For fans of the biggest leagues in Europe this weekend is going to be a quiet one. With the internationals taking over, domestic football in the top two divisions goes on pause while international sides slog it out to get to the next tournament and go top of the ‘widely respected’ FIFA world rankings. In the muck and nettles of non-league however things are in full swing as Non-League Day rolls into town
Non-League Day is the brainchild of James Doe, a Queen’s Park Rangers fan. He came up with the idea last year when visiting Tavistock FC for a friendly with QPR. He was struck with how welcoming everyone was and how many people gave up their spare time every weekend to put on a game of semi-professional or amateur football. He wanted to do something to improve attendances and show that fans of bigger clubs also cared about the grass-roots game and so Non-League Day was born.
The results so far have been fantastic and lasts years average gates in non-league rose by around 30% on the day. For a small club this extra gate revenue is vital and it is comforting to know that your money is going to be spent on the club rather than going into an anonymous consortium in the Far East.
This year there is a Conference football ‘ground hop,’ where you can take in three games of football in one day for a bus fee of £5, which goes to Marie Curie Cancer, and entry to the grounds. The hop begins at Blue Square Bet North side Bishop’s Stortford at 12:30pm, as they take on Boston United, it then moves to Blue Square Bet South side Chelmsford City for a 3:30pm kick off, when they entertain Dover Athletic and finally the bandwagon travels to Braintree of the Blue Square Bet Premier at 7:00pm for their clash with Lincoln City.
The only way is Essex (sorry) it seems this weekend then.
Well that’s not quite true. Most clubs are offering a discount on normal match day prices or offering free entry to fans that have a season ticket of a Premier League or Football League club. So wherever you are in the country you can find a club that is doing something special on the day. Even if a club isn’t doing anything special in particular it is still much cheaper to go to a non-league game. If you find yourself at a loose end this weekend then go to the Non-League Day website and look for your local club on their map.
Photo courtesy of Chris Nee.
looks like a good weekend ahead, and glad to see theres lots of charity events organised. Cheers for posting that map, very useful.
A bit late in on this, but the week after Non League Day, I went to see my local team Hampton & Richmond Borough with my two year old son. It was my first visit to the club, and my son’s first game ever.
Even though “The Beavers” lost 4-0, I became hooked, and went to the next home game, a 3-1 win against Weston Super Mare. We are now fans of the club, and can’t wait for the next match!