Could Grassroots Approach Save English Non-League Football?

This special feature was written by Andrew Raeburn, a freelance sports journalist and broadcaster specializing in non-league football. Raeburn also serves as Eastbourne Borough FC’s publicity coordinator.

With the international break giving the top two divisions the weekend off, and England launching their Euro 2012 qualifying campaign on Friday, Queens Park Rangers fan James Doe has seized the opportunity afforded by this gap in the diary to promote the grass roots game.

James, who stands on the terraces at Ryman League side Harrow Borough when not watching QPR, and Mike Bayly, commercial manager at Wingate and Finchley FC, earmarked Saturday September 4, 2010, as Non-League Day. A campaign to encourage supporters of Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool to ‘adopt’ for the day nearby clubs like Raynes Park Vale, Curzon Ashton and Prescot Cables. What started, inevitably, as a campaign on social networking websites, has, in James’s words, ‘become an overnight sensation’.

It has the backing of the Football Supporters Federation, Blue Square – the betting firm which sponsors the Conference’s three divisions – and the Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust. Many non-league clubs are offering discounted, or even free, entry to their matches on that day – and the idea has caught on in Poland, with supporters considering co-ordinating a similar event over there.

James has spent 27 of his 35 years supporting QPR, but followed Harrow Borough ‘obsessively’ as a teenager when he couldn’t afford trips to Loftus Road. Non-League Day was inspired by matches involving both clubs. Firstly, when watching the Hoops’ pre-season match at Tavistock in July, James said he was taken by how welcome the R’s fans were made and ‘how financially important the match was’ to the home club. Then he learned of the financial plight of Harrow Borough.

He said: “The last time I went to Earlsmead [Harrow’s 3,000-capacity stadium] I was made aware of a fundraising campaign to buy new bulbs for the floodlights which shocked me into realising how tight funds must have become at the club.”

“Non-League Day is about getting people to sample football at community and grass roots level who might otherwise not even think about it and in so doing bring some vital funds into their local club,” James continued. “The response has been great with fans, clubs and leagues all pledging support. We’ve also received the backing of the influential Football Supporters Federation who in turn have got Blue Square fully involved in promoting the event.”

For clubs like Harrow, who live in the constant shadow of more glamorous Premier League and Football League neighbours, attracting new supporters through the gates on a Saturday can be a struggle.

A few years ago, two other Middlesex-based clubs, Hayes and Yeading, were limping on in the Conference South on gates of barely a couple of hundred apiece. In 2007, they took the decision to merge – and Hayes and Yeading United won promotion to non-league football’s top flight, the Blue Square Bet Premier, two years later.

The team are clearly good enough – they beat Grimsby a couple of weeks ago – but while league rivals Luton get 7,000 fans every home game, Hayes and Yeading’s average crowd last year was just 311. They host Histon on Saturday and, to promote Non-League Day, the club are offering half-price entry (£7) to season-ticket holders from other clubs.

Press Officer Nick Bell said: “We are a friendly club who, despite pulling in the fewest spectators in the division, manage to cope admirably on the pitch, playing a passing style of football which is pleasing to the eye. Our ambitions include moving to a new ground and rebuilding the infrastructure of the club so it can comfortably survive at this level, but in the short term it needs the support of the locals and we would very much welcome the attendance of fans from local clubs such as Chelsea, Fulham, QPR and Watford.”

Post-Taylor Report, terraces have been steadily vanishing from the professional game. Non-league grounds offer not just standing areas but all bar the top Conference matches are unsegregated, allowing fans to mingle, share banter and, crucially, change ends at half-time.

Not only that, but you can get in to most grounds for less than a tenner – and you might get the first glimpse of the new Stuart Pearce, Les Ferdinand or Ben Foster, who all started their careers in non-league.

For more on Non-League Day, and to find your nearest home game on Saturday, visit www.nonleagueday.co.uk.