Nobody covers a football club quite like the local newspaper. The highs and the lows, the frustrations and the delights (with the sports desk normally being blamed for the former by readers, but rarely thanked for the latter). So it’s no surprise that when the not-quite-life-and-death matters of promotion and relegation are dealt with, the football normally passes from the back page to the front page.
With the last play off in the bag (well done Crewe), here’s a round-up of how regional papers covered the success, or otherwise, of their teams
Premier League
Champions: Manchester City
Title: Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Premier League
18th place (relegated): Bolton
Title: Bolton News
Praying for a miracle before the game … The Bolton News
and after…
… and after relegation was confirmed
Premier League
19th place (relegated): Blackburn
Title: Lancashire Telegraph
The Lancashire Telegraph
Premier League
20th place (relegated): Wolves
Titles: Birmingham Mail and the Wolverhampton Express and Star
The Black Country edition of the Birmingham Mail
And the Express and Star
Championship
Champions: Reading
Titles: Reading Post/ Get Reading / Reading Chronicle
Reading secure promotion…
… and then went up as Champions
… and there was a bit of a party too
And from the Reading Chronicle:
Reading Chronicle
Championship
Runners up: Southampton
Title: Southern Daily Echo
Southern Daily Echo
Championship
Play-off winners: West Ham
Title: Newham Recorder
Newham Recorder
Championship
Play off Final losers: Blackpool
Titles: Blackpool Gazette
Blackpool Gazette
Championship
22nd (relegated): Portsmouth
Title: The News, Portsmouth
A case of just too much bad news in recent years to justify the whole front page?
Portsmouth News
Championship
23rd (relegated): Coventry
Titles: Sunday Mercury/ Coventry Telegraph
Sunday Mercury
Coventry Telegraph
Championship
24th (relegated): Doncaster
Titles: The Star
Doncaster Star
League One
Champions: Charlton
Titles: Mercury/South London Press
Confined to the back page in the Mercury and….
also in the South London Press
League One
Runners up: Sheffield Wednesday
Title: Sheffield Star
Sheffield Star
League One
Play off Winners: Huddersfield Town
Title: Huddersfield Examiner
Huddersfield Examiner
League One
Play off Losers: Sheffield United
Title: Sheffield Star
Sheffield Star
League One
Relegated: Wycombe, Chesterfield, Exeter, Rochdale
League Two
Champions: Swindon
Title: Swindon Advertiser
Swindon Advertiser
League Two
Runners Up: Shrewsbury
Title: Shrewsbury Chronicle/ Shropshire Star
Shrewsbury Chronicle
Shropshire Star
League Two
Runners Up: Crawley
Title: Crawley Observer
Crawley Observer
League Two
Play off Winners: Crewe
Title: Crewe Chronicle
Crewe Chronicle
League Two
Play off Losers: Cheltenham
Title: Gloucestershire Echo
League Two
Relegated: Macclesfield; Hereford
Title: Macclesfield Express
Macclesfield Express
Conference
Champions: Fleetwood
Title: Fleetwood Weekly News
Fleetwood Weekly News
League One
Play off Winners: York City
Title: York Press
York Press
I liked the papers that used pics of fans, especially on the front pages, and that also devoted the whole of the page to pics. I guess the Lancashire papers had lots of practice at this.
“Nobody covers a football club quite like the local newspaper.”
The back-page-only coverage from the Mercury and SLP of Charlton’s success is a graphic example of how that part of London barely has a functioning local press.
Hi Darryl, thanks for the comment. I don’t know the local press in that part of London that well, and I may have missed a paper which did cover it in more depth?
Certainly, there were a few papers – especially those covering relegation from the lower leagues – which opted not to do much on the front page, but I suppose in those cases football draws a small crowd so is more of a niche interest.
I expected more for a club Charlton’s size though
Nope, there really isn’t. There’s no paid-for paper in the borough of Greenwich, the Mercury’s an ailing freesheet which has been starved of investment by Ray Tindle and used as a loss-leader for the SLP (whose editorial area doesn’t actually cover Greenwich borough, which includes Charlton).
The other paper in Greenwich borough is the News Shopper, another freesheet, which has never done sport in any meaningful way. CAFC do get covered by other papers stretching out into Kent, and Canary Wharf freebie The Wharf, but I can’t get those at my local newsagent here in Charlton.
A free monthly which is part-aimed at the tourist market, The Greenwich Visitor, did try to fill the gap by rushing out a £1 souvenir special with PA pix and month-by-month reports.
But on the whole, we do have a massive problem with a lack of meaningful local media in this part of SE London – the lack of CAFC promotion coverage reflects this rather than anything to do with the club.
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