Content is free

Last week, people from The Guardian revamped the sport section of their website and officially launched The Guardian Sport Network. According to the blurb, they’ve “partnered with a range of sites to diversify [their] content and promote an open model of journalism.” This means they’ve identified some of their favourite amateur bloggers, and will be running their contributions on The Guardian website alongside articles  commissioned  from their professional, paid staff and freelances.

For the casual reader, it’s a win-win situation. The Guardian is handpicking  contributors, thus ensuring a degree of quality, and because they’re getting more content at no extra cost, there’s more chance The Guardian website can stay free for longer. Since its launch, I’ve read interesting, thought-provoking, well-researched articles about the decline of FC Porto, the lack of team harmony at Paris Saint-Germain and the race for the title in the top division of Brazil – all subjects unlikely to be published in a national newspaper due to their lack of British appeal. However, there’s a strong feeling that The Guardian is treating its new contributors unfairly; if their work is of a sufficient standard to make it onto the website of a national newspaper, surely they deserve remuneration.

Of course, The Guardian’s argument will be that it's offering talented writers exposure and giving them the platform to go on to bigger (paid) things. They do have a point; an article on The Guardian website is a fairly strong seal of approval and it has been known for amateur journalists to be offered work elsewhere as a result.

There’s a similar thing going on over at the music section too. “Seen any good gigs recently?” the website asks, inviting the readers to “tell us about any live music you’ve seen”. 2011 has also seen the introduction of a section for readers of The Guardian to review any of the 3 million or so albums they have in their database. So, if you’re fed up with the smorgasbord of reviews by professional journalists or highly-experienced amateurs, a few clicks will give you the musings on Lou Reed & Metallica’s “Lulu” by such luminaries as ‘Kalyr’, ‘JezebelDulac’ and ‘thesliurge’.

A touch of uncharitable jealousy? Quite possibly, and it’s probably time to show my hand. I’m a writer, I’ve had over a hundred articles published on websites and in print, but I’ve never been paid a penny for my work. I’m trying to forge a path in an industry where there’s incredible competition for every position, and poor pay, exploitation and nepotism are rife. A large percentage of the UK’s unpaid internships are in the media; I once asked someone what the best way to make it in journalism was, they replied, “have a parent who owns a newspaper”.

I have my scruples though, and I’ve never knowingly taken a job from a professional by writing a piece for free that would normally be paid. This conscientious attitude may end up being my undoing and clambering over rivals could be the only way to the top. If that’s the case, I want no part in it.

However, this debate is nothing new, and the growth of the internet has led to a rise in ‘citizen journalism’ already. You can now leave your comments on any major news story, television programmes invite us to text in, tweet our photos and have our say. This tends to reach its annual nadir when national news programs show pictures of snowmen and viewers’ gardens to illustrate how cold it is, rather than carry important news.

Quality content cannot continue to be free everywhere; it’s a completely unrealistic business model. The Times, The Daily Mirror and The Independent operate behind paywalls already, and The Sun is considering a similar move. It would appear The Guardian is opposed to such measures, and maybe the only way to give people content for free is to obtain it for free. Don’t expect everybody to be happy about it though; as good writing and journalism become under valued, a new generation of writers may have to see exposure and kudos as a worthy alternative to cold, hard cash. There’s a danger that journalism could become an exclusive club for the well-off, rather than an honest profession. It would seem that an “open model of journalism” roughly equates to “anything goes”.

In Focus: AFC Wimbledon

The tale of AFC Wimbledon will be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in English football. A non-league club for much of their existence, they were elected to the Football League in 1977, beginning a rapid rise up the pyramid which culminated in their promotion to the top tier just nine years later. In 1988, Wimbledon defied the odds to lift the FA Cup, becoming the first team to have won both the FA Cup and FA Amateur Cup, but it was soon after trophy success the wheels began to fall off.

Forced out of their Plough Lane home, Wimbledon held on to their top flight status for another dozen years after their cup triumph, but finally succumbed to relegation. Following lengthy negotiations and fervent protests, the club were “relocated” 90km north to Milton Keynes and re-branded as the MK Dons. Though such refranchising moves are relatively commonplace in American sports, this move was by far the most high-profile such decision taken by the board of an English football club.

Bereft by the loss of their club, a group of Wimbledon FC supporters formed AFC Wimbledon in 2002 and the fairytale began. They started life in the Combined Counties League but shot up the non-league system and at the end of last season, AFC beat Luton Town on penalties at Wembley to return to the Football League. Saturday 6th August sees AFC take on Bristol Rovers in their first game back in the big time. All the hard work has finally paid off.

