Wanted: Writers And Video Producers

Here at The Tilehurst End, we’ve been covering the Royals for over 10 years now - we celebrated the website’s decade anniversary in March 2021. Reading Football Club’s been through plenty of ups, downs and everything in between during that time, and we’ve been there to discuss and analyse all of that as well as we can.

We’re always keen to grow and evolve though, and to do that we need your help. If you’ve ever wanted to get involved with the site in any capacity - whether on a one-off, semi-regular or regular basis - we’d love to hear from you. New faces are always welcome!

Who should apply?

Are you a Reading fan? You’re qualified.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve given writing or video production a bit of a go before, done it extensively or not at all - there’s absolutely a place for you at TTE. Some of our regular contributors have started at TTE after picking up similar experience beforehand while others have done so with no such experience whatsoever.

As long as you support the best team in the world (Reading Football Club, obviously) and have a passion for creating content about it, you’re who we’re after.

What kind of written content are we after?

We’re always on the lookout for new ways of covering Reading Football Club. That includes the first team, academy and women’s side.

If you’ve got an idea for a one-off written article - opinion, analysis, nostalgia or anything else - get in touch! We’ve never turned down a good piece of writing that is well argued and thoughtful. You’d like to share your thoughts on that big bit of news which everyone is talking about by writing a quick opinion piece on it? Get in touch.

We’re also after regular and semi-regular features as part of our ongoing coverage. It could be once per match, once per week or once per month. For example, Harry Chafer started a ‘Fans Verdict’ feature for each game covering Reading fans’ reactions and opinions on Twitter, while Ben Thomas has his more light-hearted ‘View From The Dolan’ column for each home match.

Perhaps you’d like to provide regular coverage of the academy, the first team’s tactics or the women’s side? Possibly something more nostalgic? There are no bad ideas (although Sim’s had some in his time), so get in touch.

How about video content?

Maybe you’re not the writing sort but you’d prefer to share your opinions in video form? That could be longer-form stuff on our YouTube channel or quick post-match reactions on Twitter.

Ben’s done a cracking job with reactions to home games (look at his beaming face in this video for the 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers). We’d love more matchday videos though - away games in particular.

“I’d like to do something for TTE completely unrelated to anything you’ve mentioned above”

Get in touch!

“I’d like to give writing/video work a try and just see how it goes”

Get in touch!

“I’d like to get involved but I’m not quite sure what I’d want to do”

Get in touch!

“I don’t want to get involved but I’ve got some suggestions for how TTE can improve its coverage”

Get in touch!

How do I apply?

Drop us an email via thetilehurstend@gmail.com, telling us a little about yourself and what you’re interested in contributing.

If you’ve had some writing published, we’d love to have a read to see what your writing is like. Don’t be shy, show it off! If you’d like to do something video-related, please include a 20-30-second piece to camera of yourself talking about literally anything Reading-related.

Why should I get involved?

TTE’s a great platform for you to create and share the kind of content you have a passion for. We’re about creating interesting and insightful content, produced by Reading fans for Reading fans, not churning out cookie-cutter clickbait. You’ll get plenty of creative freedom (within reason!) so we’re the perfect place for you to express yourself and develop as a writer.

For aspiring writers and journalists in particular, TTE experience goes very well on a CV. Some of our team have contributed to or worked for the likes of Sky Sports, FourFourTwo, Marca, GetReading, La Gazzetta dello Sport and more. We’re also more than happy to provide constructive feedback to help you develop as a writer.

To give a more personal example, I (Sim) started out at TTE in my first year at university. First I sent in a piece about Royston Drenthe, then I joined the editorial team a few months afterwards and eventually took over from Dan Wimbush as editor in late 2017. So there’s certainly a path for anyone out there who’s interested in Reading-related content to develop at TTE as much as they’d like.

We look forward to hearing from you!