When Was The Last Time You Visited Your Local Lower League Football Club?
Lower league football is exciting and widely available. Here’s why you should head to your nearest club.
This year, every midweek Championship match is available on Sky’s red button. It’s an opportunity to watch games that fans might not have otherwise had the chance to. Alternatively, it has a knock-on effect for attendance. If you know that you can simply watch the game at home, on television, for no extra cost, why venture out of the house?
Before the days of televised matches, it was more likely that people would attend matches closer to where they live. In a similar way to churches being the only place to hear music in Medieval times, lower league football had a much larger support. This was caused by a love of the game and no alternative means of seeing football.
Why are you talking about lower league football when we’re getting stuck in to an exciting season? Well, because there’s a world of football on our doorsteps that’s being ignored in favour of the television. Okay, the players might not be as skilled and the games might not be as fluid. But there’s nothing like seeing a match live. Furthermore, with the Premier League’s isolation of fans through ticket prices, there’s not been a better time to turn to lower league football. It’s the muffled, slightly too loud speakerphone and the entirely audible coaches who are filled with nothing other than a desire to win. It’s the sense that if you weren’t there, you’d miss out, because there aren’t any replays.
This author is no stranger to lower league football, and attended a match between Deal Town FC and Canterbury City last night. Whatever the size of the club nearest you is, check their fixtures and attend. You won’t regret it.
