To be honest, I don't really rate any of the major magazines. They're not much more than you'd expect from a major league glossy...all style but little substance, though they do the job well. If you get a chance, turn to fanzines. Even reading those about teams you don't care about can provide hours of insight and laughter. The production values may be crap, but they live, sleep, eat, and breathe what the game should really be.
They were still distributing Soccer Digest as of last year, but come to think of it I haven't received one in the mail in awhile and I'm pretty sure I renewed it everytime I had a chance to. Not a bad mag for the cheap price, but was always a month or two behind the news.
FourFourTwo is the best for British coverage and Soccer America definitely has it hands down for an American mag. BTW, Soccer Digest is still around. DMB is on the cover and it has excellant articles in regard to the US and the World Cup. Soccer Digest was the first mag I purchased in regard to the beautiful game in this country, and if not for it, I never would ahve subscibed to Soccer America back in the spring of 1990 when it was a weekly newspaper.
I actually prefer to buy my soccer mags at the newstand. I can get 442 at Borders, but I am having problems getting Soccer America anywhere in the Dallas area at a newstand. I hope 90 Minutes will be available at newstands. Jeff
Have you designated a language? If not France Football is tops w/ all others a distant second. It's a bi-weekly and covers the game throughout the entire world (yes MLS included). Think articles similar to Four Four Two, now add actual breakdowns of every match from L1 and L2 (French 1st & 2nd division) including a diagram of key plays from selected matches now throw in stats and then articles about issues related to the game in general and it's second to none. Even if you don't read French, it's always worth buying and having someone translate for you. There's an Italian as well as a Spanish mag (both titles I've forgotten) which are really good. Four Four Two is great for the English game but lacking on the international side. World Soccer has a great layout but they're a month behind and Paul "Bitter about who knows what" Gardner is their US correspondent and he always seems to have something negative to say about the American game. Soccer America isn't even in the top ten even w/the layout change. I've seen this magazine go from good to not very good @ all.
Boy some of you chaps must be awed by pretty pictures 'cause that's about all Four Four Two is these days. More's the pity really. It actually used to be quite good, back when it first started up. But it's spent the better part of the last four years going downhill. No other evidence is needed then their current Word Cup "Wrap up" issue. Please. A couple of pages of glossy photos with a few clever quips thrown in. Contrast this with their same issue four years ago (the one with Laurent Blanc on the cover) and you'll see my point. Now that was a World Cup wrap up issue. In depth full page profiles of every match. And in depth analysis of the state of the game and what exactly the French victory meant to the footballing world. And of course the requisite great pictures and clever quips. Point is, it used to be great with quality content, now it's tripe. Save your cash fellows, unless you're a photography enthusiast.........
I prefer FourFourTwo as an avid follower of English football. I used to subscribe to World Soccer but the price, the "old" news and the advent of the Internet has made me stop. I still subscribe to Soccer America but I much preferred it when it was weekly. I hate to say it but print media is a dying breed. Living in Birmingham, I've never seen a copy of France Football.
I had a subscription to SA for a few years but cancelled it when they went to the bi-weekly format. As I am on the east coast and the magazine is published on the west coast, I would always get it on monday, after the games that were profiled in that issue had already been played. It was very good content back then but with the new format it wasn't worth it to keep subscribing. If I see an issue in a store that I am interested in I usually pick it up. the website with the best reports is http://www.cybersoccernews.com
They offer 1 year for $39.95 now http://store.90soccer.com/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=V2N2&Category_Code=CI
I have to say that I still have a special place in my heart for "WSC" as both a (former) contributor and a subscriber. Of former/older publications I also have to say the same thing for "The Monthly/Weekly"...