All well and good, but what has this got to do with music? Well, for a start, the team play at Kingstonian’sground, Kingsmeadow, which is sponsored by indie label Cherry Records. Plus, the club play an active part in the local community, and have been raising funds by hosting a series of gigs. Joe Rivers caught up with Jim Piddlington, the Commercial Executive of AFC Wimbledon, to talk about how music supports the club but first, how Jim saved Oxford Street’s famous 100 Club.

So, first things first, how did you save the 100 Club?

I wouldn’t say I saved the 100 Club single-handedly but I have no doubt that we had a hell of a lot to do with getting the problem out there in the media and making people aware of it.  At the beginning when we heard that it might be shutting our aim was to raise enough money to buy out the present owner. Unfortunately, as time was short we didn’t raise enough and therefore our plan was thwarted.  In the meantime I worked tirelessly getting the club in the press, on TV, on the radio and buttonholing musicians to do their bit. I managed to get Mick Jagger to do an interview for Planet Rock radio and in one of our first meetings we were deciding who we wanted to play at the club to raise awareness. I said, “Paul McCartney”, to which everyone laughed but in December last year Paul McCartney played the 100 Club as part of the ‘Save the 100 Club’ campaign.  At the end of last year Converse stepped in (pun intended) and have sponsored the club to help it through the bad time it is going through.

How did Cherry Red end up sponsoring the Kingsmeadow Stadium?

Iain McNay, the Chairman of Cherry Red, is a long time Wimbledon fan and has been involved in one way or another with AFC Wimbledon since the beginning. Cherry Red started off sponsoring the President’s Lounge at Kingsmeadow and a few years ago moved up to sponsoring the stadium.

How long have music and comedy nights been run at the stadium? 

We’ve had KingsmeadowLive running a good few years now but the comedy has been at Kingsmeadowsince the 1990s. The last few years has seen KingsmeadowLive grow as a live music venue with the likes of Neville Staple from The Specials and The Beat gracing our stage.  We have got some great gigs lined up for the rest of this year and started booking for next year too. Billy Rath of Johnny Thunders band The Heartbreakers and Steve Dior of the Delinquents are playing in their band The Broken Hearts along with The Sex Pistols Experience here later in the year so that should be a really good gig. Next year I’ve already booked The Selecter in January and Chas Hodges (of Chas and Dave) so as I said, next year is looking good already.

What’s been your favourite gig so far and who would be your ultimate fantasy booking?

My favourite gig here was Neville Staples first show, all the energy you expect and some great songs. My fantasy gig would be an all-day festival, big stage, thousands of people all crammed into the stadium with Paul Weller headlining.

A KingsmeadowLive gig which wasn’t help here but held at New Wimbledon Theatre at the end of last year was Mumford & Sons which was a bit of a coup. Marcus [Mumford] is a big AFC Wimbledon fan so they agreed to do the gig for us to help raise money for the club; it was sold out in minutes.

What gave AFC Wimbledon the idea of putting on gigs as a way to raise money?

We have a great venue that lends itself to gigs, a great PA and a capacity of 300; it was a no-brainer to use it to raise money. See some great bands and earn the club some money at the same time? Perfect.

Do you think it’s more difficult for smaller clubs to survive nowadays and how proud of you of what AFC Wimbledon have achieved?

I don’t think it will ever happen again, from trials on the common to the Football League in nine years. I don’t think it’s hard for small clubs to survive these days, I think it’s the middle sized clubs that struggle most, especially ones where the fans are dwindling. AFC Wimbledon is owned by the fans and they have the ultimate say in what happens at the club and every penny AFC Wimbledon make, from fundraising - likeKingsmeadowLive - merchandise, gate receipts, all goes back into the club to help the manager buy players, upgrade the stadium and keep AFC Wimbledon in the black. The AFC Wimbledon story is utterly amazing and what’s even more exciting, is that the story is only half finished. First half, get  back into the Football League. Second half, get back home to the Borough of Merton.

Will you be at Kingsmeadow Stadium for the Bristol Rovers game on 6th August and what are your predictions for AFC Wimbledon in the 2011-2 season?

I wouldn’t miss that game for the world! We are going to have a full house here, it’s live on Sky Sports and the world will be watching. I think we will do alright this season.  Along with most of the team from last season, we’ve made some good signings during the summer and we’ve got some youngsters coming through the youth system, so I’d like to say we will be fighting for a play-off place come the end of the season. That said, I’d be happy with a consolidating year, mid-table, and then automatic promotion next season. [Manager] Terry Brown has steered us to these heights and we all trust him to take us even higher. They say history never repeats; I’m not so sure.

To find out more information including gig listings, visit www.kingsmeadowlive.com or www.afcwimbledon.co.uk/shop/tickets. You can also follow KingsmeadowLive on Facebook and Twitter.

The Contradictions of Footballing Rivalries

For a change of pace - and to try and extend the number of categories of topics I write about to... er, two - I've written an article examining the curious relationship between rival clubs.

