‘The Football Writers’ Association Speakers Event 2019 – Pathway to sports journalism and broadcasting’ took place on April 9 at the Sway Bar in Central London.
Our panelists were interviewed by Snack Media after the event.
Jacqui Oatley, Sports Broadcaster for BBC & ITV
Anna Kessel, Women’s Sports Editor, The Telegraph
Natasha Henry, Freelance Sports Journalist
Vaishali Bhardwaj, Sports Reporter & Broadcaster for the Evening Standard
Alison Bender, Sports Broadcaster for ESPN, BBC & BT Sport
Ground grading – by Glenn Moore
Balls, bibs, cones… hard hat, high-vis jacket. At most ambitious clubs in the Vanarama National League the builders are either in, or readying themselves. Each step up the pyramid demands new standards, off the pitch as well as on, and plenty has to be done before promotion is even decided.
Those clubs seeking to climb from the Vanarama National League to the EFL had to confirm by December 31 that they would be capable of meeting an exacting set of criteria covering everything from how many showers are required in the dressing room (six) to how many power points are needed in the media seats (10).
The most costly demand is usually spectator capacity, though there is a degree of leeway.
EFL stadia should have a minimum capacity of 5,000 with 2,000 of those being seated.
However, they have three seasons after promotion to attain that (similar to the deadline for Championship clubs to be all-seater) and need merely to have 1,000 seats by 30th April in their first season. That said clubs seeking to go up needed by March 1 this year to have a capacity of 4,000 including 500 seats, which most should as it is already a National League requirement. Seats, incidentally, have to be covered and have backs – benches or mere moulded bases, as seen on the continent at times, are not acceptable.
None of this should be a problem for recently relegated clubs like Leyton Orient, but those without a Football League background have work to do, especially if they have recently come up from step 2. Which is why Solihull Moors announced in February a process of rapid redevelopment of their Danson Park ground. By July 2020 three sides of the ground will be improved including a new 2,000-seat stand on the Car Park Side.
There is similar activity at Harrogate Town whose swift ascent from Vanarama National League North play-off winners to Football League promotion hopefuls has left them racing to match progress on the field with development off it. They are in a phased process of increasing the capacity of the Wetherby Road ground from 3,000 to 5,000.
The Sulphurites, however, have an extra problem. They have a 3G pitch, which may be good enough for Champions League and FA Cup, but is not accepted in the EFL. The club have thus applied for planning permission to either replace it with grass, or lay a grass pitch over the 3G surface. Sutton United, currently just outside the play-offs, would have a similar problem.
There are a litany of other jobs for promoted clubs to do by July 1 involving minimum standards for the brightness of floodlights, directors box seat provision (24 for home, 16 for away), medical back up, portable goals for pre-match warm-up, CCTV, turnstiles, public address, emergency lighting, facilities for disabled fans, and the training of stewards. Besides the six showers (or individual baths) dressing rooms must have heating, ventilation, a tactics board, fridge and massage table. Fans in each part of the ground should have access to refreshment and toilets with segregation of opposing fans.
It is a long list, though promotion also brings a decent financial windfall. Income from EFL central funds, Premier League solidarity payments, and a one-off payment from the Football Stadia Improvement Fund tallies around £1m. FSIF may also help with stand developments while EFL officials make visits and provide guidance. Nevertheless, one thing the executives and staff of any promoted club cannot afford to do is enjoy a long summer basking in the glory.
Relegation but The Stones will be hoping to bounce back – by Glenn Moore
Even fairytales can have unwanted plot twists as Maidstone United have discovered. Saturday’s 2-0 home to defeat to Salford put an abrupt halt to a quarter-century of progress for the Stones, condemning them to relegation from the Vanarama National League after three years in the non-League elite.
Not many clubs survive having three managerial regimes in the course of one season and Maidstone rarely looked like being the exception being consigned to the drop with five games to play. They won eight of those opening 41 matches, and only two in 20 at the Gallagher Stadium – so much for the presumed home advantage of a 3G pitch.
Jay Saunders, the former player who had overseen three promotions, began the season in charge, but a moderate start following on from a poor end to the previous campaign meant he departed in August with the club 19th. Harry Wheeler, available after leaving Billericay, took over but lasted less than four months, by which time the Stones were 23rd. He subsequently went back to the Blues. In came veteran John Still, who guided the original Maidstone United into the Football League in 1989, and Hakan Hayrettin, but the duo were unable to reverse the slide.
