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Professional vs Non League football (as a fan)


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Over last few years I have started to really enjoy non league football for a lot of the reasons on the OP.
But with non league football you don't get all the add ons that people love about supporting a big club.

You don't get the feeling of an event with a large number of people and people who are not there are interested in.

 

No little sub plots of players against old clubs or managers about to get the sack (Of course you do get these in non league football but its not discussed at work or on the bus in the same way)

No big rivalries against other sides.

 

Plusses and minuses to both Professional and watching non league but I will say this for non league football it still feels like a sport where professional football even in League 1 can feel soulless at times.

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19 minutes ago, FreshOwl said:

Yeah…but you’re watching non league football…is having a chat with the players after the game really that good when most of them are plumbers & carpenters 

Yeah, but the state of professional "football" in this country. 

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Genuine question but is it the same feeling? 
 

Can you get as excited when they score? Do you get the same buzz walking to the ground? 
 

I like the idea of going to non-league but it just wouldn’t be the club I support so I would assume not the same feeling.

 

I suppose a big positive is you don’t care as much when they play badly. 

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People vote with their feet don't they?

The following figures show fairly conclusively where most people would want to watch their football.

 

 

Premier League Average Attendance so far this season

1Manchester United72,732

2West Ham United59,901

3Arsenal58,729

4Tottenham Hotspur58,664

5Liverpool52,591

6Manchester City52,137

7Newcastle United48,366

8Aston Villa41,966

9Chelsea38,965

10Everton38,487

11Leeds United36,400

12Leicester City32,035

13Southampton32,000

14Wolverhampton Wanderers30,495

15Brighton & Hove Albion30,282

16Norwich City26,894

17Crystal Palace23,091

18Watford20,035

19Burnley16,910

20Brentford16,499

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1 hour ago, FreshOwl said:

Yeah…but you’re watching non league football…is having a chat with the players after the game really that good when most of them are plumbers & carpenters 

Give. How hard it is to get tradesmen at the moment I’m thinking of going to non league games to see if I can find someone to re-tile my bathroom…

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Guest hirstysfags

SWFC is an allegiance. That can't be changed.

Non league is a different animal for most people. It's just a game of affordable football to enjoy. 

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Stopped doing aways a few seasons back and filled my Saturdays with non-league.

 

No more Sky time and date changes, no more daft prices, no SS stewarding.

 

Atmosphere isn't the same, not worse just different. Plus it's nice to get up on a Saturday and just pick somewhere to go without the military planning that goes into aways these days.

 

Financially its a winner as well, saw three games in a week recently. Total admission prices paid, under twenty quid.

 

I'm lucky enough to have seen Wednesday on about 70 grounds so I've done my bit.

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12 minutes ago, wilfsmith said:

People vote with their feet don't they?

The following figures show fairly conclusively where most people would want to watch their football.

 

 

Premier League Average Attendance so far this season

1Manchester United72,732

2West Ham United59,901

3Arsenal58,729

4Tottenham Hotspur58,664

5Liverpool52,591

6Manchester City52,137

7Newcastle United48,366

8Aston Villa41,966

9Chelsea38,965

10Everton38,487

11Leeds United36,400

12Leicester City32,035

13Southampton32,000

14Wolverhampton Wanderers30,495

15Brighton & Hove Albion30,282

16Norwich City26,894

17Crystal Palace23,091

18Watford20,035

19Burnley16,910

20Brentford16,499

Addiction to fiction.

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When I moved to SE London, I started watching a non-league side to replicate what I missed watching Wednesday.

 

The ground has seen better days, they've had five managers in two years, the players are underperforming, the club shop is a joke and the online shop worse, they closed one of the bars - so you can't get served at half time, the chairman is a control freak. They also finished bottom of the table last season. 

 

Spooky. 

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58 minutes ago, wilfsmith said:

People vote with their feet don't they?

The following figures show fairly conclusively where most people would want to watch their football.

 

 

Premier League Average Attendance so far this season

1Manchester United72,732

2West Ham United59,901

3Arsenal58,729

4Tottenham Hotspur58,664

5Liverpool52,591

6Manchester City52,137

7Newcastle United48,366

8Aston Villa41,966

9Chelsea38,965

10Everton38,487

11Leeds United36,400

12Leicester City32,035

13Southampton32,000

14Wolverhampton Wanderers30,495

15Brighton & Hove Albion30,282

16Norwich City26,894

17Crystal Palace23,091

18Watford20,035

19Burnley16,910

20Brentford16,499

Not the fairest indicator. 
People most likely shop at Tesco because of the Price, service, quality, convenience and overall experience. 
People most likely watch West Ham because their grandad and dad did and because their mates do. 
The majority of a fan base will keep going whatever the division, whatever the quality. It’s in your blood. 

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2 hours ago, HighworthOwl said:

Genuine question but is it the same feeling? 
 

Can you get as excited when they score? Do you get the same buzz walking to the ground? 
 

I like the idea of going to non-league but it just wouldn’t be the club I support so I would assume not the same feeling.

 

I suppose a big positive is you don’t care as much when they play badly. 

 

Is like anything though, if you don't know any players or history then doesn't mean much

 

Overtime though if you picked the same club to keep watching, you would build up that rapport where it does mean something, and you do care if they win or not, the buzz would come

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48 minutes ago, Lawrie’s Left Peg said:

Not the fairest indicator. 
People most likely shop at Tesco because of the Price, service, quality, convenience and overall experience. 
People most likely watch West Ham because their grandad and dad did and because their mates do. 
The majority of a fan base will keep going whatever the division, whatever the quality. It’s in your blood. 


West Ham is (in part) getting such large crowds because it’s the easiest London club for tourists to get tickets for. 
 

Every time one of my colleagues goes to London on vacation they always seem to end up at a West Ham game. Their kids may support Chelsea or Arsenal, but it’s West Ham that has the available tickets.

I move a lot of concrete on the QVC.

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I've been watching Chelmsford City since I first came here back in 1985. And I'm pretty sure I've seen more, probably far more, of their games than Wednesday's in the interim.

 

I do love the non-league vibe; you can get a drink in the club bar before the game or after and mingle with opposition fans with some friendly banter. There's absolutely none of the sinister atmosphere you get at some league games and particularly outside the ground. It's football as it should be.

 

But will that ever replace Wednesday? Of course not. I take it for what it is; support my local side and enjoy the good times. But given the choice of success for one side or the other, well, there's only ever going to be one winner.

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