and your recs for where fans should eat and drink as they descend upon the World Cup host cities next summer.

Finally, one of the joys of this year has been the growth of the Raven under the watchful and creative eye of Max Bonem. This newsletter has become such a thoughtful touchpoint connecting all of us in this football-loving community. If you know any football-curious friends who want to savor all that is to come in the massive year ahead, please help spread the word and encourage them to subscribe.

From the entire MiB team, thank you, and we’ll see you all in 2026. Soccer’s coming home!

Courage,
Roger Bennett, Tommy Stewart, Jonathan Williamson and Max Bonem

MiB HQ Bulletin Board 📢 

The 2025 Raven Reader Survey 📋

We are always looking for ways to make this newsletter better, more entertaining and, most of all, just slightly less crap. As such, we’d love to hear from you about what you love, what you routinely skip over or what you think makes the Raven unique. Your opinions matter greatly and we’d love for you to help guide this newsletter into 2026, and beyond.

The Perfect MiB Playlist for Your Week Off 🎵 

What do Valerie June, Parcels and Waxahatchee have in common? They’re all on Rog’s playlist of the songs that helped him survive this wild year.

📬 Enjoying The Raven? Check out our other MiB newsletters:

☀️ The Women’s Game: Everything you need to know about women’s football, sent straight to your inbox each week.

🔍 The Correspondent: Rory Smith’s thoughts on the world of soccer, culture, food, and how they all connect – every Thursday.

🇺🇸 USMNT Only: Your regular update on the most important topics in the U.S. men’s game, all leading up to next year’s World Cup.

Rog’s 10 Favorite Books of 2025 📚

Amongst all of the football this year, Rog read a lot of books. Here are his 10 favorites:

“Perspective(s)” by Laurent Binet. My favorite writer in the world, man is mind-bending. 

“Drayton and Mackenzie” by Alexander Starritt. I loved the scope, the friendship and the sense of dreams made real.

“The Boy from the Sea” by Garrett Carr. Like a great Waterboys track in the form of a novel.

“The Name on the Wall” by Hervé Le Tellier. This book moved me so very much.

“A Flower Traveled in My Blood: The Incredible True Story of the Grandmothers Who Fought to Find a Stolen Generation of Children” by Haley Cohen Gilliland. I cried. I did. I cried.

“Sheepdogs” by Elliot Ackerman. This writer is so prolific, he makes me feel lazy.

“The Season” by Helen Garner. My favorite book of the year. So humanly aching and packed with truth. I am in awe of Helen Garner.

“The Book of I” by David Greig. This book was so clever, I adore Vikings.

“The Land in Winter” by Andrew Miller. OMG, this book made me feel I could not write, which is such a humbling feeling.

“Seascraper” by Benjamin Wood. This shook me so hard. The ending just smacked me in the jaw like a punch I never saw coming, but was all the better for.

America’s Best Soccer Bar: Top 10 Voting 🍻

AMERICA, let’s do this. After collecting all of your nominations, it’s now time to crown the rightful champion of America’s Best Soccer Bar 2025/26, powered by our partners at Michelob ULTRA! Below are the 10 most-nominated bars, listed in alphabetical order. The voting window closes Dec. 29, so make your voice heard by hitting the button below and by spreading the word! Once voting wraps, we’ll reveal the winner… and yes, we’ll celebrate accordingly.

Top 10 Nominees:

The Black Sheep Pub - Philadelphia, Pa.
Carragher's - New York, N.Y.
Chatham Tap - Indianapolis, Ind.
Empire Bar - Tulsa, Okla.
Globe Pub - Chicago, Ill.
Ireland's Four Courts - Arlington, Va.
Mad Dog in the Fog - San Francisco, Calif.
The British Bulldog - Denver, Colo.
The Kettle Black Kitchen & Pub - Phoenix, Ariz.
The Dubliner Irish Pub - Boston, Mass.

The Year’s Most-Read Non-Football Stories 📖

• The Greatest Sports Photo Ever Made Turns 60

• The Concorde-and-Caviar Era of Condé Nast, When Magazines Ruled the Earth

• 10 Habits That Are Making You Look Older

• The Night ESPN Watched Two College Mascots Try to Kill Each Other

• Four Asian American Comics on the Joke That Changed Their Life

• 45-Year Mystery Behind Eerie Photo from 'The Shining' Is Believed to be Solved

• The Death of Partying in the U.S.A.—and Why It Matters

• The Unbearable Loudness of Chewing

• Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College

• How I Accidentally Inspired a Major Chinese Motion Picture

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