My blog about Lewes FC looks like it may hit 20,000 reads this year, which, for context, is extraordinary. Out of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT—with its access to web traffic data—what kind of annual traffic a typical niche blog on a non-league football club might receive. The answer? Between 500 and 2,000 reads per year. Last year, my blog was read in 72 different countries!
So let’s be clear: by those standards, my blog hasn’t just done well—it’s been a stunning success. Enough of blowing my own trumpet!
A Blog Built on Instinct (and a Bit of Chaos)
What makes this even more surprising is that I’ve done all of this without really knowing what I’m doing. The blog was originally set up by a friend I used to run a printed fanzine with. We’d knock out a few opinion pieces about the club, and while they were fun to write, they didn’t exactly make waves. Few people read them. But that never really mattered. I enjoyed writing them—and that turned out to be enough.
What changed? Two things, I think:
- Lewes FC’s growing profile. Over the last few years, it has become one of the more high-profile non-league clubs, especially due to its social initiatives and controversies.
- Consistency. I stuck with it. I kept writing. And as I gained confidence, I began sharing my blogs more widely, especially on Facebook. That regularity began to pay off.
Over time, I became something of a known voice on Lewes FC. People started to associate my blog with credible, consistent, and honest commentary. And with that came organic search traffic from Google, which rewards exactly that: original content written consistently over time.
In short, the more I wrote, the better I got—and the more people read.
Hitting the Ceiling
But now, I feel I’ve taken the Lewes FC blog as far as I can. The club appears to have been taken over by people who, mercifully, seem vaguely sensible. That, of course, reduces the drama—and the blogging material. Which means it’s time for something new.
So here comes the big switch: I’m going part-time in my business to expand my writing into other subjects. I’ll be branching out into vintage items, punk, new wave, and generally anything that holds my interest.
It’s a huge shift—and yes, it means starting from scratch.
Starting Again: A Reality Check
This week was my first real test. Ten days ago, I published a blog about Lewes FC. It got 650 hits—effortless, almost automatic. This week, I published 10 blogs on other subjects and got… maybe 50 hits in total.
That’s right. One Lewes blog: 650 views. Ten other blogs: 50 views.
But honestly? That doesn’t bother me. Because I know how this works. It’s going to take at least a year to build traction in new subject areas. The Lewes blog succeeded partly because I had little competition: I was one of the only people regularly writing about the club, aside from the club’s own comms. That made my blog the go-to source, even within a small ecosystem.
But now I’m stepping into the real world of blogging—vintage culture, subcultures, music history, and other rich, crowded topics. And this time, the competition is massive. There are thousands of other bloggers, creators, YouTubers, influencers, and niche experts writing on the same subjects.
If I want to be seen, I’ll need to level up—both in quality and visibility.
Laying the Foundations for Phase Two
This week I took the first steps. I signed up for LinkedIn, Reddit, and Substack, and I’ve started building a presence under the new title: “The Rights of Fans.” I’ve also cleared out my old social media accounts to start fresh, focused, and intentional.
I know I’ll need to:
- Sharpen the appearance and usability of the blog, I will almost certainly need to invest in a complete professional makeover.
- Promote content strategically across platforms. The labyrinth of doom.
- Learn the rules of SEO, social sharing, and visual presentation. The labyrinth of doom 2.
But I’m okay with all that. Because what I’ve learned from writing about Lewes FC is that if you’re persistent and authentic, and have a bit of nous, good things follow. You just need to give it time, show up, and not be afraid to publish, fail, learn, and publish again.
So here’s to the next chapter, more effort, less certainty. but, hopefully, more rewarding.
#LewesFCBlog #NonLeagueFootball #BloggingJourney #TheRightsOfFans #VintageCulture
The Rights of Fans. 