With the international break, fans of the Barclays Premier League are being encouraged to extend their love of the game by attending a non-league match close to them or their favourite club.
Beneath the 92 clubs of the Barclays Premier League and the Football League are 40,000 clubs in the semi-professional and amateur game in England and Non-League Day on Saturday, 6 September, provides a chance for fans of bigger clubs to experience football at a level they may be unfamiliar with. Non-League Day provides a platform for clubs to promote the importance of affordable volunteer-led community football while giving fans across the country the chance to show support for their local non-league side. Many non-league clubs are almost exclusively volunteer run, with money taken at the turnstiles funding youth set-ups, projects and facilities which are of benefit to the whole community.
For the 69 clubs in the Football Conference, the three divisions in the two tiers beneath the Football League, funding for their work in the local communities has been assisted by the Premier League."Our clubs have shown real vision in creating further opportunities for young and old people and those with disabilities"
Brian Lee
Since 2010, the clubs in the Conference have had access to funding of £2.48 million from the Premier League that goes into the Football Conference Trust (FCT) and goes towards projects costing £4.7 million, with another £2.22 million coming into the programmes from other sources. Forty of these clubs are working in local schools, delivering curriculum and extra-curriculum coaching, sometimes coupled with healthy lifestyle or other educational programmes. The funds are helping 12 of the clubs to work with disability groups.
Examples of the many projects that benefit from Premier League funding of the FCT are: Harrogate Town, who have coached and supported a team of recovering drug addicts; Weston Super Mare, who run a youth club in their main stand three nights a week; Altrincham and Southport, who both support adult women's football; and Wrexham, who built on their outstanding literacy programme to create a project to increase girls playing in North Wales.
"Conference clubs have made significant strides in recent years in becoming more professional and sustainable, as well as making a major impact in their communities," Conference chairman Brian Lee said. "We now have some wonderful schemes and our clubs have shown real vision in creating further opportunities for young and old people and those with disabilities. We are extremely grateful to the Premier League and PFA [Professional Footballers' Association] for their support in this work." Vanarama's charitable aim
As an added incentive to encourage fans to attend, Vanarama, the sponsor of the Conference, has pledged money to charity for each supporter who goes to a match in the competition. Vanarama will make a 10p donation for each fan to Prostate Cancer UK, the event's charity, and hope to break the attendance record of 39,210 which was set in 2012, with more than 50,000 at Vanarama Conference matches on the day. If the matchday attendance across the Vanarama Conference is higher than 50,000, Vanarama will donate at least £10,000.
Southampton and Barclays Premier League legend Matt Le Tissier has joined the campaign to raise awareness of the campaign. "Non-League Football is close to my heart and the lifeblood of the beautiful game in this country," Le Tissier said. "I am excited to be supporting this campaign and encourage everyone to tweet their thumbs up photos and get down to their local club this coming Saturday. Let’s break the record and raise money for Prostate Cancer UK." Barclays Premier League clubs have been helping to raise awareness of Non-League Day with articles in matchday programmes or on their websites, while Arsenal will, once more, be providing their first-team coach to Boreham Wood FC to travel to their match in.
Fans in England can find the non-league fixture taking place close to their Barclays Premier League club or home by clicking here. Many non-league clubs are offering discounts to fans and/or season-ticket holders of their local Barclays Premier League club. For example Dulwich Hamlet's match against Hampton & Richmond in the Ryman Premier is operating a pay-what-you-like system on the day, while Stalybridge Celtic v Leamington FC, in the Conference South, will offer half-price tickets to Manchester City and Manchester United season-ticket holders with ID.
Go to http://www.nonleagueday.co.uk/ for more information.
