Non-league: a fan's perspective

Two pairs of socks? Check. Warm trousers? Check. Vest, t-shirt, jumper and coat? Check. Team scarf and gloves? Check. Whilst this might sound like packing for a Scandinavian holiday, this list is a standard routine for thousands of non-league football fans up and down the country. Whilst many reading this may have shivered in the stands at Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford or Anfield on a chilly winter evening, when you're in the middle of an open industrial estate with no protection from the wind and only the body warmth of a handful of fellow supporters to share, wrapping up warm is essential.

Many wonder why anyone would brave such conditions, poor facilities and significant travelling to away matches, purely to watch a standard of football that is well below what you can get for your £30 per month Sky subscription. Indeed when I have invited friends of mine to join me at my local team's (Horsham FC) games, too often have I heard “I would, but this Premiership team are playing that Premiership team on ESPN”. Yet up and down the country, over 100,000 people each week venture out to support clubs in the top four tiers of non-league football.

So why do they do it? I asked a few of my fellow fans at Horsham FC what got them involved with the club. Ben Tennant, 19, likes the common bond shared by players and supporters: “I love the passion and commitment of both the fans and team, for them it’s a part-time job doing what they love. And for us it’s the pride of supporting your home town team through thick and thin whether it’s trying to find some shelter down in Pagham or trekking up to Swansea to break some records.”

Passion and commitment is something you hear from everyone inside non-league football. This is a commitment which goes beyond affinity to a brand and gives a sense of belonging – supporting your local community through your local club. Speaking to Damian Carter, who plays for Horsham fan's Sunday league side 1881 as well as being a regular at Horsham matches, you get a real sense of camaraderie that surrounds non-league fans: “Although watching bad football or simply a run of bad results can put you off turning out on a cold wet night, it's the club's other fans that keep me going. It's the whole social part of it and I have met some genuinely great people whilst being a supporter.”

But for many people, the football club is more than the 40-odd games a year. Tom Mak, 19, supports AFC Wimbledon, who were formed by fans when the board of Wimbledon FC decided to change grounds to one in Milton Keynes, 90 miles north of Wimbledon in 2003. He believes that AFC Wimbledon is “founded on principles. It doesn’t rely on one rich owner shovelling money into the club. The club is very much involved in the community with family fun days, fireworks nights, free school coaching & almost everyone helping on match day is a volunteer.”

This community spirit has led many individuals to turn their love of the game into a significant voluntary workload. I spoke to another Horsham fan, Sean Bravery, who has worked on the management committee for a number of years until becoming chairman of Horsham Independent Supporters Club, a position he has held since its formation in 2003. He tells The Yorker that “Over the years I have been able to help the club, my club, in many ways. These are things not everyone is able to enjoy at professional clubs...if you want to get involved, to actually make a difference, it has to be non-league.”

Of course, we have our own non-league club here in York. Having played at Wembley last year when they lost in the Conference play-off final, York City FC is one of the giants of non-league football. Like AFC Wimbledon, York City is entirely owned by the fans, in this case, the York City Supporters Trust after they took control of the club in 2003, when it was on the edge of abyss.

Ian Haye, a life-long York City fan tells us when “the club went into administration the Supporters Trust acquired control of the club. I was at the inaugural meeting of the Trust and have been involved ever since. It seemed like the right thing to do and after all if I didn't help what would I do on a Saturday!” In the last 20 years, Haye has only missed 3 York City matches (owing to an extended stay in hospital) as well as volunteering as Treasurer of the Supporters Trust and sitting on the board which runs the club. He, like so many others across the spectrum of non-league, is crucial to the lifeblood of the clubs, which give so much to the community and provide joy for thousands each week.

So if you're without anything to do on a Saturday afternoon why not give your local non-league team a go? Although be warned, as Haye points out: “You can change your job, you can change your car, you can change your wife and in extreme cases you can even change your sex these days. However what you cannot change is your football team!”

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