Non-League football – The purest experience of the sport

The grounds

Obviously, as a groundhopper, one of my favourite parts of non-league football is visiting the grounds. Unlike the ‘identikit’ stadiums you find up and down the country in the Premier League and Football League (yes, I include the rather ordinary looking Liberty Stadium in that statement), non-league grounds come bursting with characters, with a number of wonderful individual quirks to entertain the visiting spectators.

OK, so a lot of the time you find parts of the ground rusting away or the odd crumbling stand, but that’s part of the rustic charm of non-league football.

At a non-league ground, you feel you are breathing in the lifeblood of the club and experiencing the club’s history. And no visit to a non-league ground visit is complete without a visit to the clubhouse for a pre-match (and post-match) drink with the local fans.

One of my criteria for what makes a good ground, is usually the location and although you’ll find a lot of non-league grounds in small, sometimes isolated, towns, they can undoubtedly provide you with some stunning scenery.

Places such as Mossley and Glossop, located just East near the Peak District, offer beautiful scenery around the ground, especially Mossley which has arguably one of the most scenic backdrops to any ground in English football with the hills rising above the ground in the distance.

Only a couple of months ago, I visited Welsh League (essentially non-league) club Glantraeth FC, and their ground had easily the most scenic backdrop of any club I’ve visited, with the Welsh mountains of Snowdonia standing proud in the distance. You won’t find anything quite as enchanting at the Emirates or Old Trafford anytime in the near future.

You don’t get view like this at Old Trafford: Glantraeth FC with the Snowdonia mountains in the background

Also, for your measly priced ticket, you can, most of the time, position yourself in any part of the ground you wish, instead of being prescribed a specific seat.

I used the word ‘positioned’ as you can actually stand! This is one of my favourite things about the world of non-league football – a world where you can still stand at football and the standing terrace reigns supreme.

Why the Premier League doesn’t follow the Bundesliga‘s lead with safe standing terraces – or at least give it a go – I do not know. Anyway, non-league has standing terraces (of course, there is seating as well for those of a more relaxed or elderly nature) and I think that that is just marvellous.

Pies

And finally, the pies. The bloody pies! Unlike the cheap, cr**** pies that are brought into Premier League stadiums en masse and sold at a typically high price, the pie is the king of the culinary world in the lower levels of football.

Chips: no. Burgers: no. Hot dogs: no. Pies are the ultimate football food and nowhere does them better than non-league (apart from Morecambe FC maybe, but they are essentially a non-league club that has begun punching over their weight over the past few years).

Just like everything else in non-league, the pies by most clubs are usually lovingly put together by the volunteers at the club to ensure the customer gets full satisfaction.

Of course, you’ll find some places that do ‘dud’ pies, but overall the pie-eating experience is a fulcrum of a non-league experience (well, for me anyway).

The thing that can make or break your day at a non-league ground: the pie. Here’s my fine pie at Buxton FC

I’d be a hypocrite if I said I was against modern football, as I enjoy the Premier League too much and I’ve put enough money into watching it, yet I can’t help but embrace the non-league scene at the same time, a place where at times I think they’ve just got football, well, right.

So if you are bored this weekend and are downhearted after watching a predictably dull and dreary England performance on the Friday night, get yourself along to your local club on Saturday afternoon and give non-league football a crack.

There will not just be one and his dog there; there will be entertaining football; it will be cheap; you will meet friendly and welcoming people; and it will be cheap.

However, most important of all, I promise that you’ll have a good time. Where will I be going for Non-League Day? Well, I’m catching the steam engine from Bury right into the train station next to Ramsbottom United’s ground . Now that is different.