One man who was able to put relegation into perspective was general manager Bill Williams. The 76-year-old played for and managed the original Stones and was at the club in 1992, the year it went bust. “I can remember vividly the heartache of us losing our team in this town,” he said. “It was a shocking day. I can’t emphasise how disappointing it is [but] we’re in a good place. We’re not going out of business or anything – we’ve been relegated.”
Co-owner Oliver Ash concurred. “Relegation is not something we would have wanted but the bigger picture is that the club is in a sound financial position and will be able to bounce back and learn from this season. We have made mistakes this year. There have been too many upheavals.”
Ash said Stones, as a community club with a self-sustaining financial model based around a 3G pitch, had found a big jump from Vanarama National League South to Vanarama National League with its much better-resourced clubs. While eager to return there was no presumption, he added, that the top flight was our ‘rightful place”. The current business model suggested they were between the divisions and he and partner Terry Casey, who bought the club nine years ago, when it had large debts and no ground, would have to look at the model.
For now the club can regroup amid the significantly lower costs of Vanarama National League South. Since reforming barely above parks level the club has climbed eight leagues, moved back to Kent’s county town having played in exile for 11 years, and built a neat stadium which holds 4,200 and even this benighted season averages 2,200.
This is actually the phoenix club’s second relegation. The first was from the Isthmian League Premier in 2011. The Stones rolled back from that, winning three subsequent promotions. They hope this one is also a temporary blip.
For more on the Vanarama National League visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/
For great deals on cars and vans, visit: https://www.vanarama.com/
Preparations are underway for our Footballer of the Year and Women’s Footballer of the Year awards dinner, which will be held at the Landmark Hotel, London on Thursday May 9.
Below is a note from the FWA’s Executive Secretary Paul McCarthy outlining how FWA members can vote for their choice and apply for tickets to the dinner, one of the top nights in the sporting calendar:
Chelsea Ladies Fran Kirby poses with FWA Women’s Footballer of the Year 2018 awards during the FWA Footballer of the Year Dinner at The Landmark Hotel, London. Photo credit: Steven Paston/PA Wire
Football Writers Association Patrick Barclay hands over to Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah the 2018 FWA Footballer of the Year 2018 awards during the FWA Footballer of the Year Dinner at The Landmark Hotel, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Thursday May 10, 2018. Photo credit: Steven Paston/PA Wire
Orient hoping for double success – by Glenn Moore
Leyton Orient are on their way to Wembley, seeking to exorcise the memory of 2014 and complete a landmark season. The weekend victory over Telford in their two-leg FA Trophy semi-final booked a place in the non-League showpiece on May 19. It is the first time the Os have reached this final and, they hope, the last.
That is because only non-League clubs are eligible for the Trophy and the Vanarama National League leaders have designs on a return to the Football League. Their Wembley opponents, Fylde, also have promotion on their minds, but are fifth in the table, nine points behind Orient. Realistically the Coasters hope to go Wembley twice in eight days as the play-off final is at the national stadium on May 11.
Once will be enough for Justin Edinburgh’s Os. They would really rather not go to Wembley with promotion at stake, especially after the torment of five years ago. Wembley is where it all began to go wrong for Leyton Orient, mid-afternoon on May 25, 2014. Russell Slade’s team of free transfer recruits had finished third in League One. A return to the second tier, for the first time since 1982, beckoned when they led Rotherham 2-0 at half-time in the play-off final. Though the Millers pegged them back promotion seemed all but secured when Orient led the penalty shoot-out 3-2 after three kicks apiece.
But Mathieu Baudry and Chris Dagnell failed from the spot, Rotherham’s final pair scored, and the Yorkshire club went up instead.
In the wake of the defeat long-serving chairman Barry Hearn sold the club to Francesco Becchetti, an Italian businessman who proved to be a disastrous owner. Slade soon departed beginning a cascade of managers over the next three years as the club suffered two relegations and dropped out of the Football League after 112 years’ tenure.
The Os first season in the Vanarama National League was one of consolidation, first under new ownership, lifelong fan Nigel Travis and American partner Kent Teague, then a new manager, Edinburgh. This season Orient have been in or around the automatic promotion place all season and Tuesday’s defeat of Fylde in the clubs’ Wembley warm-up sent them three points clear with a game in hand.
