A campaign to raise £50,000 to launch a weekly sports-only newspaper in Scotland has begun.
The crowdfunding project aims to raise the cash in order to produce a pilot issue of the paper, which will avoid printing match reports as part of its editorial operation.
Journalists will instead be urged to find the “compelling stories behind the weekend’s sporting calendar”.
The project is being run by, among others, Scottish media website AllMediaScotland.
Former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland footballer Pat Nevin, pictured above left, and tennis coach Judy Murray, mother of 2013 Wimbledon winner Andy, are promised as contributors should the pilot make it to print.
The £50,000 target needs to be reached within around 30 days for the pilot to become reality – with benefactors invited to make donations of either £5, £10 or £100.
The money will only be taken from donors if the target is reached, and it is hoped the initial issue will be released in late April or early May.
Were that to succeed, the next target would be enough subscribers to sustain a weekly title.
Mike Wilson, managing director of allmediascotland.com: “We are a website that continues to believe in print, at least for certain types of editorial.
“Should the target be reached, the paper will be all about upcoming events. In other words, no match reports; not even news, per se.
“Writers will be challenged to find the compelling stories behind the weekend’s sports calendar, in all sports at all levels.
“We will be different, we have to be different. Our editorial agenda will be driven by the strength of the story, not any perceived hierarchy that has some sports and clubs featured much more heavily than others.”
Those who pledge £5 to the campaign would receive a copy of the paper, delivered to their door. The £10 pledge involves receiving a copy of the pilot issue, plus being named as a ‘supporter’ within its pages.
Those pledging £100 will be named as a ‘founding patron’ within its pages. Should the project continue, they will then be named as a ‘founding patron’ in issues two to 52, and at least once a year for however long the paper lasts.
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Don’t do it!!
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Agree with above. Too many have tried and failed with this idea, one that seems better in the planning stage than the actual product. It won’t work and that’s realism not defeatism.
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Really sorry to add to the gloom. It’s a great dream but I’m afraid that’s what it is, a great dream. The idea has been suggested a number of times over the years but it was never going to work, even in the better times. However, I would be very happy to be proved wrong on this occasion, even though the initial cash target seems very ambitious.
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There have been some successful sports only launches – David Emery’s stable of titles, the Non-League Paper, Rugby Paper, Football League Paper, Cricket Paper but their circulations have fallen in recent years because so much is online. Don’t do it, sounds a great idea but won’t work. I’d love it to I’d say.
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I like the idea of dropping blow by blow match reports. Most people know results of games and details and reports are often over written and boring.
Will they be banning that lazy sport hacks desperate expression “linked with” which annoys a lot of fans because it is usually fiction .
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Its almost painful to read the above with their £50,000 target to produce the launch edition alone and with just 30 days to do it in,then having to attract enough subscribers to sustain it,so many hurdles and stumbling blocks before the first edition is even printed.
However whilst £50,000 is a huge target to raise through the odd £5,£10 and £100 here and there,if theyre serious why not approach 2-3 top Scottish sportsmen/footballers for whom £50,000 is pin money and get them on board as benefactors?
Far easier than banging a drum and involving hundreds or thousands of small investors in what I fear would be a short lived dream,and whilst many countries have their own daily football papers including;Holland,Spain,France and Germany ,these are funded by the big nationals and with a much broader reach than a country the size of Scotland
i wish it well but fear it would collapse and die taking £50k plus of other peoples money down with it in a very short period of time.
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