The Luther Blissett Project Rolls On at Age 48

By: Bob | December 19th, 2006

Perhaps inspired by the new Rocky Balboa movie, former England international and Watford striker Luther Blissett has come out of retirement to play for non-league Chesham United at the tender age of 48. Blissett, whose name and propensity for missing easy goals led more than one tabloid writer to dub as “Luther Missitt,” hasn’t played competitive football in years, but that doesn’t mean his legacy has faded.

Many fans remember Blissett as being a player who left Watford in 1983 after scoring 95 goals in eight years to join AC Milan. Blissett’s performance in Serie A was less than stellar and he was promptly sold back to Watford at a loss, leading some to speculate that AC Milan’s scouts had confused him with another black Watford player, John Barnes.

Maybe it was this case of mistaken identity or maybe it is simply because he has a cool name, but for whatever reason Luther Blissett has become the nom de plume of artists, activists and anarchists in Italy and throughout Europe.

In Italy, between 1994 and 1999, the so-called Luther Blissett Project (an organized network within the open community sharing the “Luther Blissett” identity) became an extremely popular phenomenon, managing to create a legend, the reputation of a folk hero. This Robin Hood of the information age waged a guerrilla warfare on the cultural industry, ran unorthodox solidarity campaigns for victims of censorship and repression and – above all – played elaborate media pranks as a form of art, always claiming responsibility and explaining what bugs they had exploited to plant a fake story. Blissett was active also in other countries, especially in Spain and Germany. December 1999 marked the end of the LBP’s Five Year Plan. All the “veterans” committed a symbolic Seppuku. The end of the LBP did not entail the end of the name, which keeps re-emerging in the cultural debate and is still a popular byline on the web.

Luther Blissetts everywhere now have a reason to once again celebrate as their 48-year-old patron saint turned player/coach soldiers on for the Generals of Chesham United in the always unpredictable and exciting Southern League Premier Division.