Le Grove is a site that will make other bloggers green with envy. As we go to press, an article about Arsenal’s Champions League opponents Celtic posted two days ago has 1,318 comments. 1,318!! Most blogs don’t get that many responses in a year!
Le Grove is a hotbed for debate about Arsenal football club with (occasionally heated) debate going back and forth between regular readers and the authors themselves. Or, as they themselves say, “we are a shelter for bloggers and a haven for Arsenal fans”.
The site is updated daily without fail by Geoff or Pedro who write eloquently and often with good humour. They also have a presence on Twitter and Facebook.
Choice cuts
I found out today that Ronnie Biggs is an Arsenal fan, well welcome to the list, we all know that Osama is also a Gooner.
- Geoff, August 7, 2009
Geoff has informed me via pigeon courier that due to a lack of summer signings he has taken it upon himself to do some pro bono scouting work for the club. At the moment he is tracking a 12 year old suit case stitcher from the Himalayas, I’ll report back on his findings.
- Pedro, August 5, 2009
At least we’ll start the season at the top of the table, so make the most of it Grovers.
- Geoff, July 31, 2009
From the horse’s mouth
We asked Pedro to give us Le Low Down on Le Grove.
When did you start Le Grove and how did the site get going?
The site started when I decided that Geoff and his prolific blogging on other sites should be channelled into a site of his own. I set the site up, hooked us up to the news feeds and got Geoff to supply the site with content. As time went on, I took over the role of match reporting… then the long slog for blog dominance began!
What’s changed since then?
Well, I believe our first post received 39 hits and 3 or 4 comments. Now most posts receive 10,000 plus hits and over 1000 comments. We’ve got ourselves a fantastic community of die hard Gooners from all over the world, we’ve gained many friends from the site. I believe we’ve given a voice to a section of the fan base that previously struggled to be heard online.
How much of your time does the site take up?
The site takes up a lot of time. We moderate the comments section to make the experience of blogging a respectful and enjoyable one. This caused a lot of uproar at the start, but now everyone knows the rules, it’s not such a problem. We post 7 days a week, every week of the year. We also participate in our own comments section… so it can be quite time consuming. We love every minute though… it’s all worth it.
Do you blog about anything else or is it pure Arsenal?
We don’t blog about anything else. There were thoughts of writing a political blog, but the subject gets pretty heated and I think it would be almost impossible to manage it. Our passion is Arsenal… I don’t think we could motivate ourselves to write about anything else long term.
What does the future hold for bloggers and blogging?
A very interesting question. I believe that quality blogging is slowly replacing standard journalism as the first point of call for football fans. I think the depth of knowledge and the passion blogs have for their chosen subject makes for a much more enjoyable read; than say, an article written by a paid for journo who has hits on the mind.
Blogging is the same as anything… the quality blogs will go from strength to strength… and the poor ones will fall away. The market place for readership is becoming more and more competitive but the great thing about blogging is there are virtually no barriers to entry… so with hard work and good writing, you have a chance to become a voice.
So the future is bright, the future is blogging.
And finally, how do you think the Gunners will get on this season?
I’d be keen for us to sign a quality centre midfielder before the season starts and maybe another centre back… but even if we don’t, I am confident of a challenge this year. I think we have the most exciting player in the Premiership on our books, we have Rosicky and Eduardo back from injury and everyone is a season more experienced. If Diaby, Ramsey or Denilson can make a Flamini like jump this year… Arsenal fans really could be in for an exciting nine months.
My hopes… a cup, a top two finish and a Champions League final. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?!
- Le Grove joined OmniFootball in May 2009. Add your site to our listings to stand a chance of being ‘Blog of the Week’.