It was Morrissey who first said “we hate it when our friends become successful.” As true as this may be, there is an alternate maxim that also holds some weight: “We hate it when our enemies become failures.”

This may not make much sense at first glance, but this is the realm of football fans we’re talking about: a world where little makes sense initially. It’s a state of mind where intelligent, educated men (it’s nearly always men, though they‘re often far from intelligent) are prepared to spend thousands of pounds and invest hours and hours of their time each year to follow their team around the country. In most civilised quarters, if you drove 400 miles to Wigan on a rainy Tuesday in December to watch eleven obscenely overpaid athletes - a fair few of whom had never even heard of your beloved club until their agent called and the pound signs flashed before their eyes - essentially chase a leather ball around a field. Yes, there’s the ecstasy of the last minute winner that guarantees promotion or safety, the sublime goal conjured from nothing, the thrill of an end-to-end 4-3 victory, but these occurrences are all too rare and fleeting. When was the last time you saw a football fan actually happy while watching their team? For the most part, it’s a painful, unrequited relationship, full of disappointment and resentment.

Football fans really do love their clubs though; often talking about the club as if they were part of it. “We were brilliant on Saturday,” “the referee didn’t give us anything” and so on. In fact, the only feeling or loyalty in football that even comes close to the love of the fan for their club is the hatred of that same fan towards their club’s local rivals. A small confession - I’m little better. While “hatred” is far too strong a word in my case, (I’m probably not classed as a “real” fan anyway; I’ve been to one game in the last five seasons) the result I look out for immediately after my own club (another example, calling them my club) is that of the local rivals in the hope that they’ve lost.

In mid-April, Ipswich Town beat Norwich City 3-2 in a Coca-Cola Championship match at Portman Road. Little was at stake for Ipswich other than local bragging rights, their season dissolved into mid-table nothingness not long after Christmas, but the result left Norwich in serious danger of relegation to League One. The next day, the independent Ipswich Town website, Those Were The Days (www.twtd.co.uk) held an online poll: “Do you want Norwich City to be relegated?” That same day, a look at the results would have told you that 30% of people voted ‘No.’

Just to get this out of the way at the earliest possible opportunity, this is hardly the most scientific or rigorous of surveys - perhaps a disgruntled Delia Smith felt the need to spend all of Monday morning vigorously attacking her left mouse button with an egg whisk while the cursor hovered over the ‘No’ option - but it still raises an interesting question: If Norwich are Ipswich’s bitterest and most-despised rivals, why are there any fans who wouldn’t want them to be relegated?

Just to put it into context, relegation to the third tier of English football would be little short of a disaster for Norwich City. As recently as 1993 they played in the UEFA Cup where they became the first and only English side to defeat Bayern Munich in Germany in a competitive match. Rivalry between Ipswich and Norwich has been fierce since their first meeting in 1902 and has maintained ferocity despite the fact that League One side Colchester United play less than twenty miles from Ipswich whereas Norwich is over forty miles away.

This is the thing about bitter football rivalries; although they are usually formed due to geographical proximity, it is historical factors that keep them on the boil. Ipswich and Norwich are both moderately successful clubs and have played in the same level of the Football League system many times. Colchester, on the other hand, are a relatively new club and have spent only two of the last forty years in the same league as their more famous cousins. Colchester fans hold a bitter grudge against Ipswich (although their main rivals are arguably fellow Essex-dwellers Southend United), possibly borne from envy, but Ipswich fans are generally dismissive of their lower-league neighbours. The history explains why clubs that have fairly recently become successful after decades in the wilderness, such as Hull City, Wigan Athletic and Fulham, don’t really have derby games. The clubs that they would see as their rivals are still languishing divisions below and whilst the media may try to create the perception of a derby around Wigan versus Blackburn or Fulham versus Chelsea, the truth is Chelsea and Blackburn are likely to not even care.

But why even create a media frenzy? Well, it sells more papers for a start but the clubs want the revenue. Ipswich’s average attendance for league games this season is somewhere around the 20000 mark, but for the Norwich game, the gate was up to 28274. At £29 for a ticket, that’s nearly £250000 more for the football club. Next season, no Norwich means no local derby, means no sell-out game. Leicester City and Peterborough United have been promoted from League One for next season; no disrespect meant, but they’re unlikely to bring in the fans in the same way.

So, they’re the teams we love to hate and the teams we hate to love. For the record, a 4-2 defeat to already relegated Charlton Athletic means that Norwich City will be spending the 2009/10 season in League One. Long trips to Exeter, Hartlepool and Carlisle await for those loyal enough to follow their club through thick and thin while they look with envy at Ipswich with their new, high-profile manager and aspirations of bigger things. Ipswich are amongst the favourites to win promotion to the Premiership next season; there will be a lot of people hoping that Norwich aren’t too far behind.