Your local non league team

[Theoperator]

Forest Green Rovers for me, longest serving team in the vanerama premier (Thanks to mass point deduction administration and other teams calamaties)

Go to around 7 or 8 matches a season.

Mired in controversy at the moment, brawl at Halifax - 2 players sent off with a third a few mins earlier, facing 3 point deduction as a secretary forgot to register a player, they are no longer registered as the secretary.

Meanwhile as many know we dont do meat, and to my fury not even bovril

Its a canny toy for the chairman of Ecotricity fame, forest Green- gettit?

At least you can stand legit nice atmosphere, drink with away fans, bump into the team after the match.

Meanwhile the groundsmans won green ground of the year award or somesuch.

I expect FGR will be in the league at some point but cant honestly see the set up being sustainable for long.

Star player is Lee Hughes.

Funnyest is the FGR roar of 35 or 40 fans av age 75 or so giving the "Forest Green Forest Green Forest Green chant. it peters out after a minute as many run out of puff and forgot their oxygen in their carrier bags.

All good fun.

Oh av attendance is 1000 or so- but like The Grove the numbers are called into question .

Massive respect to away fans though, travelling to Gateshead Grimsby Dover and Southport is real dedication IMHO

[cardinal2011]

Dartford - I only live about a twenty minute drive away and it is really cheap to take the kids - £2 each. The wife drops us off at the pub nearby and then sods off to Bluewater for a few hours to do a bit of shopping!!! If she has not filled the car with shopping bags then we might even get a lift home.

Yes its not the same as going to the bowl but it is still entertaining. The kids love the fact that they can watch a player score on the pitch and then have a chat with them after in the clubhouse. those days have well and truly gone in the upper leagues.

[robbo10]

Erith and Belvedere,my local side once I'd moved from E2,it used to be at the bottom of my hill until they up and moved to Welling United,to be honest it was a shit-hole ground,not one level floor in the stand and the pitch was always waterlogged,(built on marsh-land),I think they had a little success back in the day and I'm sure they used to play Arsenal in the old Combination league many moons ago? As much of a dump as it was I loved going over there on cold crisp winter nights under the lights,17 people and a few dogs to watch the game,stand were you wanted and have a laugh at the away coach driver who always seemed to get stuck in the tiny car park!

Come on the Dere's!!!

Wenger OUT!!

[augie]

You lads are really lucky that you have so many options virtually on your doorstep - the nearest league of Ireland side to me is almost 35 miles away and the fact that they play their home games on Friday nights makes it impossible for me. My work situation being the way it is (don't really finish most nights before 9.30) makes going to games like this a rarity. I honestly believe that if I was living in england I would have turned my attention to supporting a lower division club by now instead of wasting my time constantly fretting about a club that has lost everything that it once stood for

Most of my spare time and energy is spent with my local club - every club has its up and downs, but I am immensely proud of how our schoolboy and adult teams are performing against clubs and towns that have infinitely more facilities and players than us I am currently manager of our first team (no other fcuker stupid enough to do it ) and it is so satisfying to see the team playing well and developing, knowing that you are playing a small part in the successes. Our club is really lucky that we have a good group of managers for our under-age teams - we try to run a policy where no parent is a manager of their kids team and this is working well for us, and we are lucky that these managers want to coach their players and not just manage them. Sometimes parents cannot understand the logic of playing all kids even if it results in not winning some games - over here in gaelic games they are taught that winning is the ONLY thing that matters

[Herd]

For the most part Highbury was always the nearest ground however lived in Kent and went to see Gillingham a bit !

Its crap football !

[QuartzGooner]

Spoilt for choice growing up, was close to Edgware Town and Wealdstone.
But never went to either of them probably because I was taken to Highbury from a young age and only cared about Arsenal.

But I did used to watch a local youth team called Parkfield because a friend played for them...they were respected in Harrow and Brent as a feeder club for Watford and I also used to watch Watford train through the fence of their old training ground.