The last time two promotion-chasing clubs contested the Trophy final, in 2013, Wrexham and Grimsby both failed in the play-offs and there is concern the Trophy could prove a distraction. However, there are precedents for double success.
Since the formation of the National League in 1979 three clubs have achieved the non-League double: Wealdstone, in 1985 (before automatic promotion was instituted), Colchester United in 1992 and Wycombe Wanderers, under Martin O’Neill, in 1993. Three ‘doubles’ in 39 years is not particularly encouraging, but since promotion was expanded to two places in 2003 two clubs in the last seven seasons have won the Trophy and been promoted through the play-offs: York City (2012) and Cambridge United (2014). Should Orient be the first double winners in a quarter-of-a-century, and Fylde join them via the play-offs, their Wembley date will be one of mutual celebration. There is, however, a lot of football to be played first.
For more on Leyton Orient visit: https://www.leytonorient.com
For more on the Vanarama National League visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/
For great deals on cars and vans, visit: https://www.vanarama.com/
A memorial service for Hugh McIlvanney will be held at St Bride’s Church, Fleet Street, London EC4 at 11.30am on Thursday 16 May.
St Bride’s is described as ‘the spiritual home of the media’ so it is a fitting venue for friends, family and former colleagues to remember Hugh, who passed away earlier this year after a long fight with cancer.
FWA Chairman Patrick Barclay, Hugh’s close friend, said: “It will be quite an occasion as we celebrate the life of arguably the greatest sports writer of all. Already I have been made aware that many of Hugh’s admirers from outside journalism would like to join us. They would be more than welcome and I know that would be Hugh’s wish. If they have time to inform the FWA in advance, we’d really appreciate it and shall try to allocate seats.”
More details will follow in due course.
Darren Lewis of the Mirror and FWA’s National Committee attended a debate on Racism in Football, organised by Kick it Out, at BBC Centre, London on March 19. Here are his thoughts…
WE KNOW the numbers.
The people who run the game, who run our media and the industry know all about the glass ceilings and scandalous representation within it.
So it was a breath of fresh air to see football being asked, at Kick It Out’s Raise Your Game event last night, what it intends to do about it.
It was refreshing to hear tough questions being put to the game’s stakeholders.
It was an education – even now – to hear players offering different perspectives on the racial abuse they suffered over so many years. To see the light shone on grass roots football and its frustrations at being ignored as the game takes a long hard look at itself.
Football needs to face up to the harsh realities put forward in that central London meeting room last night. We can only have so many panels. We can only have so many investigations.
We can only have so expressions of sympathy from the game without substantive action to actually change things. We in the written press need to look at ourselves and finally listen to the concerns expressed over many, many years about the representation of young black men.
The broadcast media needs to have more people of colour asking the questions, making decisions about policy, approving content.
It is laughable that there are so few decision-makers of colour with any power in the upper echelons of the FA and the Premier League when football has had so many influential black leaders over the past five decades.
Ex-West Ham striker Carlton Cole, who spoke powerfully on the night, said: “It was a discussion that needed to had.
“Everyone had a point. Some of the people in the room got things off their chest. Now it’s all about action.”
Glenn Moore looks at the contenders for promotion to the Vanarama National League.
While the attention on the elite end of the non-League pyramid tends to focus on those teams seeking to enter the Football League, the scramble to get into the Vanarama National League system is no less intense. But now, as the weeks tick by, the smoke surrounding the battle to get into the two-tier, three-division set-up is clearing with two contrasting clubs favourites to step up.
Kettering Town are older than any club in the Premier League, and all but a handful in the Football League, yet currently play in the seventh tier. Also at step 3 in the non-League pyramid are Dorking Wanderers, only 20 years old but already seeking their 11th promotion. Both are poised to be among the six clubs going up to the Vanarama National League’s regional divisions, but who joins them is far from evident.
Three clubs are promoted into each of Vanarama National League North and Vanarama National League South. In the past that meant the champion and promotion play-off winner from each of the Northern Premier League, Southern League, and Isthmian League (a competition based around London and the south-east). The six would be allocated to the North or South divisions according to geography.
However this year, as part of an ongoing re-organisation of the pyramid, there are four divisions, the Southern League top flight having split into the Premier Central and Premier South respectively. So the four title-winners will go up, along with two further teams emerging from a series of play-offs.
