So…you want to be a football journalist? You want press access to all the matches and press conferences, one-on-one interviews with the football stars, dining with the biggest names in the game?

There’s good news, and there’s bad news.

The bad news is that your chances of ‘making it’ as an averagely-successful journo working for a top-of-the-line newspaper are less than 1 in 10,000. And your chances of being a really, really, REALLY successful journalist and ‘living the life’ (which usually involves writing a book, being called up by players for exclusive interviews and god knows what) are 1 in a 1,000,000. 1 in a million, and I’m being generous.

The good news is that most people quit at the first hurdle - the challenge of getting in. The real battle for the top starts once you’re in the business - as long as you’re on the outside, you’re nothing (or very little). And since most people quit before they’re in, your chances of success can be a lot higher (still very poor odds but better than 1 in a million, at least) as long as you can figure a path into the world of football journalism.

So how do you do it? I asked the same question to a few journalists - some successful, some getting there, but all of them with different backgrounds, experiences and tips to share. From our conversations, here is a collection of tips that you can follow to dramatically increase your chances of getting in - of becoming a football journalist.

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