FoxesFan#1

No probs at all, I've been going to Brackley Town since 2020 We started going when Leicester could not open back up for that brief interlude in December 2020 and loved it, a real breath of fresh air the moment we walked into the ground I grew up in NW Leics and continued my ST when I moved an hour South, and I have to admit my new 15 min journey home is a real breeze. For me, there's a much better feel to my new club. Players talk to supporters, all age groups attend and an all round good afternoon out every game.

I don’t feel guilty as I don’t miss it one little bit I must have been to 500+ home games and easily 60-70 away games since 1993. It all became a chore that I was trying to break free from so thankfully Leicester made it easier. As each week passes there is less chance I’ll return even for one game. I think I mustered 4 games on my ST last year Instead I support my new local team, and I’ve been to 11 games already this season. I’ll freely admit that I miss 1990s LCFC but not this so called modern version we now have. I do look back at those 90s games fondly and for me it means there’s two Leicester City’s, the one I loved and the other I could not care about

Love stories like this, it's what non-league is designed for. Last week at Brackley v Gateshead we were treated to seeing Frank Nouble play for the visitors Notts County next week in the FA Cup, huge fixture. Should be sell out and live on BBC2 too. Real tough league the NL is, Brackley playing very well but just don't have the firepower up front to give it a good go

Superb evening, great racing and to win by 1 point on aggregate was unbelievably close. Max Fricke sealed the win in the last race and he’s had a phenomenal season for the Lions. A real out and out number 1 The Final is in two weeks time with the first leg at home and then the away leg at Ipswich to decide the title. Well worth a visit for anyone new. Last years final was packed so expect the same again. Been a superb season, racing has been excellent all year. If football is doing your head in then there’s Ryan Douglas’ testimonial at the track on Saturday too

Crowds and stadiums are something else in Poland, almost football size Good news Speedway in UK finally got some national coverage this past week... a good old punch up on the track at Redcar v Scunthorpe in the Championship got the press interested! The racing incident that led to the punch up happens a lot. We saw a similar crash last week at Leicester when Kyle Howarth passed Jason Doyle as he took his front wheel away going into the turn, but there were no afters exchanged unlike at Redcar. Supporters used to be treated to a lot more of this in the past! It's Leicester v Birmingham tomorrow night, last home league meeting of the season before the play-offs and sadly the last Birmingham meeting as they are now officially homeless. Next season's league structure looks to be anyone's guess

That's an excellent crowd for step 5 and great to hear, 6 matches unbeaten (I think) is a great start. I was at Brackley v Rochdale today, 2-1 to us being the home team. 1136 attendance including 248 away fans. Although we won with a free kick and a penalty, Rochdale made 11 changes which annoyed their loyal fans I just read. It really was a game of defence verses attack and it's a real tough league for the smaller clubs like Brackley I still expect a bad run but staying up is the most important aim. Two home wins is a great start though. I still prefer NL North over NL every day of the week as some of the charm has been lost at this level. Just checking through the results and I see Harborough got a great win today as I look out for Carline + Newton of course

No probs, nice to share our non-league experiences for sure Yeah I think those players that have performed admirably these past few years will be missed especially the two at Harborough. But this league is an incredible step up and for them to consolidate a place in it they’ve had to bring in some seasoned professionals to help them compete. The most obvious difference is physique with players being much taller and stronger. Eastleigh looked very fit and perhaps were unlucky to lose. All in all it’s an absolute pleasure following the club. Reminds me of Leicester in the 90s. Seeing players communicate with supporters, and even during warm up watching Riccardo Calder break from it to sign programmes and shirts for kids is great to see.

Great reading all of your experiences around the grounds as it's most appreciated - still my favourite thread in the whole of FoxesTalk I was at Brackley v Eastleigh yesterday for a 1-0 home win in front of 1201. This league is going to be so hard and the win is great but with Yeovil, Rochdale, Scunny + Carlisle in next few weeks it won't be easy at all. Some of the moves last season's players were trying to make weren't paying off this time as the away team were very strong, fast and committed even though they lost. The gamesmanship is back and it's something I was hoping not to see in the NL, there's certainly more disruption in play with lots more fouling. Something the NL North had a lot less off. A lot of floaters in attendance yesterday maybe waiting for their PL team to get started Two old boys next to us were clearly supporting the club pre-2020 when the average crowd was 200-300. I'm more in the 500 club as I joined at that point of crowd expansion so it will be interesting to see attendances throughout the year. I expect there will be some close on 2000 for the Southend's etc but mid week games below 1000 for lesser fancied clubs is likely. All in all a great afternoon out as always

