The kind of dedication with which people follow football, its said — “You can change your job, your wife, your political affiliations but you can never change your football club”
If you’re starting out as a football writer keep in mind that there is no lack of content hungry fans, its entirely up to you how you can creatively engage them and with football there are ample of subject avenues you can visit the trick is to go where no one goes while still being relevant to fans and close to game.
What can we write about (I will be explaining a bit and citing an example if possible but mostly its in bullets for better reading)
History/Current
-players : legendary players/ golden generations(England 2006–2010)/upcoming talents(Rodrygo,Vincious)/failed careers(Hulk, Mario Gotze)
-controversies : match/players/awards
-important changes : 1961 abolition of maximum wage cap fought by PFA against the FA and the FLA
-origins : Formation of clubs, breaking into two causing a split rivalry(Everton), historic changing of club locations(Arsenal move to London), downfall of clubs like Leeds United etc…
-myths/voodoo/ Traditions : the curse of el-Pupas and arrival of el-Locco that lifted it(sort of).
Derbies/Rivalries : Derbies are the most important fixtures they can either make or break the teams season, El Classico & Der Classiker are usually between the two teams that are nearby in the top table, Manchester, Merseyside, Madrid, North London have all been historically important derby games. These games even have social-economic(Madrid), political(Classico) and other significance attached to the game hence are the most important to cover.
Fans/Ultras : The famous yellow wall of Borussia Dortmund the has exclusive members & create the an atmosphere that is most intimidating to play against, or the Heysel stadium disaster caused by Liverpool fans that caused EPL teams ban from all European competitions.
Ultras are the the organised football fans that usually have violent tendencies. Some clubs have notoriously well known ultras they are often involved in violent crashes in breakouts, fighting visiting fans and often taking controversial stances(Red Star Belgrade (Delije), Lazio(Irriducibles)).
Transfer Market : Which player possibly goes where, possible choices for the club to improve the positions they lack in, controversial transfer (going to rival club), record breaking transfers(N-E-Y-M-A-R), cheap scoops (Earling Haland’s 20M scoop) and all.
Club Politics : The most famously talked about politics is that of FCB how during Joan Laporta’s presidential run the club was truly “mes que un club” they played an impressive style of football know as total football, FCB mainly sported homegrown talents, no player was more important than the team, the shirt had no sponsors no UNICEF got the charity from shirts and that was the FCB that till this day most fans are in love with but after Laporta’s departure the clubs state is in ruins its nowhere close to the philosophy is championed that why 2021 club president elections are extremely vital.
FIFA franchise : have been playing Fifa since i don’t know when and its a well known game closely link with actual one and it recently got a lot of light during lockdown charity FIFA 20 games.
-New features : FIFA 20 TOTS are out for the release Serie A and Bundesliga are covered what about EPL and LaLiga, did your favorite player make it.
-Tactics : Playing which player, in what settings, which formation, where in the formation and which tactics to get the best results
Betting odds : People bet on all sorts of stupid things like, Willian’s next club odds 20/1 Sevilla and 20/1 Valencia like that's ever going to happen, and looking at these odds makes for an interesting pass-time and some laughs.
-fantasy football league : its a very intuitive game with smart tactics and strategic planning. Fun fact chess grand master Magnus Carlsen consistently ranks among top 10 in Fantasy EPL.
Technical aspects
-measurement metrics : XGA, distance covered, tackles, saves etc, and interpreting them appropriately for eg the all defending done by defenders is not tangible hence tackles/interceptions per 90 mins isn’t an indicator of defender quality but defensive style, Van Dijk makes 0.67 tackles per games but his one of the best defenders.
-technical teams : Arsenals data & analysis team that founded StatDNA which revolutionised player and game analytics at Arsenal, but has been on a decline since Arsen Wegner left the post of sporting director. Liverpool’s hiring of SPECIAL THROW IN coach and the difference it has made.
Things I follow for all these updates :
Youtube : Tifo football, COPA90, The Coach’s voice, HITC SEVENS
Social media : Bleachers, odd bible, sports bible, espnfc, club pages, fan pages, opinion pages(Blaugrana, Los Blancos, Liverpool Hindi etc..), club twitters, manager twitters.
Others : club mirrors and newspapers, telegraph.uk, The Atheletic
