Non League Day
Non-League Day Report 6th September 2014
On Saturday 6th September the fourth annual “Non League Day” took place – and what a fantastic event it was! The Blues Trust were delighted to participate in the initiative that was organised on a day with an international break and no Premier or Championship games taking place.
The Blues Trust and Redditch Blues were invited to The Valley to cheer on Redditch Utd as they took on Poole Town F.C. It was a thrilling match to watch, particularly the second half. Both teams were hungry for the win but there was no let up in the standard of play, or the effort put in by the Reds. In the end however, it was Poole that scored the only goal of the game. A disappointing result for Redditch, who really were first class. There was an impressive attendance of 477, which was about 200 more than usual. It was a fantastic day with a great atmosphere, and the Trust are extremely grateful to Dave Jones, Secretary of Redditch Utd for the welcome and hospitality Birmingham City Supporters received on the day.
Around the country, the Non League Day buzz was apparent and it was proving to be a tremendous success. Dulwich Hamlet F.C broke their attendance record with a staggering 2,856 watching them . Many clubs gave some perks to supporters – free beer, reduced admission and such like – however the most ingenious and unusual “perk” had to have come from Bungay Town, who gave the supporters a punnet of mushrooms on the gate. Crowds were 7,000 higher than the previous week across the three divisions of the Conference. Social Media was alive and kicking with photographs being tweeted with the hashtag #thumbsupforNLD. This was also to raise awareness of the event’s charity partner was Prostate Uk. At many games there were fundraising initiatives taking place although at this time, there has not been a total calculated.
Non League Day was a brilliant event, and The Blues Trust will be supporting it again next year. It was great to see what the game is really all about, and fuelling the love for football. Non League Day may be an annual event, but Non League Football is all around us, everywhere, and takes place continuously. It was a pleasure to watch football at its grassroots level, and was encouraging to see the passion, the dedication and enthusiasm for the game is there for all to see.
Our thanks to Redditch United, and of course to all you Bluenoses who got out there and supported your local teams.
Emma-Louise Hodgson
Blues Trust
