Why do we do it?

Right ho.

To answer the first questions in something like reverse order. I had a quite lengthy (and, to be honest, unpleasant) spell out of work after University and one of the things that I did was to write off to all of the local newspapers on spec. One of the local papers - quite a big one - wrote back to say that they were taking on one or two new people for their sports desk but that they had received a lot of applications and would let me know if successful. About seven or eight months later, I got my first "proper" job, working on a sales team in an office. About two months after that, I received a letter offering me one month's trial, saying that they were offering a job from two of the four people that impressed the most. Jobs, though, were hard to come by and after thinking long and hard about it - I would have had to quit the job that it had taken me more than a year to find - I turned them down. Six months later, I was made redundant.

I'm not particularly inclined towards regret or looking back, but that remains probably the biggest single regret of my life. I didn't get involved with blogging for a long time after getting a home internet connection (about nine years after, to be precise), but the opportunity presented itself in the form of a couple of months off work coming together at the same time as the 2006 World Cup. So, I thought I'd give it a go and see whether, you know, I was actually able to do it. If it didn't work out, I'd quietly close it after the tournament. The rest probably goes without saying.

What makes me carry on... well, there are stories to be told and there is an argument to be pushed. Just when it things might go quiet, another Wrexham/Chester/Plymouth/Weymouth crops up (and those stories, the site stats prove, are just as popular as anything about the Premier League - only the World Cup blows everything else out of the water). Even if I were to give it up, 200% would probably continue with the other people that do it. It's a communal effort now, not just mine, even though it probably still is perceived as such (and I pay the bills, and so on!). The most honest answer is that I still enjoy doing it, even though I have been running on empty at stages over the last few months. Money is not a major motivating factor. I have turned down plenty of advertising for 200% over the years and will continue to do so until it feels right to. I have made bits and pieces of money from freelancing and was lucky enough to bag a free trip to Japan at the end of 2006. I've also had a couple of ideas for books that I may one day do something about. I have had, I rather think, a good run so far.

I have always said that I would stop when it becomes a chore or when I stop enjoying doing it. That said, I have been very lucky, met some extraordinary people and had some extraordinary adventures over the last five years. The costs are still a long way off being greater than the benefits. In terms of commitments, anybody that knows me will be aware that it is just work, my partner and my cat. Who knows who or whether this will change in the future?

On the final question, well, I am somewhat of the opinion that anybody that claims not to care at all about how many people read their site may be being slightly disingenous. Of course it matters: it's a form of validation - as is the matter of recognition. I do think that if the site viewing figures fell away considerably, I would probably ask myself the question of whether its time had passed and was time to move onto something else. Whether that was another blog or writing for someone else's, I have no idea.

I started pretty much by accident and I have no idea where I even want it to go. For me, the big question is why I do it. The answer's simple: the people I've met, the experiences I've had, the things I've learned and the friends I've made have been such a bonus that I want it all to continue.

What makes you do what you do?
Why do you do it?
Why did you start?
What makes carry on?
What would make you stop?

I do it because I enjoy it. It's one of my hobbies and it's all borne out my love (need!) to collect, catalogue and curate stuff.

It all started with my football programme collection. I'd come across a few accounts on flickr where folk shared images of programmes and other memorabilia in their collections. I'd recently bought a scanner so decided to do the same. As I scanned and uploaded my programmes I got an increasing number of hits and thought hell yeah other people are actually interested in my collection. To this day my flickr account still generates hundreds more hits than my blog.

I started researching some of the more obscure matches I've got programmes from and started to write a few words about the game(s) in question. Eventually I decided to start a tumblr blog because in the course of my cyber-travels I came across an increasing amount of awesome footy stuff on the web and wanted a place where I could not only curate this stuff but share with other like-minded folk.

I don't care for the EPL, the current England team or anything particularly mainstream. My interest is in the history of football, the nostalgic, quirky or downright weird so whenever I found obscure football-related images, videos, links etc on the web I shared them via tumblr. A really great platform for quick and easy blogging. Couple of clicks and blam you've created a blog post. The content I was created was short & snappy, an image here and few sentences there, ideally suited to the tumblr community and their, it must be said, rather short attention span! That's why my blog description is togga tumbles, football fragments, soccer snips.

I started getting positive feedback, especially from Tom Dunmore who runs Pitch Invasion, who used some of my images and linked to my blog from his own. This lead to a relatively large increase in the number of visitors who viewed my content, especially from outside the tumblr community. I must admit this massaged the old ego a bit and demonstrated there was an audience for what I was sharing. As a blogger page views help validate what you're doing therefore providing a reason for continuing. Buoyed by this new found interest in my blog I must admit to becoming a bit of an amateur SEO, optimising my blog as best I can in order to gain traction in google and other search engines.

My follower numbers on tumblr kept increasing and by this time I was on twitter, getting retweets, comments, and more followers further reinforcing the worth of what I was doing. I started to write more long-form posts, researching topics and covering stuff in a little more depth.

It all started to snowball. My blog received some recognition from Tumblr itself when I received an email from one of their head honchos (after a recommendation from Eric Beard, editor of A Football Report) asking if I wanted to be an editor for their new community football tag. Another 'accolade' if you like & more reason to carry on, as it gives my puny tumblelog an increased profile within tumblr.