First season since 1998 I’ve not had a season ticket so I’m in similar boat. If I was going it’s an hour up the M1, plus 15 min walk in so I normally would leave 2 hrs before. Previous to that I lived in the county, about 25 minutes away. Instead I’ll be at a National League game on Saturday, 15 mins max in the car door to door. 3pm KO and back by 5.15pm

It was a great win and I'm at most of the home meetings, been a fan of the sport since growing up in the 80s Good news, barring a disaster they are nailed on for the play offs to decide the league winners. Three more home meetings to go this month with the finals in September (weather permitting) and last year the Lions made the final but lost to Belle Vue Aces Sadly the sport has been decimated this past decade with a lot of quality clubs losing their stadiums once landowners decide they prefer a developer to build bland houses on them. Established clubs like Swindon, Coventry, Lakeside, Wolves, Peterborough etc all with big fan bases lost to the sport. We may see one back if we're lucky as a few of the venues are still undeveloped like Oxford returned after years of battle to get back into the stadium. Sadly Birmingham closes this year as the landowner has sold up for more tower blocks to be built. The ones next door to their track were built for the Commonwealth Games and are in the whole mainly empty. This country is a sad place these days. Some very well run clubs still but much of the sport in the UK is really heading to semi-professional level now and most tracks will be best to be as far out of town away from property developers as possible. Leicester Lions riders are very much FT racers and most have contracts to ride in Poland too, so the likes of Max Fricke (a GP rider too) are a real delight to have in the side. He's been a great number 1 for the past few years. The last three PL home meetings are Oxford (11th), Ipswich (18th) and Birmingham (28th) before the Play Offs start which do get very good crowds. The final last year was the biggest crowd we've seen since it re-opened. Unlike football the sport does get called off for rain so best to check Facebook or the official site. Unless it's the final it's easy to buy tickets online the afternoon before the meeting.

Feeling good… because I no longer have a season ticket and it’s like a millstone removed. I saw the first four fixtures listed and glad I’m not doing them as the lack of Saturday 3pm KOs is so sad now. if I was still within ten miles of the City I’d probably have stuck with it but being 45+ miles away made it easier to end my time. But I still love the art of football and I’ll be doing most home games at my NL club just a few mins down the road by car. Losing the identity tag that comes with getting too obsessed with anything external to ourselves is a real benefit. I'm sure Leicester will have a fair season looking at the league they’re in. I hope everyone that goes has a good time still and surely will see some wins even if it is potentially mid table material

That's a super result and I'll be looking out for Harborough especially as you have Newton and Carline playing. Tbh I'd have been happy seeing them both still at BTFC, both likeable players with good hearts. I was at Brackley v LCFC U21 on Tuesday - very much mismatched teams in terms of potential quality, height, playing styles and with 2-1 to the home side there weren't too many chances for either side. Only 343 in the crowd but I just heard from a local that Northampton had WHAM U21 and charged £18 with only 1000 there. Roll on the league matches, we have Eastleigh first and some real big clubs like Rochdale and Scunthorpe in the first month at home too. It will be a titanic struggle to stay up being the smallest club in the top 5 divisions by a mile, but I have to admit I really enjoy NL North so any return back would not be a disaster for my viewing experience!

Sorry I missed this yesterday, just replying now - I have to be fully honest and I didn't really have eyes on Leicester players. Overall it felt like the U21 team has some real talent in it but I was more interested how the new Brackley players looked so paid more attention to them It did feel odd as at times I struggled to know who I was supporting!

