A factor in this new season which had escaped my attention until Sunday, and which for some reason has tickled me more than somewhat, is the new name under which the Conference clubs will be operating this year. You probably already noticed. It is now the Vanarama Football Conference no less. Vanarama are no doubt a top class outfit, the go to guys if you need to lease a van, part of the Autorama Group, based in the fine footballing town of Hemel Hempstead, and obviously determined to raise their profile through the medium of football. Good luck to them I say. But I can’t help thinking that as they started casting the net for new sponsors the good people of the Conference management committee were hoping for something maybe a little bit more upmarket, or at least more upmarket sounding. BT Sport maybe, or perhaps British Gas. Or if not more upmarket then one of the apparently endless supply of betting firms now on the go; the Paddy Power Conference, or the Bet 365 Conference. But no, after much diligent effort it is the Vanarama Conference after all. And very good it sounds.
The Conference is a funny beast I reckon, a combination of former league clubs, some with outstanding history, all desperate to get back to the Football League, a few grizzled old Conference veterans, who know where they are well off, and every season at least one or two clubs who have risen through the ranks faster than is good for them and find themselves caught like rabbits in the headlights. So this season you have the likes of Wrexham and Lincoln trading blows with Braintree and Dover. Sounds wrong somehow, don’t you think? Especially when the lesser known clubs thrash the old League clubs. And much of it on the telly this season as well. So maybe a comical name suits all concerned. I hope so...