Time to make a mark
As pre-season starts to move into full swing with the National League clubs now back in training, my attention turns in a lot of directions. With details of friendlies now on the horizon, plans start to get made.
As many know I can’t stand pre-season friendlies! Well I can for about 60 minutes then the raft of substitutions slows the game down and my interest quickly goes.
Now of course I know the reason for the games is to get minutes in the legs of all the players and some sharpness whilst working out which formation fits and which one doesn’t.
And that’s ok, some of these teams haven’t been in action since December at best last year although some had a dabble in April and May this year. I know that this is not the reason for every pre-season but the former paragraph is.
On the other side of the fence there are supporters who haven’t seen their team in action since last year, I was lucky that Barnet enjoyed their two final league games with fans allowed into The Hive and I made both games and for that reason I’ll be finding my way to some games over the next few weeks to catch up with friends at other clubs that I’ve not seen for months!
Which also means that I can start to return this blog back to the story of non-league football, Barnet FC of course will feature as they are my club, but the beauty of such a large game at grassroots level means there is always scope for a story or a game to cover.
What the new season also means for me is the time to get the writing outside of this blog back on the go and getting paid for something I love to do. Last season I was approached by Step 5 Langney Wanderers to compile their round up of Southern Combination League Premier Division results in article fashion for each home game.
They were followed by East Preston from the same division here in Sussex who wanted an article for each home match programme and finally by Step 4 Met Police who joined just before the lockdown in November and had the pleasure of a couple of articles written for them.
Now these aren’t just any old article nor are they regurgitated with the same topic for everyone. Each one is written off the cuff in time for printing and both clubs gave me license to write on whatever I felt although it can be tailored to whatever each individual club wants.
Unfortunately, Wanderers didn’t make it out the other side of the pandemic and have sadly folded. But, both East Preston and Met Police will be featuring my work again this season and I am on the look-out for more clubs to join these two and benefit from not only having someone do something extra to contribute for the club programme, but something different.
It might work for some, it might not for others, it might mean a few more programmes need to be sold to cover the small outlay. As each club has their own article, they’re free to use it on any social media channels they have if they wish to, you won’t find the same article out there twice!
Both Langney Wanderers and Warminster Town found by using an article on their club website increased their traffic fourfold, put it out there and they will come.
Anything a club uses of mine I will plaster all over my socials along with giving them some coverage within this blog, I mean 3,500 visitors per month on average is not too bad if you want people to see who you are and what you are doing.
If any club wants to see what was produced last year to see what they get for their money, then feel free to get in touch (details will be posted below) and I’ll happily provide them.
Last year should have been the year to start hitting this market, but some things had other ideas, I’m not planning on letting anything get in the way this time around, by the way it’s still coming home isn’t it………….
You can contact me on Twitter, @trevk37 or email me tkenterprises2019@outlook.com