Professional Football is Rubbish

It takes a lot to walk away from your professional team. In fact, the chances are, you never will. But, once Non-League grips you, you realise that it’s not something that lets go easily. It sticks with you, and over time, you start to stick with it...

The thing is, when you start supporting a Non-League side, whether it be your local side (in my case), or another side, there’s always an attachment bound to form after the first visit, and it can be an attachment that is way stronger than one with a professional football club.

Passion in a photo. Non-League fans. Small numbers. Big noise.

To say that professional football is rubbish is perhaps a bit unfair. It does have its upsides, but for me, I can no longer see too much of an appeal. If you talk to many people in fact, they will reel off page after page of reasons why Non-League football is nothing on the professional game. But, when you compare the two after having a vast experience of both, you notice a lot in the way of difference.

               

The first difference I noticed between each form of football was the difference in the passion shown by players. Over the years, I’ve taken my seat at Elland Road, only to realise at half-time that I’m paying my money to watch a lot of overpaid footballers not care for the club that they are playing for. There is absolutely no consideration for the thousands of supporters who have spent their hard-earned money on watching them. They can’t match the passion of the supporters who have been following them week in, week out. I find that quite sad in many ways. Their loyal supporters are having everything, including their £30 match ticket, thrown right back at them. In fact, there was one photo that summed it all up for me, and that was the now infamous photo of Michael Brown supposedly laughing at Charlton’s winner against Leeds United last season. The truth is, Brown probably wasn’t laughing at all. In fact, he’ll probably have been very disappointed. The fact that Leeds had just conceded at the death of a relegation 6-pointer will have hurt him as a professional. But, the unfortunate camera timing, along with his unfortunate facial expression at the time mean that the photo seems to epitomise the state of  professional football nowadays. It was used as a way of making professional footballers fit the picture painted by many. The picture of these overpaid stars being just that, overpaid and unloyal.

"1-0 down. Relegation scrap. This is a right laugh, ey lads?"

 Another thing with professional football that really does get to me is the unprofessional manner in which the club owners seem to go about their business. All the time, the fans, who are the life and soul of a football club, are constantly shoved away by the owners. Every year, ticket prices go up, food prices go up, merchandise prices go up. Also, there’s a new shirt to buy every year. It’s as though they do it deliberatly. They just find so many new ways to milk money out of the fans, and every year, the fans buy into it unknowingly. They constantly give the owners the money to entertain the prawn-sandwich brigade, and the majority of fans are seemingly none the wiser, which is a shame, because if they realised, they would perhaps think twice about paying the money for that.

Wembley's prawn sandwich ultras...

I’m not saying that this doesn’t happen in Non-League. At certain clubs, I’m sure that it will do, but it’s way more evident in the Football League, because everybody seems to do it. In Non-League though, the clubs are generally run by supporters, or people who care about clubs. Their month-to-month costs don’t involve prawn-sandwich brigades, they just involve the basics. Match costs, running costs etc. Also, they don’t bleed the fans dry for their money because the club is struggling for money, they’ll organise fundraisers and get the community involved to help the club. This is what sets Non-League aside. That community spirit that runs through everyone at the clubs.

 

Looking at the two closely, after vast experience of both, I ask: why would you want to watch professional football? Non-League offers so much for everyone. The sense of belonging to something special, that community spirit that lacks in the Football League and the passion of players who are playing for the game; not the money. Also, you get to have a laugh with your mates, along with having a few beers. Non-League offers a cheap day out, and a good laugh. You can’t really beat it.

Paddy Spenceley - The epitome of passion...