Why are heads of football media not recognised in non-league?
Photo credit: Non-League-Grounds
The mystery of English football can make many fans curious to find out why it is the one of the most entertaining and intense football pyramids in the world.
Football in England makes up of the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two, and the National League which are widely watched and consumed nationally and locally.
But what about other leagues that are not known in the lower tiers by existing match-going and online fans?
Social media continues to be a key part to transform how fans view football in the current era of sports. The fandoms are seeing creative football media specialists working on digital platforms behind the scenes to help them integrate into the sport they love.
Halesowen Town head of football media Ben Ditchfield believes that finances and vital resources are crucial towards the visibility of heads of football media while working in the seventh tier of the pyramid.
“If you are a rich club, it helps make your social media better because you can recruit a better head of football media. You can recruit better or more experienced people who work under him, said Ditchfield.
“I guess money and finances do have a big say in how a club can operate. Like if you're a volunteer around the club, which we are, there's only a certain standard you can meet.
“It does make it hard to reach a very high level of communication. In terms of the growth. It's down to the way you produce content. You need to find ways of making your content short, that makes it easier for you to produce it. It also makes it easier for fans to digest it.”
Figure 1: A data visualisation of top 3 most followed SPLC sides
According to a study I conducted on the most followed sides in the Southern Premier League Central, Leamington FC are sat in first place with a following of 120.8k.
Worcester City FC and Stourbridge FC who are ranked in second and third positions have 54.9k and 45.2k followers.
To keep an eye on Halesowen Town in non-league football, their next fixture will be Kettering Town away from home on Saturday, hoping to maintain their six-match league unbeaten run.