Barring a late collapse, coming up from Southern League Premier Central will be a grand old non-League name – Kettering Town, formed in 1872. If an automatic promotion-and-relegation system had been in place before 1987, then surely they would have reached the Football League much earlier. The Poppies came agonisingly close in the following period, finishing runners-up three times in 12 years. Since then they have had mixed fortunes, achieving prominence during Paul Gascoigne’s ill-fated managerial stint and for an FA Cup run that ended at Craven Cottage, but also losing their much-loved Rockingham Road ground and going into administration. Now, playing at nearby Burton Latimer, they are thriving and sit 11 points clear with eight matches left.
If Kettering are non-League aristocracy, then Dorking Wanderers are street urchins. They were only formed in 1999 and began life in the Crawley and District league playing at Big Field Brockham, which is literally a big field. An astonishing ten promotions later they are 13 points clear in the Isthmian League Premier Division. Wanderers play at Meadowbank, formerly home to the now defunct Dorking FC. Previously the oldest club in Surrey, Dorking disbanded and effectively subsumed into Wanderers in 2017 bequeathing them the ground, which now sports an artificial pitch and doubles up as the Surrey FA HQ.
The other promotion races are much tighter. There is a three-way tussle in the Northern Premier League between Farsley Celtic, Warrington Town and 2017 FA Vase winners South Shields. Only Farsley have played in the National League divisions, managing four years before being expelled in 2010 after suffering financial problems.
The Southern League’s Premier South Division features four contenders for the automatic spot: Taunton, Weymouth and Salisbury, all of whom are well-supported with big ambitions, and Surrey-based Metropolitan Police, who traditionally find spectators harder to attract.
For more on the Vanarama National League, visit: http://www.thenationalleague.org.uk/
For great deals on cars and vans, visit: https://www.vanarama.com/
Jeff Stelling will embark on another epic walking challenge for Prostate Cancer UK – spanning four countries in four days, with the finale in London.
The long-serving Sky Sports television presenter has already completed 25 walking marathons for the leading men’s health charity in 2016 and 2017, raising close to £800,000, and aims to march through the £1m fundraising barrier as he travels to Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff and London from 5-8 September, 2019.
After two trips across the Irish Sea via Glasgow and Belfast and a train trip into England following the penultimate leg in Cardiff, Jeff’s final day includes visits to three Premier League clubs and will start at West Ham United’s London Stadium. He will also visit Charlton Athletic, Millwall FC and Arsenal FC before his quest culminates at Tottenham Hotspur.
The exciting four-day event is part of Prostate Cancer UK’s wider walking programme, March for Men, which returns bigger and better in 2019 with 10 City Walks across the UK in June – including, for a third time, a family-friendly event at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 15 June.
Stelling, meanwhile, will follow up his two mega marches from Hartlepool to Wembley, and Exeter to Newcastle, by pounding the pavements across the major metropoles of four nations and he is urging the public to pull on their walking boots to join him and support the charity in their quest to help stop prostate cancer being a killer.
Over 325,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer in England, and that figure is more than 38,000 in London, emphasising the need to raise awareness and funds.
“It’s three years since I started this life-saving journey at the gates of my club, Hartlepool United, but there is still so much work to do,” said Jeff, who regularly wears the Prostate Cancer UK Man of Men pin badge on Soccer Saturday, alongside former Arsenal stars Paul Merson and Charlie Nicholas.
“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, with one man dying every 45 minutes from this disease. That’s unacceptable, and that’s why I’m walking again.
“It’s an indiscriminate disease, affecting men and their loved ones across the UK. I’ve walked alongside many of them and am proud to call some friends. Their reaction and positive outlook despite being dealt the toughest of hands is simply unbelievable. I’m marching for them – and everyone affected – in a bid to fund the research to change the game.
“That’s why I’m taking our walk across into all four home nations and would love the public to join me en route. I live in England and work in London but the wonderful work of Prostate Cancer UK stretches into Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, so I will be pounding the pavements in four historic cities – and it wouldn’t be a football march without popping in on some iconic stadiums along the way.”
Not only will Stelling navigate 26 miles of walking on each day and trips to 16 new clubs, taking his three-walk tally to 89, but will also face the added challenge of transport connections, including two flights across the Irish Sea.
And, as ever, he wants company as he marches to a million, with walkers invited to join him across all four routes and help him reach his fundraising target. You can find out more via marchformen.org.
