Driving away from The New Lawn last season, and most certainly Wembley the previous two years, I was ready for a football hiatus. Nothing charges me up for summer of Test Cricket more than the sobering reality of another season on the League Two treadmill. However, after watching an indifferent display at Walsall, accompanied with the all too familiar sub standard officiating, who could have predicted that afternoon would prove to be the season’s last? Should the EFL somehow come to the unlikely decision to continue the season, what is a certainty is that supporters will not be in attendance.
So how do we fill the gap that football fills in our lives? As a teenager, I spent a lot of my Saturday evenings sulking. The anticipation of trip to SJP was usually subdued by the reality of the football on show. We lost. A lot. Arguably, even the “kid a quid” scheme did not offer value for money. One afternoon, after losing to a last minute goal, my Mum lovingly brought me a post match glass of Cresta Lemonade and Cherry Bakewell, classic adolescent nourishment, before offering some words of comfort. “It’s a only a game.” Anyone but the person who gave birth to me would have had the bakewell launched towards them on the half volley at such a comment, but she was right, it is just a game. Still, it does represent more than that. That hollow Saturday feeling is not entirely sport related. It’s missing that pre match drink, those faces you only see at the football, that half time drink, travelling with your mates to watch your team get robbed by another Huxtable horror show, celebrating on the Bank, that post match drink… A Football club is its own community, we feel part of it, and that is what I miss. So, with this lengthy lay off, how do we maintain that connection? One person who has excelled in giving us all our football fix during Lockdown is Exeter City Marketing Manager Scott Palfrey. This week I got to speak to Scott about his role at SJP and life in Lockdown.
Scott started work at SJP in 2016. After studying Film and Television at University, he worked in Marketing at Exeter College. After a year with the St Loye’s Foundation, Scott applied for his current role at SJP and started in March of that year. His first game was the one where a supporter travelled the 350 miles from Carlisle to let off a smoke bomb in the Old Grandstand toilets and subsequently get arrested for his stupidity, never a dull moment. Growing up Scott wanted to be a football commentator and working in the Sports industry seemed an ambition that would be hard to fulfil. Scott would achieve that dream when, after a successful interview, he would join the club he had supported since the 90’s. Working for the club you support does have its difficulties though. “In my eyes it’s a positive as everything I do, the way I do it and why I do it, is for the right reasons because it is what I’d want to see as a supporter. Obviously it can be hard too. In the dark days of not winning at home for months you had to remain professional whilst the world was tumbling around you as a supporter, so it can be hard.”
Scott’s commitment to the content we recieve as supporters is evident, his creativity is rarely surpassed by other Social Media accounts at our level, and the freedom he is given is consistent and of great assistance in doing his job. ” I had a vision of where I wanted to take our output and communications and, after showing what I can do, I’ve been allowed to roll with it. I have an incredibly strong relationship with our CEO Justin Quick who I run things by, it’s a great help and he is so supportive.”
The main constant visable, or audible, throughout the content we see is the willingness of the playing squad to participate. Moody players, wanting to get home and annoyed by having to give the media guys the time of day, would certainly harm the content. Thankfully, that is not the case at Exeter City. “They are so helpful, and this period has emphasised this hugely. Jake Taylor is the perfect Captain and is open to helping out in any way he can. We are mindful that we try not to ask too much of them during the season as it’s more important they put their time into winning a game of football. Recently, whilst I was getting some pre-match footage at a game, Alex Fisher approached me and said the players really appreciate the efforts and content the club produces. It was a really nice touch and shows what a class act the dressing room is.”
Social Media is a difficult platform to negotiate, it tends to be about extremes, it is either people sharing happiness or sharing anger, and often people sharing anger about others happiness. Upsetting almost anyone can be easy to do, even with the best intentions in mind. Tone can be difficult to gauge, especially when those reading can be of all ages. “I started out very basic and to the point, but now I think we get the tone about right. I try to be in good humour. You’re never going to please everyone, we try and be informative, fun and engaging – the key is to make sure you read and think about what you are going to post first.”
Trolling is something that is second nature in any form of media work. You could spend hours creating something only for @argyledanny69 to respond with “shit club, irrelevant mate.” (Thanks for that Danny) Generally, society works on the basis of “if you have nothing nice to say don’t say anything at all.” Not Social Media. It must be a frustrating and, on occasions, hurtful part of the job. “In the beginning I took a lot of things to heart. When you’re seeing horrible things online and directed at the club, as the person behind that account, it can upset you. You learn to quickly ignore it and become thicker skinned. You have to be careful who you reply to and I always check first!”
One of the key aspects to Scott’s work is his personalising of the interactions he has. From Birthday messages to young supporters, retweeting supporters memories and milestones, linking up with Turkish YouTubers and the offer to listen to a supporter who may be experiencing some tough personal experiences, Scott’s interactions are far reaching and variable. That openness of communication may mean little to some, to others, it can be vitally important. “To a lot of people the club is more than a Tuesday/Saturday thing. If we can be there for people to reach out and brighten up their day then why not? We might be a football club but we want to have some personality in what we do. We opened our DMs on Twitter, not all clubs do that as an avenue for supporters to get in touch, or if they just want a chat, but we’ve kept a few people company and helped during these tough times.”
The Lockdown period has seen Scott produce, in my humble opinion, some of his best work. We have been treated to full length repeats of classic matches every weekend, had the opportunity to question players and the manager on Twitter, seen Junior Grecians show their creativity with colouring competitions and Lee Holmes’ inspired Volcanoes and also been treated to a touching tribute to all those Grecians working within the NHS at this time. The importance of keeping people together is fundamental. “For us to keep operating as much as we can and coming up with new content to keep people entertained is huge, things such as Connor providing a workout video or the players doing Q&A’s have been great, as well as catching up with former Grecians like Jamie Cureton. It just shows how huge nostalgia is in football.”
The ambition to become a commentator may have passed by, but Scott has been honing his interview skills during Lockdown. Be it former Promotion winning full back Steve Tully, Captain Jake Taylor or Manager Matt Taylor, incidently wearing the facial hair of someone who has been held hostage, it is a process Scott has enjoyed. “Simon (Larkins) generally handles the interviews as it is part of his job and he is good at it, so I only do them if I’m covering. The recent ones have got some good feedback, I’m very much the type that would like to ask an open ended question and let the person run with it rather than interrupting. I’d say I’m far from a natural, but Matt Taylor seems to enjoy my interview style, as he’s told me as much, and they are going okay at the moment.”
Realistically, it appears we will not return to the Park until the scheduled new season at the absolute earliest. A mammoth five month period without football will certainly be felt by many, but reminiscing on better times when we were all together at SJP has been a blessing and, hopefully, brought an added acknowledgment for Scott’s work. With many of the staff at Exeter City on the Government’s furlough scheme, it is worth taking time to show an appreciation for all those who keep showing their dedication and commitment to the Club and us as supporters. At times of unprecedented uncertainty we are lucky to have people like Scott working for the club we love. Until we can all get back to the park and do the thing we enjoy, supporting the team, I am sure the great content to pass the time will keep coming from Scott. Just don’t have him on your Connect Four team, absolute shambles…
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