Help us find the pitch. Through The Bench Project, we’re looking for two football fields in Yogyakarta to receive benches developed together with @nata.practice and @paste_lab .
We invite you to be part of the process. If you know a field that could benefit from this project, share your recommendation in the comment section or send us a DM.
Let’s support the spaces where the game continues to live every day.
We’re proud to introduce The Bench Project, a collaborative initiative with @nata.practice and @paste_lab .
We’re building benches for selected football fields in Yogyakarta, simple shared spaces where players, supporters, and anyone around the game can sit, gather, and stay connected to it. Designed by Nata Practice and produced by Paste Lab using materials developed from waste, each bench carries the spirit of inclusivity at the heart of Open Play.
This is our way of giving back to the community and supporting the game where it lives every day. Play your part. Slide right to see how you can support the project.
For questions or inquiries, feel free to send us a DM.
As an extension of our upcoming issue, “Open Play”, we’re stepping off the page and onto the pitch. Together with @nata.practice and @paste_lab , we’re building something for the community. Kick-off soon.
We’ve received an incredible number of submissions. Thank you so much. The quality has been truly outstanding. To ensure a careful and thoughtful curation process, we’ve decided to close the submission period earlier than expected. Selected proposals will be contacted via email. We deeply appreciate your participation.
Photo by @lenadrukker
Expanding on the theme of our upcoming issue, Open Play, which centers on inclusivity and football, we reflect on the current political climate and the forthcoming World Cup.
We are looking for contributors for our upcoming issue themed “Open Play.” Slide right for full submission details including formats and timeline. We are excited to read fresh perspectives and diverse voices. If you need more information or would like to discuss your idea first, feel free to reach out via DM or email. We look forward to your piece.
Do you know which stadium was the first in the archipelago to be built entirely by native hands? This article traces a quiet journey to a historic ground built in 1932 and reflects on how it stood as a symbol of local pride and sovereignty amid colonial domination. Moving through its aging steps and silent terraces, the piece reveals a stadium that stands as more than just a football venue. It emerges as a living archive of compromise, nationalism, and memory, a space where colonial tension, local pride, and the politics of sport have long been woven into the architecture itself. Find out in Halftime Speech Issue 02.
Photo by @fuadori
Naturalization in Indonesian football is often seen as a recent strategy, yet this piece reminds us that it is part of a much longer postcolonial story shaped by migration, memory, and contested ideas of belonging. Tracing the path from Tonnie Harrybrottje in the 1950s to today’s Dutch born players of Indonesian descent, the article situates football as a stage where colonial history, diaspora return, and national imagination intersect. Rather than framing naturalization as a purely tactical move, it reads the presence of these players and coaches as symbols of reconciliation and continuity, asking what it truly means to represent a nation in a globalized era.
Through the lens of football, Indonesia’s evolving identity emerges not as fixed or singular, but as something negotiated across generations, borders, and histories. The full discussion can be found in Halftime Speech Issue 02.
Illustration by @soeingul
In her article titled Never the One with Dusty Feet: On the Stubbornly Persisting Village Football (Sepak Bola Kampung) by @vattayaz , she shares a reflective journey from being a quiet spectator of childhood football games to understanding how village football quietly shapes memory, belonging, and social life across Indonesia. Drawing from stories in Tangerang, Kalimantan, Riau, and Bantul, the piece traces how dusty fields, flipflop goalposts, and after school matches become spaces of pride, friendship, exclusion, and longing, even as urban change and digital life slowly reshape how children gather and play.
More than nostalgia, the essay asks what it means to remember these spaces today and whether sepak bola kampung can continue to persist in the margins of a rapidly shifting landscape. The full piece is available in Halftime Speech Issue 02.
In an era obsessed with instant results, football still finds ways to reward those who wait. The 2024 to 2025 season felt like a quiet rebellion against impatience. Go Ahead Eagles ended a 93 year drought with the KNVB Cup. Tottenham Hotspur lifted silverware after 17 years, giving Son Heung min the trophy his loyalty deserved, while Harry Kane finally became a champion after 14 years of waiting. Newcastle broke a 70 year longing. Bologna revived a 51 year dream. Crystal Palace claimed their first major title in 119 years. Pisa returned to Serie A after 34 years in the shadows.
These victories were not just about trophies. They were about endurance, faith, and showing up season after season when belief felt fragile. In football, the most beautiful stories are not instant. They are earned over time. Read the full article in Halftime Speech Issue 02.
Photos by @hanbalk , @matchstay , @seatzler , and @thefootballglobetrotter
The article From Berlin to Yogyakarta, written by @alwanbrilian , argues that football stadiums should be understood not merely as venues for sport, but as politically charged spaces where banners become powerful mediums of expression, solidarity, and resistance. Drawing from historical examples in Cold War Germany and contemporary cases in Indonesia, particularly Yogyakarta, the piece shows how banners articulate emotion, protest, and social critique far beyond the pitch. Despite standardization and commercialization that seek to depoliticize football, supporter practices reclaim stadiums as second homes where banners and matchday zines turn them into counter-public spaces of identity, memory, dissent, and political community.
The full article is available in Halftime Speech Issue 02. Explore how the stadium speaks beyond the game.
Translation by @vattayaz
Photo by @dicki66
