The Equaliser Interview
The Equaliser was nominated for Best New Football Site award. We asked them to talk about the awards, how 2010 had turned out for The Equaliser, future plans and of course, who they would vote for in the awards. Here’s the interview:
1) You’ve been nominated for Best New Football Site, chosen by both fans and industry experts, how does it feel?
It’s a privilege to have been nominated, and a surreal one at that. Although I didn’t necessarily set out with the purpose of attracting a large readership or gaining any particular plaudits, it’s very satisfying to have had my work appreciated in such a meritocratic fashion.
2) What kind of year has 2010 been for The Equaliser?
It’s been a busy and, in many ways, remarkable year for the blog. I set up The Equaliser in March as a means to the end of practising my writing, stumbling around in an attempt to improve my application to the craft. Over the course of the year I’d like to think that the content on the blog has steadily improved and that I’m slowly achieving my initial ambition. While the blog doesn’t have any specific niche, I’ve been absolutely delighted with the way in which people have responded to some of the pieces I’ve written since its creation.
3) What do you think has been the key factor in your success?
It’s very hard to say. I put a lot of time and energy into writing, which I suppose can only help, but I think that the response of the readership has been the crucial factor. Blogging relies on word of mouth, and if people enjoy what you are writing they will tell others and reputations grow exponentially. That said, ‘success’ is very much a relative concept and The Equaliser pales in comparison with several of the other blogs that have been nominated for the SLAs.
4) If you were casting a vote for your any of your fellow nominees, who would it be?
You can’t help but admire Michael Cox’s work at Zonal Marking. His articles are unfailingly informative while retaining their accessibility and I think he deserves to take a lot of credit for increasing levels of tactical awareness amongst even the most casual of football fans. It’s gratifying to see him getting the recognition he deserves with columns for FourFourTwo and appearances on Guardian Football Weekly.
5) What’s next for The Equaliser?
Good question. I recently made the decision to abandon traditional match reports and analysis in favour of a greater number of articles discussing the history and wider cultural significance of football, a change that I feel very comfortable in having made. For the time being I’m going to carry on along that line and see where it takes me, although I’d like to start branching out and doing some interviews for the site in the near future.
6) Have you seen the Castrol Football Rankings? What do you think about them, and who do you think is the best footballer in the world at the moment?
They seem to give an objective view of performance, which can only be a good thing. It’s hard to look beyond Lionel Messi as the world’s best player, but I think Xavi deserves to be put in the same bracket for his incredibly high standard of midfield play over the last eight to ten years. Both players are absolutely phenomenal.
You can vote for The Equaliser in the following award category:
Back to the main 2010 Soccerlens Awards nominee interviews page.
Topics: Interviews