John Barnes lived round the corner (so did Ricky Hill) but I never knew either of them, a friend lived next door to Barnes and Barnes used to knock on his door quite often and ask if he wanted a kick-around in the street behind their house (my friend would have been 11 or 12); guess Barnes was bored after training!

Another friend of mine had a 20 metre swimming pool in his back garden, and met Paul Davis in Edgware.
Offered him the use of the pool and Davis took him up on it, used to knock on the door and ask if he could swim, a source of pride for my friend.

These days our players can afford indoor and outdoor pools of their own but back then they were not on anything like as much money.

[GranadaJoe]

For the most part Highbury was always the nearest ground however lived in Kent and went to see Gillingham a bit !

Its crap football !

I went to many Gills games, and I think you'll find, crap thought they may be, with a luntaic git for a Chairman, they are not non-league (it just looks like it sometimes).

[GranadaJoe]

In my first year here my local team, Baza, got to the play-offs to be promoted to Division 2B for the first time in their history. 5000+ fans, a sunny evening. San Miguel on tap and a shot that didn't cross the line gave us victory. Most of the night spent in the fountain.

Following season a disaster and it's been downhill ever since. They're now in lower division than when they started and are bankrupt (not that that ever seems to be a problem for Spanish clubs). If you've still got a pair of boots you'll prabably get a game.

[terry henry]

Gillingham are my local club too, although I've never been to see them, as I wasn't born there and I only care about the Arsenal.

[clockender1]

In my first year here my local team, Baza, got to the play-offs to be promoted to Division 2B for the first time in their history. 5000+ fans, a sunny evening. San Miguel on tap and a shot that didn't cross the line gave us victory. Most of the night spent in the fountain.

Following season a disaster and it's been downhill ever since. They're now in lower division than when they started and are bankrupt (not that that ever seems to be a problem for Spanish clubs). If you've still got a pair of boots you'll prabably get a game.

as a kid we went on holiday to Denia on the Costa Blanca. CF Denia were the local team - despite a crowd of 4-5,000 the players would come off mid game for a drink or a fag, or to talk to mates/family while the game was going on. one time the keeper was late and they'd kicked off and he rode across the pitch on his moped and dumped it the back of net.

in a pre season friendly in i think 1978, they played the local big club - Valencia, and i got to see World Cup winner Mario Kempes score a hatrick. for a 9 year old that was mustard. as was the silky Valencia shirt i bought afterwards

[Almunia is a clown]

Live 10 minutes from The Arsenal so never been to a non league game, I don't even know where the nearest one is since Barnet moved to Canons Park. Hendon moved out west somewhere. Maybe Finchley or Harrigey Borough? Both too connected to the swamp dwellers for me to support!

Interesting history note : There was two smaller non league clubs in Islington until after WW2, Tufnell Park & London Caledonians.

[olgitgooner]

Dartford - I only live about a twenty minute drive away and it is really cheap to take the kids - £2 each. The wife drops us off at the pub nearby and then sods off to Bluewater for a few hours to do a bit of shopping!!! If she has not filled the car with shopping bags then we might even get a lift home.

Yes its not the same as going to the bowl but it is still entertaining. The kids love the fact that they can watch a player score on the pitch and then have a chat with them after in the clubhouse. those days have well and truly gone in the upper leagues.

Did you go to the FACup game v Burgess Hill? That was BH's only defeat this season.

[olgitgooner]

Double post

[Henry Norris 1913]

went to an enfield match once, just not worth it when you don't give a fuck who wins...

seen bristol rovers and city in their respective grounds. both deserve better for what support they get but will never achieve anything, in fact I think rovers will stay in the vanarama conference this season which is hilarious considering they have a bigger support that most clubs in league 2 and 1

[Lee1]

Braintree Town for me....Conference Premier but part time and smallest budget in league full of ex football league teams. Punch massively above their weight. My little girl plays for U9's (only girl in team!)....great community club, real antidote to Premier League corporate experience