Instructions for writers of ArseWeb match reports

If at any stage you don't hear from us when you were expecting to...

...please don't be offended and don't refrain from writing to remind us of something. Everyone who works on ArseWeb does it in their spare time and most of us are pretty busy with our regular jobs. So things do slip through the net sometimes.

We cannot guarantee to publish your report on the page.

We'd like to, the more the merrier. But obviously we have to cover ourselves. Even if we do publish it, it might not be possible to upload your contribution very quickly. So if it hasn't appeared yet please get in touch. It could just be that we forgot, or that a gremlin got in the way. If we have decided not to publish it we'll try to let you know why and encourage you to submit again.

Please, no obscenities.

Children read this site. It's good to get some of the feeling of being at the match so don't hold back too much. It's fine to use words like f**k w**ker c**t (how would one mention that c**t Peter Schmeichel otherwise?) but do make sure you spell them with the asterisks.

Please send in text form

IE no MIME or other weird email format things. No html copies of your message or attachments please!

Please use simple html formatting

This means that
if you want a paragraph break you put "<p>" (without the quotes).
if you want a newline you put "<br>".
If you don't understand this please get in touch.

Use SIMPLE html only

In addition to paragraph and newline tags, UL lists and preformatted text are ok. Don't use headings or hr tags. If in doubt please ask.

Content

Please make it personal. One reason we might not publish a report is if it adds nothing. We don't want reports that only tell people what happened, because that information is available elsewhere, probably in other ArseWeb reports and definitely in the various "official" and commercial serversthat information is available elsewhere, probably in other ArseWeb reports and definitely in the various reports that we link to on the "official" and commercial servers. ArseWeb is a fans' site, we want reports that tell people what it was like for you.

It's ok to get things wrong

God knows I'm doing it all the time. Our first efforts at the last 2 matches had the wrong score the first time they appeared! Sometimes things seem one way when you're there but when you see them on telly later you realise you were wrong. Doesn't matter. The main thing is to recreate your experience of the match. If you feel the need to add a rider ("saw it later and realised that Limpar did fell Pembridge with a classic clothesline manoeuvre even though I swore for hours after the match that he never touched him" ... remember that one...? :-)) that's fine, but start with what you saw.

How to send

Don't use the email form. Just email to Rupe@arseweb.com using subject line "Report: <opponents> <date>" eg "Report: Newcastle 04/10/98".
and remember to send plain text.

Don't go on too much

If it's long we might edit out some of it out (starting with stuff that's covered elsewhere already). If you're concerned about this, please make it clear at the top of your submission that you want to be asked before an edited version is published. If you don't do this, we reserve the right to make cuts as we see fit.

Supporters of other teams

We're happy to publish your reports too, within reason. But please let us know who you support!

Finally, please GO TO THE MATCH if you want to write a report on it for us!

Sometimes you'll see bried reports that were written from watching or listening to the radio or tv coverage. This only happens on ArseWeb if we weren't able to go to the match but wanted to get details on it on the site as quickly as possible. We don't want you sending us reports from such sources (please).