As we head into a brand new non-league season which began on Friday evening for some the consumption of the next nine months or so is something I really can’t wait for.
Despite what I’ve felt has been a short close season, the National League completed on 5th June, it’s time to go again and see what pans out over the course of the season.
I’m slightly surprised at myself in attending pre-season games again. The last two seasons I’ve been desperate to watch games after being denied the chance and those who know me well will know I don’t really like them, the manor of endless substitutions tended to ruin the game I was watching.
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Now I fully get the point of what the games are for, not really for us spectators apart from running the rule over new recruits, seeing what changes have been made to grounds and trying to work out what formation we’re going to be seeing in the future.
We should respect it’s the players time to get fit, in tune, and be ready for the opening day of the season whatever level it’s at. Managers are looking, tweaking, preparing with that goal of starting the campaign with a win.
Whilst this has always been the case it’s only been the last couple of years whilst blogging that I realised that I should be looking at these games from an analytical way of watching, as I do for a league or cup match, I suppose in the way a manager or coach would be doing. Forget the 60 minutes on the clock and a raft of players exiting and entering, there’s a whole host of different things to be looking at.
That’s not to say I’ve gone nuts and tried to head to as many games as I can or could, a majority of those have been for reasons of watching the sides involved for that look of how they shape up, managers I know as friends and at times grounds I’ve not been to for a huge number of years.
But like the next person I can’t wait for the pre-season part to end and to get my teeth into the real stuff, whether that’s at my own club Barnet or I’m heading elsewhere across the South mainly. I’ve a list already of clubs I didn’t get to last year and will make it this time around and no doubt some will crop up during the season.
The added extra of my new podcast, Trev Talks, which paid subscribers receive as part of their monthly subscription once the guests start flowing, gives me another platform to air my views and get some people onto the short bursts of audio to give you just enough.
Each year I try and push what is now www.footballwriting.co.uk to another level and it’s something for everyone. Those of you reading this are paying to do so, something I honestly didn’t think I would get to and already at a level I thought would take me six months at least to reach, but it happened in less than four.
My next target is to increase the level of total subscribers, that’s paid and free readers and I’m also really close to that level of 200 already. The free subscriber gets emails to their inbox as per the paid subscriber, but they don’t get to see the good stuff, only the first two paragraphs and that will be the same with guest podcasts.
It would be great if you guys who see the full works can spread the word around and help bump up the numbers, if they pay fantastic, but they are as valuable as you in reading what I write, they’ll hopefully enjoy what they can see and go for more! Here’s to a fantastic season of watching some honest, enjoyable and at times rewarding football…………….
