e-mail: laurence_hughes@yahoo.co.uk
© 2012 Hughes Video Services
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Our definition of a 'Non-League' Team on this website is generally Clubs who play in Senior Saturday Football from the Blue Square Bet Premier League (Football Conference) downwards and operate on more or less a Semi-Professional basis'. In other words, Step 1 to Step 7 of the ‘Non-League Pyramid’. For our Non-League DVD catalogue however, we have included all mens' clubs who play their football on Saturdays, including the A.F.A. Leagues such as the Amateur Football Combination and the Southern Amateur League, and even down to parks' level. |
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We started off our coverage of Non-League Football back in the early 1990's when
Laurence Hughes persuaded his local club, ENFIELD F.C. that by filming all their
matches Home and Away We then took a season off to concentrate on designing the original version of this website and the one for our sponsored Sunday League club Edmonton Rovers, while we also used the time to experiment with new computer-based production ideas and catch up on a large backlog of editing work. We then resumed filming Non-League football half-way through the 2000-2001 Season when we covered FARNBOROUGH TOWN’s run-in to the Ryman League Premier Division title under former Enfield player Graham Westley, this proving to be another successful venture for us. Again though, we declined the offer to continue filming for them the following season due to the travelling involved, and for Season 2001-2002 onwards we decided to start covering several different Non-League clubs by just picking and choosing a match each week where we thought there might be a possibility of selling copies to supporters who had not purchased any of our videos before. This coincided with the formation of ENFIELD TOWN F.C. by disenchanted Enfield supporters, and we covered a large number of their games in addition to several for the likes of Dulwich Hamlet, Bishop's Stortford and Cheshunt amongst others, although sales of videos were rather disappointing and it appeared that the novelty was starting to wear off for some clubs. In 2003 we then received an offer from the Footballers Football Channel to film all
Home matches for Nationwide Conference clubs GRAVESEND & NORTHFLEET and DAGENHAM
& REDBRIDGE, in which the footage was to be broadcast on the Internet. We immediately
took up the offer as it was the first time we had actually been paid for filming
and it guaranteed us an income rather than relying on sales of Match Videos. While
we were working for the Footballers Football Channel (otherwise known as T.F.F.C.),
we Unfortunately, Canvey Island voluntarily dropped out of the Conference at the start of the 2006-2007 Season to play at a lower level, so we therefore filmed Home games for Gravesend & Northfleet (Ebbsfleet United) and Grays Athletic only thereafter, whilst also providing footage to Conference TV for showing on the internet and then Setanta for their TV broadcasts until their demise. At the end of the 2009-2010 Season, both Ebbsfleet United and Grays Athletic were relegated from the Blue Square Bet Premier Division, with Grays voluntarily dropping right down to Division One North of the Ryman League and selling their Home ground to property developers. They now ground-share at East Thurrock United and unfortunately can no longer afford to use our services. During Season 2010-2011 we continued to film Home matches for Ebbsfleet United and we also took up an offer to film a number of Home matches for SUTTON UNITED. This turned out to be a successful season for us as Ebbsfleet ended up gaining promotion back to the Blue Square Bet Premier Division after winning a memorable South Division Play-Off Final, while Sutton won the Ryman League Premier Division to gain promotion to the Blue Square Bet South Division. |
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Unfortunately, Sutton United have decided to use untrained volunteers from their supporter base to film their Home matches this season as they are no longer willing to pay for a professional service, so we currently have a vacancy to film for a Non-League club in or around the M25 area on Saturday afternoons and in midweek. When fixtures with Ebbsfleet United clash, we use freelance cameramen to help us out so that all games are covered. These cameramen are invariably from other Conference clubs or other Edmonton/Enfield-based cameramen who have plenty of experience in filming Non-League and amateur football matches for us. Further details regarding some of the freelance cameramen we use can be found on the ‘About Us’ page. In general, we only film matches within a 50-mile radius from our base in Edmonton,
North London, and our pricing structure covers that distance. As a rough guide, the
most Northerly point we cover is Cambridge, to the East is Colchester, to the West
is Oxford, the South-West is Basingstoke and the South-East is Ashford (Kent). |
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Most of our bookings to film matches for Non-League clubs have been as a result of
us covering high-profile teams such as Enfield, Aldershot Town, Farnborough Town, Although we currently film for Ebbsfleet United on Saturdays and Tuesday evenings, we can still take bookings to film one-off matches and Cup Finals for Non-League clubs as we may have freelance cameramen available on some Saturdays and particularly on other midweek evenings. Our contact details and website address is included on the back of every DVD insert that we produce, and many bookings that we receive to film matches are from clubs who have seen another club's DVD and contacted us as a result. |
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We quite often have requests from television companies to use footage of goals and any other major incidents from matches that we have been booked to film for clubs, or to use archive footage we have of players in their Non-League or Youth Team days before they became famous. For this, we can either copy the footage required from the Master Tape onto another Mini-DV tape or an SD card, transfer the footage over the internet, or copy the footage from a portable hard-drive into a laptop straight after the final whistle. This is currently in Standard Definition (AVI format) only and we generally charge £50.00 (for unlimited showings) for that if it is for regional TV or for streaming on a website, and £150.00 or more (for unlimited showings) if it is for National or Satellite TV. Please be aware that when we have been booked to film a match for the club(s), if we are unable to record onto a portable hard-drive during the game, then we will not be able to allow courier services to collect the camera Master Tapes from us on the final whistle. (Some of our freelance cameramen only record onto the camera master tapes and do not have a back-up). Please also note that all payments for courier collections of footage must be made by the TV company. Laurence Hughes and most of our freelance cameramen are also available to film matches in the South-East of England specifically for television and internet companies as opposed to the clubs themselves, subject to the Home Club giving permission and issuing a press pass. This will be for a minimum fee of £150.00 per match. This price is for capturing on Mini-DV tapes in standard definition 16:9 format. We can also film in high definition (HDV) on Mini-DV for a minimum fee of £200.00 per match. These fees include giving the TV or internet company the camera master tapes straight after the match for their use only. Please contact us for further details. |
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We are currently working on producing an online catalogue for this website whereby DVD’s can be purchased individually using credit or debit cards via PayPal. This will completely replace the old system of having to post cheques to our office with a hand-written order form. We hope to have this facility in place at some stage during 2012. To order our DVD’s in the meantime (by BACS payments, cheques or cash), please view our Non-League DVD Catalogue for instructions. |
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and selling copies of the Match Videos in their club shop,
it would be a good fund-raising venture. This was immediately taken up, and although
we filmed the games free of charge, it proved to be a worthwhile exercise as Enfield
F.C. were a successful club at the time and enough money was made from the sales
of Match Videos and Compilations to continue filming them on a regular basis throughout
the 1990’s. However, as Enfield's fan-base dwindled thereafter due to the sale of
their Southbury Road ground and financial difficulties, we therefore needed to film
for a club with bigger
did
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Gravesend & Northfleet (Ebbsfleet United), Canvey Island & Grays Athletic over the
past 20 years. This has enhanced our reputation, especially when their many different
opponents have ordered copies of Match Videos and/or DVD's or viewed highlights on
You Tube and therefore subsequently seen the quality of our productions.