Most club websites are designed around the news. But look at when people actually visit, and a lot of it happens in the few hours before a game — on a phone, often outdoors, sometimes on a patchy signal outside the ground. Those visitors aren’t there to browse. They have a question.
1. When and where?
The next fixture should be on the home page, above everything else: opponent, date, kick-off time and venue. If the time changes for TV or a cup replay, it changes in one place and shows everywhere. A match centre fed by data rather than typed into a news post makes this far easier to keep right.
2. How do I get a ticket?
A ticket button on the fixture itself, not two menus down. Prices on one page, laid out so that “how much for me and my two kids?” takes a glance. If you’re pay-at-the-gate, say so clearly, and say whether you take cards.
3. How do I get there?
Postcode for sat-nav, parking, the nearest station, accessible entrances, and — for away fans — which end and which turnstiles. This is the page people search for on the way, so give it a plain address like /getting-here/ and link it from the fixture.
4. Team news, then the result
The starting eleven an hour before kick-off, updates during the game if you have the people for it, and the result the moment the whistle goes. A live data feed can do the scores for you; a volunteer can do the words.
5. Speed, on a phone
A matchday visitor won’t wait for a heavy home page slider to load on one bar of signal. Compress images, don’t autoplay video, and put the site behind a content delivery network so pages are served from close to the fan rather than from one busy server.
A quick test
Take your phone outside, turn Wi-Fi off, and try to find out the next kick-off time, buy a ticket and get directions. Count the taps. If it’s more than three for any of them, that’s where to start.