I’ve been writing about football for over 10 years on this website. In that time, I’ve had the odd instance of stolen words and zapped insights.
Normally it comes from small, lazy creators trying to start a YouTube channel or their own site. Other times it comes from websites that don’t seem to have any humans behind them.
I didn’t think a platform as established as Total Football Analysis and their writers would resort to stealing of intellectual property, but here we are.
Here are the three articles in question, each posted 1 day after my original posting on TheMastermindSite.com.
On September 10th, 2026, I published my analysis on Newcastle United this season under Matthias Jaissle.
A day later, a writer by the name of Declan Fogarty came out with an eerily similar piece.
The TFA piece by Declan Fogarty was structured in very similar fashion. It included an introduction saying the exact same things I did. It included an opening intro explaining the role of Nico Gonzalez, just like I did. It then went into broader questions around attack, and then defense, just like I did.
Here is my intro on the TMS article:
Here is the copied version from TFA:
You can see how this writer has not taken the time to share their own perspective in the intro, simply taking my exact sentiment, and my exact words.
In the opening of the next section, I discuss how Jaissle has utilized a 4-2-3-1, building that around Nico Gonzalez and Lewis Miley.
Declan’s version is nearly identical.
Notice how he uses the same three points that I raised using the exact same wording: forward runs, counter attacking football, and direct passing.
Declan then continues with the role that Miley and Gonzalez play. He says:
Here are the same ideas being expressed in my article from the day before.
This happens again and again in the TFA article:
Here’s my version of that same train of thought…
On social media, there is no Declan Fogarty that follows my work. There is no Declan Fogarty that subscribes to my site. There’s not even a publicly viewable profile attached to that name that says anything about football on the internet, except on TFA.
Whether they are a fan of my site remains unclear, but they clearly like it enough to continue to copy it.
On September 22nd, I published 3 Canadian stars making their mark at new clubs.
On September 23rd, Declan Fogarty and TFA published How New Club Systems Are Unlocking Three Canadians.
Odd, I thought. The same idea, published one day later, featuring the exact same three players in the exact same order, using the exact same statistics and the exact same insights that I had posted.
Declan Fogarty not only didn’t bother to change the wording of my article when trying to pass it off as his own, he stole the entire structure of the article.
TFA’S THOUGHTS ON JONATHAN DAVID
MY ORIGINAL TEXT ON TMS
This continues into the next sections on Nathan Saliba, and then Stephen Eustaquio.
TFA’S STOLEN VERSION OF NATHAN SALIBA
MY VERSION ON TMS
TFA’S STOLEN COPY OF STEPHEN EUSTAQUIO
MY VERSION
Again, this continues until the conclusion of the article. At no point in this article did Declan make an attempt to use different stats, different players, or different ideas from my article. Just about every word article itself was stolen.
Hilariously, Declan Fogarty even used the same obscure Cheick Tiote reference from a 2014 incident from my article Enzo Fernandez, VAR and the offside decision that changed the Manchester derby, when he copied the article in his version:
Haaland’s Derby Goal Exposes a Failure in Offside Law | TFA.
You will notice this one is taken almost word for word in some sentences.
FROM MY ARTICLE:
From the stolen article posted on TFA by Declan Fogarty:
It’s flattering that one of my top competitors in the market feels the need to steal from me, but also so horribly irritating – given the time and energy that goes into producing these pieces.
Declan’s author bio on TFA says that he enjoys “breaking down footage frame by frame”. To me, it seems as though Declan is not interested in football at all, or sharing their own thoughts.
When I reached out to the tactics football community on Twitter, I was met with a similar reaction.
I’ve reached out to Total Football Analysis regarding this matter, and I’m hoping to see the three articles removed immediately. However, it’s been 48 hours and I have not received a single response. I’m a sole proprietor doing this for very little income, and it would be unfortunate to spend some of those expenses on lawyer fees and legal paperwork.
I’m encouraging other platforms in the football analysis market to check TFA to see if their work has been taken too.
To all the other writers out there, make sure to protect your intellectual property. Before you know it, your competitors will try to steal it.
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