This is Non-League Day
Words: Tom Reed
Cover Image: Tom Stanworth at Lewes FC.
Guru Nanak image: Sam Wainwright. Bath City images: Dave Harry. Supporting Images: Tom Reed
English football needs its international break, it’s a time for rest and renewal and for the country’s top young talent to give us hope. And boy do we need hope.
Yet, the big sporting story this weekend wasn’t so much Thomas Tuchel’s promising debut win as England boss, it was the success of Non-League Day, the annual showcase of the clubs that make the strong base of the football pyramid.
The social media chatter was less about Myles Lewis-Skelly’s goal in the 2-0, Three Lions win at Wembley, it was about Harwich and Parkeston FC, Guru Nanak FC, Mousehole FC and thousands of other Non-League clubs who opened their creaking turnstiles to an influx on appreciative visitors on Saturday.
At Scunthorpe United, some five divisions away from the Premier League in the National League North, the Iron notched a record attendance for the division with 8,274 squeezing in for the match against Chester FC
The distance from the Premier League is notable not just in steps of the English football pyramid but in sporting spirit and the feel of the essence of English football.
You can make a strong case for the detachment of the Premier League from the rest of the English game in terms of economics, with weekly wages in the hundreds of thousands in a country where food-banks feed the growing number of worse off.
Likewise, in the sometimes sterile top-flight all-seater stadia, with the pricy tickets and relatively flat atmospheres.
Yet, more noticeable, thanks to Non-League Day, is that the Premier League might just be plain boring in comparison to life below the pinnacle of the pyramid and especially in non-league.
©Sam Wainwright/ Terrace Edition. Guru Nanak FC.
There’s a castle behind Arundel FC, a temple at Guru Nanak, beach huts at Lewes, a heritage railway at Kidderminster, a chocolate factory at Cadbury Athletic. They read dogs’ birthdays out on the tannoy at half-time at Dulwich Hamlet, raising a smile if its been a ruff afternoon in South London. There’s Ken Loach Street art at Bath City.
The many thousands of visitors to Non-League Day, in the main would have been able to stand up to watch the match, feeling England’s unique terrace culture from the trainers up, and not restrained by a seat and a particular space to sit.
Go and stand on the Meadow End at Hereford FC, the fine “curva” terrace and you’ll understand.
Of course, like a choir, it’s better to stand to sing, so at non-league matches, the atmosphere can be more lively and at many grounds you can have a pint in your hand while you do so.
Non-League Day is one of the few times when the Premier League press machine falls quiet and it’s in that hush when you can really consider what is important in football.
Pals, pints, pies, pin-badges. Grandads passing stories to grandchildren, affordability, printed tickets, short walks from towns, supporting your local club.
In non-league, the idea of who who really own football comes into play, with wonderful supporter-owned outfits like FC United of Manchester, Clapton CFC etc but also in terms of the army of volunteers that makes non-league football tick.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Anne Clack. Malvern Town FC volunteer.
Not every club in non-league is fan owned but the majority are maintained by supporters who are stewards, groundsmen and 50-50 ticket sellers, meaning it is very much a fan-run operation.
At Malvern Town FC, not only do you get to watch a match with the backdrop of the stunning Malvern hills but you can have a chat with Anne, club volunteer in her 80s doing various jobs, including filling up the sweet box for the players. “I’d live here if I could” she said, summing things up.
That feeling of being part of a real community and not just a number is what makes non-league stand out and is ultimately what football is about, being part of a team and being able to make a real contribution.
When the Premier League made its infamous breakaway in 1992, it did so with brands established in the main through football fan culture and classic grounds such as Highbury and Upton Park.
Now it’s non-league appealing to fans of an authentic terrace scene . While it was perhaps once the case that non-league football once needed the top flight, the Premier League may well need non-league more to inject vitality and variety into the pyramid.
To truly understand England you need to go to its non-league and once you’ve seen it, you’ll know football in a different light.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Hereford FC. Meadow End.
©Dave Harry/ Terrace Edition. Bath City supporter.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Editon. Buxton FC terrace.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Bath City FC.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Malvern Town FC.
©Dave Harry/ Terrace Edition. Ken Loach wall art. Bath City FC.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Buxton FC.
©Tom Reed/ Terrace Edition. Malvern Town FC.
Tom is Terrace Edition Editor and can be found on X and Instagram: tomreedwriting and Bluesky @tomreedwriting.bluesky.social
Tom Stanworth is on X and Instagram: @tmstanworth
Sam Wainwright is on X: @samwainwrightuk and Instagram: @wainwrightsam
Dave Harry can be found on X @daveharry007; Instagram: @dave_harry007 and Bluesky: @daveharry007bsky.social
