Honestly it is safe to say 2021 has flown by in the blink of an eye and some how we are already starting the new year. 2021 was a year of growth over here at Edge of the Area and I am so proud of how far we have come once again however, we are definitely aiming even higher in 2022 to smash the goals we have set for ourselves and to bring our best content yet. Somethings will be staying the same as they always have done whereas a few things might be changing or become better than they were previously. The core of Edge of the Area is going to be very similar to before but as we move into the new year here is what we are hoping to bring to Edge of the Area as a whole...
Match Previews
We have been thinking of adding this to the site for a long time and with a bit more free time to focus on the site this is something we are really looking forward to adding to the site. We will be doing previews for both Bradford City men's & women's home games that we will be attending along with a few other games that we know we are going to be watching that week or weekend. What we might do is at the start of each week is put a poll up on social media to see what games people are interested in reading about, although if there is a game we are particularly interested in that will be added to the list straight away.
Match Reports
Whichever games we do the match previews for we will be following those games up with match reports, obviously as previous the Bradford City women's ones will be in a fair bit of detail however, any other games could just be quick recaps rather than the full thing although if it has been a really good game it might go into a bit more detail. It is safe to say we are really enjoying doing the match reports so to be able to increase those will be fantastic.
Play/Staff Interviews
It was great to interview a few more players and staff members in 2021 and we are really hoping to do a lot more interviews over the course of 2022. We want to include a lot more players and clubs into this rather than just sticking to the same clubs all over the time. Fingers crossed we can do these interviews in different formats over the course of the year rather than just having email chats with those that we are interviewing.
Go To Watch Different Teams
Over the course of 2022 we want to get to watch a variety of teams throughout the seasons rather than just sticking to Bradford games. There are a lot of different local clubs that we could be very easily going to watch when Bradford aren't at home and it would be nice to support the local lower league teams and give them a little bit of coverage. It will definitely be nice to mix up the types of games we attend next year.
Euro 2022 Courage
We managed to get all the tickets we wanted to for the women's Euro's that are being held here in England so there will be plenty of coverage of those games we are attending along with the build up and those games we have watched on the TV if we didn't have tickets. We will be doing reports, opinion pieces and also behind the scenes showing off the build up and atmosphere at those games we actually attend.
Live Tweets
Alongside the match reports and match previews we will also be trying to live tweet a fair few games each week, these might be games we have done previews on or they might be completely different games. What we are think is that at the start of the week we will put a poll up to cover the selection of games and then live tweet those games that win the polls. I think that the live tweeting is going to be fun and a bit different to how things have gone in 2021 and I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out over the course of the year.
Instagram
In 2021 we were a bit hit and miss with Instagram as a whole however, in 2022 we are hoping to be a whole lot more active on the platform and update our feed a whole lot more. We will also be focusing on those Instagram stories a lot more and reader interaction so we will be adding in more polls and behind the scenes which I think will be fun to do and it will be great to get more people involved. We have invested in some editing software too so we will be putting that to use to make the quality of our graphics a whole lot better.
Facebook
We might have been hit and miss on Instagram but we have seriously neglected our Facebook page. It is just out of pure laziness that we haven't been as active on Facebook as we should have been but that is going to change in 2022. There will be plenty of content coming to the page as we try to increase our following on the platform and engage those people a lot more. Facebook is definitely a platform we need to get back onto.
Podcasts
Finally everything is in place for us to begin the Edge of the Area podcast in 2022, I am not sure when that is going to be launched just yet but it will definitely be happening at some point in the year. We have the equipment we need to get going but we now just need to sort out a bit of a schedule for recording and editing then we will be good to. I am really looking forward to doing this as it has been planned for a long time and I think it is going to be a really fun thing to get up and running for 2022.
More Shirts
We have really enjoyed talking about shirts on the site throughout 2021 and will be carrying on with them in 2022 however, they wont be dominating the site as much as they have done previously. We will be doing bits throughout the year and mainly be focusing on them as the new ones are released at the start of the season. The shirts posts will be scaled back but they wont be fully disappearing.
Boot / Equipment Reviews
I am aiming to be back playing football a lot more regularly in 2022 so that will hopefully mean more boots and equipment reviews such as shin pads. I have done boot reviews in the past and really enjoyed doing them so it will be nice to add them back to the site as I am wearing them more often. I am really looking forward to playing more often and I am looking forward to trying new boots even more.
Stadium Tours
We have been wanting to do stadium tours for a while but obviously the situation in the world has meant this hasn't been possible yet. Fingers crossed in 2022 we can finally make a start on a few of the stadium tours we have been wanting to do for a while. We wont just be sticking to the big teams stadiums though as we want to showcase stadiums at all levels to capture what it is like for the different times.
Opinion Pieces / Player Fact Files
Opinion pieces have been a bit hit and miss on the site lately but in 2022 we will be trying to do a few each month alongside our other content. We really enjoy the opinion pieces we do and I think we have a lot more to say as the seasons progress and new seasons begin. We have also been looking at doing some player fact file pieces too from players from various leagues around the world. I think it will showcase a few different players to people who haven't particularly heard of them before. We won't just be focusing on the big names we will be trying to get everyone involved.
Weekly Round Ups
We finally have good internet so we should be able to watch a lot more games from the WSL over on the FA Player alongside a lot more NWSL game so we are thinking of doing weekly round up posts especially work the NWSL like we used to do so that fans outside the USA have results in one place. We will also try to get WSL round ups done once a week with the results and a bit about any games we have watched.
Merchandise
Finally 2022 is going to be the year that everything is up and running in terms of Edge of the Area merchandise. We have a very limited amount of shirts going on sale in the new year and we will also be beginning to sell various other items as the year progresses. We will be asking very soon what people will be interested in the most and releasing those bits before anything else. At the moment it is just me, Liam and my nephew who are wearing the Edge of the Area items but I am looking forward to seeing other people in them in the future. Plus if the shirts sell well we will be getting more of those in.
Fingers crossed 2022 goes to plan and we can improve a lot of these areas and have the best year for the site to date. A lot of these things have been in the pipeline for a long time and it is about time we got those ideas in the open and get working on them rather than them just sitting as notes on a piece of paper. 2021 was a great year but let's hope 2022 is even better.
Let's hope for a fantastic year including a whole lot of football and even more football based content.
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