Jeff’s 100-plus mile March for Men kicks off in Glasgow, at Hampden Park, home of the Scottish national team, and the nation’s oldest club, Queens Park, in the morning of 5 September and also heads to city giants Rangers FC and Celtic FC before visiting Hamilton Academical and finishing at Motherwell FC.
He will then board a plane to Belfast that evening with Day Two starting at Northern Ireland Football League Premier League club Crusaders before culminating at Windsor Park, home of Linfield as well as the Northern Ireland national team. The Belfast route also visits Cliftonville FC and Glentoran FC.
After flying back across the Irish Sea, Saturday 7 September, sees him in Wales where he will head from League Two Newport County to Premier League Cardiff City and finish at the Principality Stadium.
A train into England will follow that evening before the final amble across London on 8 September, from West Ham United’s London Stadium to Charlton Athletic, Millwall FC and Arsenal FC before finishing at Spurs.
Stelling’s September stroll is part of the third March for Men campaign, another opportunity for the public to raise funds to fight this killer disease.
Now in its third year, Prostate Cancer UK’s March for Men series has grown bigger with ten organised walks including returns to Bristol, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Nottingham and new walks in Belfast, Birmingham and Cardiff. The family-friendly ambles are held over circa 2km, 5km and 10km and supporters are also encouraged to organise their own walks.
Prostate Cancer UK Chief Executive Angela Culhane, who has walked more than 130 miles alongside Stelling across the 2016 and 2017 March for Men events, said: “We’re thrilled that Jeff’s amazing journey will continue this year and are incredibly excited he will be spearheading our drive to raise awareness and funds for vital research across the four nations.
“By visiting Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff and London and walking to some of the country’s iconic stadia alongside fans and people affected by prostate cancer, Jeff’s epic challenge will extend our footprint in football, and prove again the power that sport can have in breaking down barriers and shaping tangible change.
“The fight against prostate cancer, a disease that kills one man every 45 minutes, is a purpose worth uniting for, and we want to continue making strides to combat this disease. That’s why we’re so grateful to Jeff for dusting off his walking boots and plotting another ‘unbelievable’ adventure. Our March for Men walking programme is bigger and better than ever this year with 10 city marches in June, Jeff’s amazing four-day adventure and supporters continuing to organise their own walks, and we are urging people to get involved.
“We are constantly inspired by the incredible men, women and children who come out to support us, each with their own story and personal challenges to conquer. We will be proud to walk side by side with them and together we can add to the real momentum building in the fight against this disease. The vital next step is to fund more ground-breaking research and find the tools needed for a screening programme, in order to catch more prostate cancers early and save more lives.”
Many people are unaware that prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. It’s a huge issue that cannot be ignored. One man will die from prostate cancer every 45 minutes in the UK. That’s over 11,500 men a year.
To sign up and join Jeff or to find out more information about the March for Men programme go to marchformen.org.
We are delighted to join the world in celebrating International Women’s Day by announcing that on the 9th April, the Football Writers’ Association and Snack Media will host an event dedicated to promoting and supporting female football writers and broadcasters.
The first FWA all-women panel will be populated by some of the most recognisable names within the football media world and are also fantastic role models for all aspiring writers and broadcasters – not just for women.
We believe that football is a game of opinions, and the greater the diversity of voices we hear in the sport the better our understanding of it will be.
This event, which seeks to encourage young women who aspire to a career in football media, will take place in Sway Bar, just off Covent Garden. Tickets are FREE but must be applied for through Eventbrite as places are limited.
The Football Writers’ Association Speakers’ Event last October featured Patrick Barclay, Paul McCarthy, John Cross, Raphael Honigstein and Joel Beya. That evening 80 young journalists attended and received advice on taking their first steps in the world of football media from some of the industry’s best-known figures.
April’s event is another chance for the Football Writers’ Association to continue its pledge to promote up and coming personalities within the sports media industry and broaden the voices speaking about football for the good of the sport.
Running Order:
Doors open: 18:00
Panel Starts: 18:30
Panel Ends: 19:45
Address:
Sway Bar
61-65 Great Queen St,
WC2B 5BZ
The event is part of a joint FWA/Snack Media initiative to attract a more diverse workforce to the sports media industry and will be followed by other campaigns, initiatives and recruitment drives in the coming months.
apply for tickets here: https://bit.ly/2H9tyZV
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