So for me, I've found that operating a blog has been a successful, and worthwhile activity. I very much enjoy what I do but my online activities have also had a positive effect on what I do away from the PC. As I mentioned above I don't care for the modern game much and my blogging activities have led me to the non-league scene. Because of that I now enjoy the occasional non-league game and through that met up recently with some top blogging folk up at Ryton in the North East for Northern Non League Day.

That for me has been the highlight of my 'blogging career' and I've also 'met' many great people via twitter who I've yet to meet face-to-face but hopefully in time our shared love of football and blogging may mean our paths will cross sooner or later.

What would make me stop? A leggy blonde with eyes only for me and a voracious sexual appetite. Hmmm ... seems like the blog will continue for some time yet! ;-)

What makes you do what you do?
Why do you do it?
Why did you start?

I think these three are covered by one reply. I wanted to do something with the photos I took of the grounds I was visiting. It's now a little bit of wanting to give people a chance to see grounds that they might like to visit. For instance Parkgate (NCEL Premier). I could not find that many photos of what it was like, but I gambled it would be ok to visit. Loved my day out there and wanted to let people know it was worth a visit.

What makes carry on?

Ego now! No, not really. I've met some really nice people through doing it both at the grounds I've visited and some other bloggers too. Obviously it is nice to see people visiting the site and even nicer if they leave some sort of comment, but it is not the end of the world if the number of visitors is only steady. I think I've also become a Non-League evangelist too and I want people to see that there is life outside of the EPL and Chumpions League.

What would make you stop?

Not sure really, I'm enjoying it too much at the moment. My entries may slow up next season if I don't find another job, but I would probably just alter the blog slightly to take in my changed circumstances.

I set my blog up because I wanted somewhere to put football pictures that I'd found online (or had scanned in) that I thought were interesting. It wasn't really for anyone else to read. Just somewhere for me to store the pics.

After a while I started to get interested in football stats, I wanted to investigate some statements that commentators or pundits make, the idea of a "6 pointer" or "scoring before half-time is a good time to score" to see if it were true. I built up a football results database and investigated. It just seemed logical to whack the results on my blog.

If I had time I'd love to write an alternative to soccerbase/soccerway where you could search the database properly e.g. "Show all games where Robbie Savage was booked." as it's something that's woefully absent from most statistics sites. Unfortunately I doubt I'll ever have time, I barely have time to write a blog as it is.

What makes you do what you do?

The community aspect of it is important to me. I wish I had more time to write better, longer pieces, or to try and get other people to contribute and make the site more varied. But on the other hand as it's all voluntary I reckon I should be pleased about what I do do and not disappointed about what I don't.

Why do you do it?

If I can encourage people towards the J-League via my blog, that would be something worthwhile. I don't think it really happens like that, though. It's just fun and interesting.

Why did you start?

God knows. It's so long ago now (early 2005) that it hardly matters now. Probably that no-one else was doing it.

What makes carry on?

A sense of engagement with a community based on club and supporters on the other side of the world. Plus chatting with one of the foreign players at a training session, giving him a card with the site URL on and him immediately saying, "I know this website. I look at it every day. It's the only way I know what's going on here."

What would make you stop?

Hmm. Not much, although if the guy who co-writes the site with me didn't want to do it anymore I'd have a bit of a think about things.

What makes you do what you do?

Even though my number of views are minimal, I enjoy writing about Polish football. It isn't my intention to just write about Poland, but with limited time I struggle to watch and learn about any other nations. I would write more about Leicester City, but I obviously have a biased view and I fear that i'd struggle to stay impartial.

Why do you do it?

For the fame and money. Both of which i'm yet to see. ;-)

Seriously though, I have lots of spare time due to working different hours to my fiancee, and don't want to spend it all playing Call of Duty. Maybe one day something will come of it, but for now I'm happy that people read my blog; and if one of my pieces gets someone interested in the Polish game, I feel I have achieved something.

Why did you start?

I originally wrote my first piece (a view of Ariel Ortega's career) to challenge myself to see if I could write something good enough to be featured on IBWM. Once that got published, I was hooked. When I received positive feedback on a two-part piece about Cypriot Football, And knew that people were reading something that I had written, it made me want to write more and more. I also believed that if I wrote more, it would help me to improve.

What makes you carry on?

I enjoy writing, and I'm always thinking of new ideas for articles. Considering myself a member of the blogging community on Twitter is another reason. I occasionally am asked questions on both Polish Football and Championship Football, and it's a great feeling if you can help somebody out with your answers. Knowing that some of the bigger, more famous bloggers enjoy my stuff also gives me quite a lot of satisfaction, but also spurs me on to be an even better writer. I have also helped to inspire a friend to take up blogging recently.

What would make you stop?

The main factor would be time. I have my wedding in a few months, and occasionally planning has had to take priority over blogging. If I could ever find work as a blogger, it would be absolutely perfect. Although there isn't exactly much call for it.

Also, despite how stats are really not everything, if I was writing pieces and no-one was reading them I would find it hard to continue. I don't get hundreds and hundreds of page views right now, but I'd struggle to justify writing to absolutely no-one.