AOB: Paper Talk

Updates to this blog have been a bit sporadic of late, mainly because I’ve been having to actually do some work rather than spending my time thinking about which United players resemble wild animals (I’ve got a new one up my sleeve lookalike fans). Hopefully I’ll get back in the swing of things over the next couple of weeks.

Being in the Conference doesn’t have much going for it when compared to the heady heights of League Two. I’ve whinged about the shambolic organisation of the division before, and after tonight’s match at Kiddy we face two weeks without a league game due to some joke cup competitions that nobody gives a monkeys about.

However, one of the joys of being non-league is the increased media coverage available. We have plenty of televised matches (albeit on Setanta, an organisation so shoddy one could write) and two national newspapers dedicated to the non-league football – The well established Non-League Paper (NLP) and new kid on the block Non-League Today (NLT).

So far this season I have usually been buying The NLP, partly out of loyalty and partly because I think the front page of NLT looks a bit cheap and nasty. However, this weekend I happened to end up with both publications so can give a brief overview of their respective merits.

As I said, I don’t like the front page of NLT – it’s too colourful and it looks like a comic. There’s a similar feeling inside, with plenty of pictures interspersing the text, so if such things put you off then it isn’t the newspaper for you. Aside from this there’s loads to read, including columns from U’s past and present, with goal-poacher turned wannabe hack Tom Youngs contributing a piece about talented Youngs-ters (hoho), and our current chief scout (and, judging by his photo, part time sunbed tester) Willy Wordsworth’s wicked whispers. To complete the tabloidy effect there are scantily clad ladies on page three.

The NLP is an altogether more serene affair, with less colour and less pictures. Regular columnists include Stuart Hammonds, who has great knowledge of the non-league and has done a couple of interesting pieces on United recently, and the notorious Graham Westley, who always has plenty to say, albeit while shamelessly promoting himself at every opportunity.

Both are good publications, and if we do get promoted this season I will miss the kind of coverage they provide. As for which is better, well I think that depends on what you’re looking for. NLT goes for a broader selection of short articles, with lots of news snippets and short opinion pieces. The NLP takes a less-is-more approach, with better in-depth articles and more match reports, but less news coverage. A lot of the news stories in NLT are available on their excellent website anyway, so for now I think I’ll be sticking with the NLP, but it’s good to know they have some competent competition to keep them on their toes.