The Journeyman: A Fan-Voted Football Series

The writer, who previously completed “Doing the 92” – a season-long project that visited and featured every Football League club – describes the English football pyramid as the nation’s greatest cultural asset, yet one that is fragile and often taken for granted. That experience, combined with a belief that supporters should help shape coverage, led to the conception of a new, interactive series called The Journeyman.

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Each week of the season the writer will post a poll offering a range of possible destinations, from Premier League sides to non-league, Scottish and even European clubs. There are no geographic limits; the only rule is that the club receiving the most votes is selected. After the poll closes, the writer travels to the chosen venue, produces a detailed feature within the following week, and supplements the story with a short match-vlog on Instagram. The author emphasizes that the options presented will be ones he feels confident he can “nail,” ensuring quality reporting across all levels of the game.

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In the concluding remarks, the writer acknowledges that on-the-ground journalism incurs costs and argues that paying for journalism is essential to avoid “half-a-job” coverage. He stresses that his approach will remain hands-on and authentic, driven by personal enjoyment of visiting clubs rather than a detached, secondary style.

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The series aims to deliver a researched, interview-rich article for each visited club, drawing on conversations with club staff and prominent fan voices. Alongside the written pieces, the accompanying Instagram vlogs are intended to be light-hearted and informal. Over the course of the season, the writer plans to cover roughly 80–100 matches, a workload he describes as both comforting in its predictability and liberating in its uncertainty.

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By allowing fans to decide the itinerary, the project seeks to spotlight clubs that might otherwise receive only superficial attention. The writer hopes the initiative will reinforce the cultural value of lower-league football, provide deeper insight for supporters, and demonstrate that sustained, paid journalism can thrive when it directly involves its audience.

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