Podcast: Matt Doherty on covering the club world for New England Soccer Journal

New England Soccer Journal club/academy writer Matt Doherty joined 'The Goal.' (NESJ)

The latest guest on New England Soccer Journal’s “The Goal” podcast is New England Soccer Journal writer Matt Doherty.

Earlier this week, NESJ officially welcomed Doherty to the team as its newest writer. He will cover the club and academy soccer world extensively.

Doherty, who went to Boston University, comes to Seamans Media after working at The Boston Globe as a high school sports reporter, covering boys’ soccer, boys’ basketball and baseball.

He joined host Matt Langone to discuss his new role and his vision for it, and why he’s excited to cover the New England club/academy soccer landscape. 

The full podcast can be accessed below and is available on all major platforms. If you enjoy it, please leave a rating and a review.

Here are some highlights from our discussion with Doherty:

On why writing for New England Soccer Journal appealed to him:

Doherty: “I think with soccer and coming here, I understand the people and the key players in the region. MLS NEXT is something that I’ve done a little bit at The Globe. I did a story on kind of the MIAA players leaving for MLS NEXT last year, which did really well on our website, and I didn’t know a ton about MLS NEXT at the time and I think that was my introduction to it. I mean, it’s new, right? It’s only in a couple years old, but I think it’s becoming more prominent in the region and club soccer in general. So, I think when I was looking here and having that opportunity, it really sold me, because I think it’s a market that’s untapped and I’m really excited to get in there and start doing the work.”

On what intrigues him about covering club/academy soccer:

Doherty: “I think it’s the players that maybe we don’t know a lot about right now. I think that’s what really excites me, because one thing I love about journalism is the stories and the teams, and chronicling a team’s journey or chronicling a player’s journey. Who overcame adversity or who developed really well from freshman year?”

On spreading our coverage as wide as we can to include numerous clubs:

Doherty: “That’s the thing, there’s so many (clubs), right? It’s like right now I’m seeing and focusing on kind of the major ones — the big giants in the area and the clubs who offer MLS NEXT, because that’s the season right now. But as we get into the winter and the spring, there’s going to be even more for our network to grow even wider, which is exciting.”