14 months ago a few passionate Gooners bought an old and jaded Arsenal website called ‘Welcome to the Gunners’ Town.’ Within weeks, the genius that is Batmandela gave WTTGT a complete overhaul. A new ‘look’ was created, the name was shortened, the website rebuilt, and Gunners Town as we know it was born. We inherited one thing (or should I say one ‘person’) of great value from the old WTTGT: an Editor, top blogger and a cracking guy in Matt Cotton.
Veteran blogger and co-owner Dave Seager set about recruiting a wide and varied mix of Arsenal fans who wanted to write on the new platform and boy, have we had some traffic on the site: more than 2 million visitors since we launched in May 2013!
Many of the guys and girls had never written before. We are proud to have launched the likes of season diarist Darren Berry, anti social media behaviourist John Woods and son-of-a-legend Ryan Rocastle into the Arsenal Blogosphere, as well as having given a permanent home to top talent such as Arsenal Ladies expert Anushree Nande, match reviewer Matt Littlechild and rambler Greg Cross.
In addition we have consistently covered Arsenal issues from a Global perspective with Bundesliga expert Chris Mader, Oz humourist Steve Wellman, La Liga watcher Chris Moar and French footie specialist Vincent Fabre. Many friends have come and gone, always knowing they are welcome to return whenever they wish: resident tipster Andy Wood, match previewer Ryan Barker, astute columnist Michael Jeffares, serial ranter Scotty Davis, and the man who went behind enemy lines for us – Vivek Arulnathan.
Others just write brilliantly when they feel inclined (or have the time!) – such as mad Russian Anna Lvova, the wacky Darren Wright, point-maker Clive Palmer, tactician Awolowo Olunide, aspiring sports journo Guy Clarke and educated Gooner Billy Dunmore.
Gunners Town has also provided a platform for artists, designers and video makers such as tube whizzes William Sass and Arsenal Editor, young French portraitist Laury Layani and in-visual-graphicist Kaleena Ly. We actively support and encourage young writers – such as 16-year-old Alex Burns.
We’re particularly proud of the diverse and global nature of our writers and artists – they truly reflect the nature of the Arsenal fanbase and we hope to continue doing more of the same. To do this we need more writers looking for an established platform (of course!) – but we also need more help.
Epic New Addition To The GT Team
So – whilst we are massively proud of the fact that our editor Matt Cotton is now writing for The Times on an increasing basis – in readiness for the new season we wanted a new assistant to support him. To that end we are delighted to welcome Akash Nihalani to Gunners Town as Assistant Editor to support Matt. Most of you will know Akash on Twitter as Sir Jenkinson: @theEpicGooner. He will be joining our team with immediate effect.
Akash is a 21-year-old Indian Gooner whose love for the Arsenal is well-documented. Apart from his passion, youthful energy, and his loyalty to the club and its manager, Akash brings with him a degree in Marketing and a knack for social media. He will assist us in boosting Gunners Town’s online profile and profitability, whilst maintaining the integrity we have hopefully established over the past year or so.
Akash was the Fan Ambassador for the massively successful Castrol FIFA World Cup campaign in India, and currently works at @ifkpune as Social Media Strategist. We couldn’t think of a better person to help carry Gunners Town forward.
Welcome, Akash!
Gunners Town is a premier Arsenal blogging platform for passionate and knowledgeable Gooners. Established in 2012, the site has garnered over 5 million views.
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