Welcome back to another Through the Turnstile meets, this time we are joined by Johnnie Lowery an author of two fantastic football books, the second of which has just been released – Amateur Hour.

If you are looking for your next book to read and fill that gap football shaped gap in your life for the next few weeks, this could well be the answer you are looking for…so lets go!

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Q) Firstly what is the book and what is it all about?

Amateur Hour is all about myself trying to attend a game in every round of the FA Vase during the lockdown-affected 2020/21 season. This was obviously a very strange time, so I think it’s quite interesting to look back at what the football world was like back then. It was only a few years ago, but now feels like a completely different era. You’re permitted to laugh at me when I talk about stories from my personal life as well! It all makes up part of what my lockdown experience was like

Q) What made you want to write a book like this?

I’d always wanted to do a ‘Road to Wembley’ book for the FA Vase, having seen so many books or blogs doing a similar thing for the FA Cup. I love the FA Vase – I think it’s such a romantic notion that two clubs from so low down the football pyramid get the chance to go to Wembley each year. When we went into lockdown the rules meant you could still go and watch ‘non-elite’ football, but not ‘elite’ football (including Sutton United). Given that there wasn’t a lot else to do, I thought this might as well be the season that I try to do it!

Q) What would your ideal writers set-up be?

Probably a space that’s separate to where I live and work my day job when I’m working from home – a dedicated study. It should be spacious and have a lot of natural lighting, but be away from distractions. A coffee machine would be a nice extra!

Q) And what does your current set-up look like?

Sadly nothing like that! I tend to write from a desk in my bedroom in a flat share in East London. Such is the reality of trying to live in London in your twenties sadly. It’s perfectly functional though so I can’t complain really

Q) How long did it take you to write?

I pretty much did it as I went along. Each time I went to a game I would write the chapter up within the next few days, or weeks at most. Amateur Hour wasn’t too bad at all because there wasn’t too much research involved, just the basics on the clubs involved.

Q) What was the most stressful thing about writing the book?

The times when it looked like the FA Vase wouldn’t even finish that season! Various lockdown restrictions coming and going meant that it looked in doubt on more than one occasion. Even when games were being played, they were behind closed doors for several rounds which meant it was often challenging for me to get in. This did make for some good stories though – I won’t give you any more spoilers!

Q) Now this is your fourth book, in another ‘Match Fit’ An Exploration of Mental Health in Football you cover a very important topic, what made you want to cover that as your first print?

(Previous titles include: A book about Johnnies childhood supporting Sutton United, Six Added Minutes, released in 2019 and he also wrote the club’s official 125-year anniversary book, Forever Amber, in 2023 after they asked him personally to write it)

Match Fit came from my personal experience of struggling with my mental health in my teenage years without knowing what mental health actually was. It wasn’t really talked about back then – and this is only about ten years ago. I just thought that feeling down all the time, crying myself to sleep, not wanting to do anything or go anywhere was normal. The idea with Match Fit is that I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to learn about mental health at that time, but I was obsessed with football and read about it all the time. I hope that people will be drawn in by the football aspect of Match Fit, but will potentially learn something about themselves too by relating to the people I interviewed for it

Q) An Exploration of Mental Health in Football is very different – how difficult was the switch to this new one?

Amateur Hour was much easier to write in many ways. Match Fit was heavily research based, and relying on interviews meant things were sometimes out of my control. I could go at my own pace with Amateur Hour, and it took a fraction of the time that Match Fit did. It was much lighter too, and I must admit that I was quite affected at times by the stuff I was writing about in Match Fit. The only thing I found more difficult was opening up and talking about myself and my own mental health in Amateur Hour. It was similar to my first book, Six Added Minutes, in that sense

Q) Did you always know you wanted to write a book growing up?

Honestly, not at all. It was never an ambition of mine. I wrote my first book, Six Added Minutes, as something to pass the time at university and because my friends encouraged me to put my stories of watching Sutton United on paper. I never even intended to get it published. But once it was finished I thought I might as well have a go and the success of it has encouraged me to do more and more since then. I’ve become completely addicted to the process of writing now and find that it’s one of my favourite ways of relaxing

Q) Tell us about your upbringing with football, what did it look like?

So my parents are both from the north of England, but moved down to London before I was born. My dad didn’t want me growing up supporting a Premier League team from the sofa, so he took me to various lower league teams when I was a kid. I always remember that Sutton were the friendliest club (and won 4-0, which helped) and so Sutton became my team. I got my first season ticket in 2011 and have barely missed a game since I started doing the away games too in 2015. I was a decent player as a kid as well without ever threatening to make it pro. Sadly health issues since then have meant I’ve had to retrain as a goalkeeper, but my 7-a-side team have just won our league again so you could say it’s going well so far

Q) What do your family think of the book and you taking the leap of faith in releasing it?

My mum actually works as a proof-reader, so she’s been a big help in particular! Both my parents have been really supportive and are delighted for me every time I sign a publishing contract or release another book

Q) Would you say there is a snippet from your new book that is your favourite and most proud of when reading it back?

Unconventional, but I think the dedication right at the start is quite good (if I say so myself) – it’s ‘For Grandad Lowery, who thought that modern football was ‘a load of shite’. It’s obviously a tribute I wanted to get in there, but I think it captures the essence of the alternative of non-league football quite nicely as well and sets the tone for the rest of the book

Q) What does the future look like for you, do you have a second book in the plans?

I’m working on another football book now, which I expect is still a few years away. I have plenty of other ideas for my next project after that as well! I certainly expect that I’ll still be writing many years into the future

Q) What would your advice be to someone who is looking to write their own book?

I think if you have a strong idea of what you want to write about then that in itself will make your book an entertaining read. The ability to write well will follow naturally. You don’t have to have a degree in English Literature or anything to make a success of it. I think the most important piece of the puzzle is the passion to do it

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A great backstory and also some great advice right at the end there – if you want to give it a go, then go for it!

No such thing as a bad idea!

Now as I said at the start, should you want to fill your wait for the new season with something football related – I think you cant go wrong with picking up a copy of ‘Amateur hour’ and supporting Johnnie along the way too!

https://www.pitchpublishing.co.uk/shop/amateur-hour

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NEW BUNDLE – Editions 2 & 3 including delivery – £8.25 !

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