Ball Street Is Looking For Talent

What's in a name?

According to the Royal Mail there are only six Ball Streets in the UK, all in North West England.

We didn’t live on one of those but, even though we all come from opposite ends of the country, we grew up on a ball street:  a terraced arena, in footballing heartlands like Glasgow, Manchester, Luton and, er, Wakefield.  Playing the game in its simplest form, where the kerb completed more passes than Iniesta.

That’s where the name Ball Street name from, but behind it lies something much bigger.

Ball Street Job Opportunity

Role:  Ball Street short term paid internship (London)

Start date:  Immediate (August 2013)

  Ball Street is a new football media company that makes original football content for digital platforms.  For additional background, please visit the following links:

http://ballstreet.tumblr.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/Ballstreetchannel

  Overview

We are offering a 4-6 week internship for the right candidate

to work with us on an exciting project.  The role would suit

someone who is keen to get a grounding in sports media with

an exciting start up business and who has a genuine passion

for football.  Tasks may include, but are not limited to,

research, editorial input, video production and office

management.

  Ideal for someone within a reasonable distance of London,

the role will pay the minimum wage (up to £6.19 per hour).

Ideally you’ll have your own laptop but this is not essential.

  Desired experience

Football fanatic with a good understanding of what Ball Street represents

Sound knowledge of existing and emerging social media platforms

Knowledge of the football media landscape and blogosphere

Previous video editing, blogging or writing experience a plus

Solid writing and communication skills

Excellent research skills and a keen eye for detail

Confident telephone manner, energy, focus and ambition

Applications from graduates welcome but not essential

How to apply

Send a CV and covering letter with any relevant examples of football writing or video production by email to clubtogether@ballstreet.co.uk and reference Ball Street Internship in the title.

  We look forward to hearing from you!

#BallStreet92

  Ball Street is for all fans, all teams and we will dedicate our following to the record attendance of every team that our twitter following reaches.

Our Header image will change as our twitter following reaches the record attendances of all 92 English League Clubs.

We have already hit a few of these attendances, but live today is Aldershot Town to mark their record gate of 7500.

We would like to thank @UrbanArtCrew who we met on Twitter, for this and many other brilliant ideas.   

UPDATE - the people have spoken

What a 24 hours that has been.  Couldn’t sleep for excitement and my eyes are so sore from reading the whole of Twitter last night.  Thought it would be good to take stock of where we are.

Firstly, this is our company blog.  The company was only formed recently, but Ball Street is an idea that Stuart and I had a good while back. 

“Most fans are underserved by the media”

We loved the response to Wrighty’s tweets.  Many fans see it the same way we do: most teams get 30 seconds of highlights per week with little insight.

@ianwright0 Coventry and about 2 minutes on the football league show. Not enough media for outside prem in general given fan base.

— Gilby (@skybluegilby) January 21, 2013

@ball_street Everton main one, we could win the league and the media would talk about the rest of the prem having a off day.

— Ian McMenemy (@ianmc23)

@ball_street Fantastic! Hopefully more fans get on board and you + fans as a collective can really make a difference.

— Nick Murphy (@NickDRFCMurphy) January 21, 2013

That's just a fraction of the responses, with many supportive of the idea that fans outside the top 6 are underserved by the media.

To clarify, we're not having a pop at the BBC Football League highlights show, or questioning the logic of Sky showing the matches that generate the most viewers.  However, we are questioning the lack of depth and quality of the media coverage outside the top 6 in general and we want to help make a change.

We don’t have all the answers, but we do want to be a part of the solution.  We want to improve the media experience for all fans.

As Wrighty says:-

  Morning all, overwhelmed by the response yesterday. @ball_street are you watching? The people have spoken - lets get something done!!

— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) January 22, 2013

Some old friends and many new friends and followers have rallied to the cause, asking to help out.

We’re meeting up with Wrighty and the others today to discuss what we can do.  This feels like the start of something big.

  Matt, football fan/dreamer

Ball Street is looking for talent!!

Ian Wright introduces Ball Street.  Subscribe to Ball Street on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/Ballstreetchannel

We're talking #Top3Foreigners on our 451 show: This man would have been in there if the internet was around back then!

David Ginola au Matra Racing. (1988-90).

Now God's getting involved...

"All over this new footy show-bit.ly/451Promo - get following @ball_street tweeps"Looks quality @ianwright0

— Robbie Fowler (@Robbie9Fowler) March 28, 2013

Send us your fan video

In true Ball Street style, we need you to ClubTogether with us!!!

During our live transfer deadline show on Monday 2nd September 7.30pm-11.30pm we’ll be featuring videos from our followers and fans about their team’s transfer window.

We’d like 30 seconds on each of the following:

  #DayOfHope

Everyone hopes that their team makes the right deadline day moves – what business would you like to see your team do on deadline day?  This could include players you are being linked with or positions that still need addressing.

  Your window so far

How do you rate the business that your team has done in the window so far?

  What transfer broke your heart?

Tell us about a player leaving your club and why it left you broken hearted.

  Best moves of the summer

What are the signings you’ve been most impressed by?

    PLEASE FILM THE CONTENT SO YOU'RE CLEAR IN VISION, DON'T SIT IN FRONT OF A WINDOW, MAKE SURE THAT IF YOU'RE USING A SMART PHONE, YOU USE IT LANDSCAPE (ON IT'S SIDE) NOT PORTRAIT (NORMAL WAY UP)!

  ONCE YOU HAVE FILMED THE FOUR ANSWERS, PLEASE SAVE THE FILE AND USE A FILE TRANSFER SYSTEM (WETRANSFER IS A GOOD ONE) AND UPLOAD THE VIDEO AND SEND IT TO INTERN@BALLSTREET.CO.UK

VIDEOS BY MIDNIGHT THURSDAY 29th AUGUST PLEASE

The heart of football

by Stuart, Ball Street

I was going tell you about Ball Street, however I can’t let events at Ibrox pass without comment.

It’s a tale of self-destruction with a vengeance, true of all parties involved in the toxic cauldron of Scottish football.   But that’s for another day.  Today let me tell you a story about football and the fan.

Rangers are the club of my uncles, two of whom had heart attacks at Ibrox watching the Rangers.  One sadly passed; the amazing medical staff in the ground saved the other, who was the first to take me every other week.

It’s also the club of my late father, who worked on the rebuilding of the Main Stand and salvaged the old wooden seats and fittings to craft a handsome fireplace for his living room.  Every time we went to the back shops, we would occasionally stop by old Jimmy’s to see if he needed any messages.  Only later did I find out that Jimmy was Jimmy Smith, scorer of 225 goals in 234 appearances for Rangers between 1928 and 1946.

I know my history.  I know that a love that’s been shared by generations of my family doesn’t exist on the balance sheet of Sevco 5088.   The club can’t be taken away by liquidation, player departures, rulings or the ill-feeling of others.

A football club lives only the hearts of its fans.   That’s true of any club.  As Kevin Drinkell said recently: “Rangers fans who were supporters yesterday will still be supporters today. That's the bottom line.”

Sure it will be hard to see the likes of Naismith and McCabe grace other arenas - they've lost their chance to be legends - but Ibrox will always have its heroes.  There may well be a succession of journeymen on the horizon who might never have climbed the marble staircase, but among them will be legends that we’ll still talk about in years to come.

Like many others, I’ve long said we should start over in Division Three.  We should take our medicine and let others have theirs.  I’ll look forward to Glasgow derbies with Queen’s Park and trips to Montrose where we holidayed as kids.  And then I’ll be able to tell you more about why every league is a premier league.