I have written many times that volunteers are the lifeblood of non-league football and the contributions they make are vital and in many cases invaluable to helping clubs survive and thrive.
It is really hard to show just how important that work is without seeing it first hand and even then you only grab a snippet from that day.
Now that was until I came across ‘In the Wings’ an account which has been setup with the sole goal of showing everyone exactly that! The person behind the channel is Ray Francis - he has always been a fan of the club but until 7 years ago had not been a regular at the stadium. That is when everything changed, taking the plunge he started to come to more of Welling United’s matches and immediately formed a great friendship with a group of lads who, in his own words, “Were much bigger fans than myself, but welcomed me in as if I had been coming every week for 30 years”.
discussing days prep with Captain Dean Gunner
Ray, Dave and 2 other volunteers Matt and Stephen celebrating a win
It is a story not uncommon for Non-League football, where a club feels more like a community as opposed to a collection of people with a shared team. There is an openness and warmth that always seems to be present at every club.
Fast forward a few years to around 2022 and Ray started to find himself using his IT background to good effect, helping the club install Wifi around the ground and eventually even setting up the clubs ticketing system. It was also around this time that he found himself working alongside another volunteer Dave Winchester a lot more, Dave has also helped the club hugely with his knowledge in the power industry, knowledge that has saved the club money in labour and general expertise.
Not only did Ray and Dave share a passion for Welling and helping the club as much as possible. They both also had a shared interest in creating social media content, this was initially posted out onto their own personal channels but the pair decided that they needed an account dedicated to showcasing the work they do behind the scenes.
Volunteers and manager Rod Stringer attending the owners (Howard) wedding reception
Myself, Dave and Stephen after Fisher pre-season last year
Dave helping install the lay and play grass we needed during last season
Although this was great both Ray and Dave thought that they should have a dedicated social media page and presence created especially for this behind the scenes content. Many experiments followed suit and the duo are very forthcoming with admitting they still haven’t settled 100% on their own style and a cookie cutter that fits everything that they do.
A huge presence in the non-league football world is that of Bunch of Amateurs, a inspiration for many (myself included) a sentiment which Ray echoed with a very harsh assessment of his own work “We are not even close to the level of Rich at BOA, but if he does read this and wants to collaborate that would be amazing” so, Rich if you are reading this drop them a line!
Dave and Ray on plane flying to Newquay to watch Welling vs Truro (we lost)
Knowing all of this, I wanted to probe a little deeper and look at and find out from the guys themselves what they see in the future for ‘In the Wings’.
What has been your favourite video shot to date?
It was a piece of drone footage before a night game. I did a perfect over the floodlights fly into the ground. Decided to try and make it slightly better, failed, hit the floodlights and smashed the drone.
What do you see in the future for 'In the wings' ?
One of the main reasons for us starting “in the wings” is to help shine a light on Welling United and what it takes to run a club from a volunteers POV. I hope this channel will help increase attendances and bring Welling back to where they belong. The best possible outcome would be to shine a light on some of the funny stories we have had over the years at Welling and get a Netflix documentary made.
What do you want people to take from watching your videos?
I would love people to see how amazing it is to volunteer at a non-league football club. The interactions you can have with the players, ownership etc makes you feel like a second home. Ultimately I want to people to laugh, see how much fun non-league football is and how it can help your mental health
How have the club and the players reacted to you two in particular wanting to document the work you are doing for the page?
The club seems to love it, they have allowed us access to everything. Myself and Dave even have our own office/workshop at the ground. The players seem to enjoy us being there for the most part. As it’s not behind the scenes about them specifically, we only capture bit and pieces of the players themselves, which I think they prefer to having camera stuck in their face constantly
Why should someone else volunteer at their local club?
Volunteering at a non-league club is so amazing it is hard to explain. We think of it from a couple of different ways, it’s like an extended family and can give you a sense of purpose. Myself and Dave both have families and “real life” can have some challenges. But for those few hours you volunteer at the ground, you can forget about everything else and know that your contribution is wanted and needed. Some of the best times are during the winter, when you have a grass pitch like at PVR, it needs a lot of help over the winter months. But when you spend an entire morning forking and tying to dry a pitch, the game goes ahead and you win. There is not many better feelings that knowing you player a small part in that victory.
I am genuinely looking forward to seeing more from 'In the Wings'.
I really like the overall concept and I think it has legs to really become something to watch, the behind the scenes content has been done by many clubs already but always from a clubs perspective, never really from the volunteers side. I think the raw realness of the video is something the duo must harness and keep even when they look to scale the output.
Ray mentioned that the end goal for them would be to have a Netflix documentary made - I think the duo can do it themselves.
Take on the challenge and craft out a documentary style that has not been done before, with buy in from the club already I think they are well positioned to really capture something special, you never know one of the big video companies may even come knocking before then!
Make sure you all follow them on their channels!
Until next time.
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