Well it’s been almost a month since Patrick Smith wrote a glowing article on Real Gothic FC for interminable “34 most annoying social media lists”-style list site Buzzfeed – so about now, the sluggish forces of British mainstream media are finally starting to catch up.

The Mirror, a standard red-top tabloid has decided to clumsily cover the story about how each Whitby Gothic Weekend sees a charity football match between an all-Goth team and Stokoemotive FC, led by the former Whitby Gazette editor. A lot of money is always raised for some well-deserving charities, and a lot of fun is also had!

Unfortunately the Mirror writer didn’t check his facts, and garbled much of what he got from John ‘Pablo’ Thompson and Louise ‘ScouseWAG’ Street, who lead Real Gothic and the Sisters of Real respectively. As we’ve covered this topic before, The Blogging Goth will set some things straight.

• The team play every couple of months and have won support from The Sophie Lancaster Foundation, a charity set up in 2007 after a Lancashire woman was killed in a violent attack.
• Actually, the team play twice a year, on the Sunday of each Whitby Gothic Weekend. The team is partnered with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation, wearing their logo on the strips, raising awareness of their campaign against intolerance.
  
• Real Gothic FC have even won praise from rock singer Courtney Love, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s late wife.
• Courtney Love isn’t dead, Kurt Cobain is.
• The WAGs of Real Gothic FC call themselves The Sisters of Real and entertain the crowds with a penalty shootout at halftime.
• The Sisters of Real have a much more serious cause behind them. Louise, the heart and the voice behind the Sisters, told us when we spoke to her last year:

“During the planning for this we heard the terrible news that one of the girls, Maria Bushra, who helped around the match during the games (and one of the player’s girlfriends) sadly passed away around Christmas time. Her death affected us all greatly; she was a great friend and a wonderful person, as well as being an integral part of the Real Gothic FC cause.

We wished for the Sisters of Real to be a team dedicated to her memory. When we play, all money raised goes to Maria’s chosen charity – SOS Children’s Villages.”

• All photographs attributed to Mercury Press.
• The photos were actually taken by Paul Baxter Photography, and the Mirror article has since been hastily updated to reflect the true ownership. Paul was kind enough to remind us that one of his photos of the team was even used on hugely-popular Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd in 2010!
  
• Pablo’s wife Louise, 35, a care worker, said…
• John ‘Pablo’ Thompson and Louise ‘ScouseWAG’ Street aren’t actually married.

“Now?” Try ten years! “Two months?” Try twice a year!

Already, the article is being rapidly syndicated and repeated by news outlets around the world, all repeating the same mistakes.
Share on our article to ensure the facts make it out – and we’ll see you pitch-side for a pint next year!