Calling all Bostik Bloggers...

“When are you going to visit my club?”

It’s one of the questions I’m asked most often in my role with the Bostik League, and it’s perhaps the one that frustrates me the most, because regularly I don’t have what I would term a satisfactory answer. Supporters of our clubs love to read about them, and I’m the “bloke what does the writing,” (anonymous Leatherhead fan last weekend)- but there’s a problem.

Put simply, I’m the only "bloke what does the writing."

With the best will in the world- and given that despite my excellent application I wasn’t regenerated as the new Doctor Who on Monday- I can’t get to 72 clubs regularly. There is only one of me, I have a full time job, and I live six miles from Brighton. Yes, I can do phone interviews, I can do email Q&A’s, and I can sit behind a desk and wring inspiration from my grey matter, but it’s no substitute for actually standing by a touchline and watching our beautiful game. I’ve tried to cover our Premier, South and North clubs equally and I’m just about on target, but at this rate I’ll have visited under half of them by season end. I’d like to do so much more, but unless I master the science of cloning I need to be a realist.

In short, I need some help- and that’s where you might just come in.

If you are reading this then it’s likely that you are a lover of Bostik League football- although surely we all are, it’s magnificent! But can you write about it? Are you an aspiring sports journalism student, a blogger or an enthusiastic amateur writer (these last two are interchangeable) looking for an outlet? Well perhaps I can provide some exposure for your work and help you to climb that ladder to literary greatness.

If you’d be interested in getting involved and in positively promoting your club and/or our league, please get in touch so that we can have a chat- if you click on my name at the bottom of this article it will open your email server. As someone who was- and to some extent still is- an aspiring writer, I know how difficult it can be to get your work to a wider audience. Many thousands of people visit our website, and around thirteen thousand follow us on social media- and that figure is growing all the time, so if it’s exposure you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place!

You can write about what brought you to your club and what keeps you there. You can write about your experience as a supporter, about the work of a volunteer- or you can be even more creative. You can link back to your own blog/website if you have one. The only thing we don’t want is a pure match report- each of our clubs already has someone who does that marvellously- although obviously if you’re at a match include the action. Oh, and I’m happy to take on the role of editor where required.

I look forward to hearing from you- and whether you’re an aspiring writer or just a regular reader, thanks ever so much for your support. Perhaps I’ll see you at Cray Wanderers on Saturday, at Chipstead on New Years Day, or at Wingate & Finchley, Hendon, Aveley, Barking, Met Police, Ashford United, Walton Casuals...

Take Care
Ian Townsend
Bostik League Communications