Enjoyed the evening tonight, felt odd as I didn't know who to support at times but enjoyed it nonetheless. Leicester attacked with speed and in the first half #7 and #9 worked real well together. It's a long way up the leagues from NL to PL and there's certainly a lot of quality youngsters at Leicester. It will be interesting to see how the NL Cup fares differently compared to a friendly game. I'd say that will be Brackley's first XI for the first game by looks of it. 343 crowd tonight, a little lower than expected but I think most enjoyed an evening of live football

I’ll be at the game tonight as it’s just over 10 mins from home, and in all my time as a ST holder I’ve never watched the U21 side Ironically now I’m not a ST for the first time since 1990s I’ll be at a match featuring the U21 side With these being both my teams I’ll probably remain neutral tonight. Looking forward to the game a lot

Ha yes brilliant, enjoying both sports a lot. Feels odd not having ST at Leicester since 1998 but looking forward to a full season at Brackley being just 10 mins from home. I had a super chat with the outgoing Brackley Chairman at the Speedway, also a big fan of the bikes. Funny how our lives bring up alignments like that. It will be strange watching Leicester U21 at BTFC on Tuesday. I’ve been in Portugal for a couple of weeks but will be back just in time for the big game. I’ll report back, will be interesting to see if there are any Leicester fans going with it being U21

That’s me! As a warm up to the NL cup I’ll be at the Brackley First Team v LCFC U21 friendly next week Will be an interesting test So far at home we’ve had 0-0 v Northampton and 0-2 v MK Dons with 999 + 1066 crowds respectively I was at the first game v Cobblers, nothing in it but a huge difference in squad size by the L1 outfit.

I'm fully with you on this and the two key reasons you mention are the exact same reasons why I fell out of love with Leicester and big club football especially in the winter of 2021/22. The club left a lot high and dry that season with no care whatsoever, so it meant I could not support them like I did once before. We should all have recognised the digital cage being built around us by now but I don't think most people care even if they are aware. At the end of the day we get what we deserve and quite likely in the future when they're back in the PL it will be very easy for big clubs to remove the privileges of a supporter when they have missed a couple of games in a season. Like you I could no longer support this direction of play so finally ended my ST for what is just a silly hobby at the end of the day

They had a great season just gone, plus Stead + Ndlovu we’re signed from Brackley, both doing very well for them. Some good news for Leicester (+ Barnet) to keep us all busy… Panini rumoured to be doing a football album for the EFL!

How is it at games at Shepshed? Do you get a good atmosphere? Even though I lived in Shepshed for 20 years I only went twice. Sort of feel guilty that I didn’t show any real attention back then. It’s probably a club that should get much bigger attendances like Coalville. It’s interesting as Brackley has a smaller population with less towns around it but takes in 500 to 1700. I think we get a lot of ex-big club supporters making up numbers but it’s still a very small town. It would be great to see more Leicestershire clubs push up the leagues as there’s a lot of potential for them.

Both super players at NL North and will be missed by Brackley supporters for sure Newton at times looks like a Vardy clone but I think age is probably catching up now. He gets stuck in and has been a very likeable player Carline is a very competent player too and scored some very useful goals from midfield Hope they do very well for Harborough

It's a good call not to let external influences affect us like a football club and it's performances I used to get really fed up after a bad week of FPL about ten years ago! I mean what's that all about, just so silly to think that I'd let it affect my mood back then but I think so many people still have a bad weekend if their FPL team has done badly I still love football, but I've just refined my view of it now and it no longer defines me, it's a fantastic part of my life but it does not control me like before which means that I enjoy it more as I have learnt to remove the bad elements of it and keep the good This may not help many people but it's just a shared viewpoint of mine

I know what you mean, but I'm not so sure they turn up to really watch the football My wife's big boss spent over £1000 per ticket on Spurs tickets in Spain last week, and he lives in Chester! I actually don't think he really cares about the actual football, it just becomes a badge of honour, maybe collecting the experience or in some way towards being a bragging right that he went and spent ridiculous money on tickets maybe. Last time I looked Chester have a perfectly good team to support but I guess he's never been (I don't know if he has and actually don't care tbh) Just not sure what floats the boat of the tourist style fan

Like many I have checked out too For my football fix I will be going to Brackley Town games as I started going in 2020 and really enjoy the 3pm KOs (+ it's 10 mins from home too). I've enjoyed 4 full seasons now and I can honestly say that they're my preferred team now. Personally I cannot see the old style of football coming back to the big clubs, I think it is very much robotic now with sanitised crowds so it feels good to have checked out properly after keeping my season ticket on when I should have ditched it 5 years ago. I went to 5 games last season and each trip back was a chore. Weirdly I saw 3 wins but I didn't have any feelings so I felt like a neutral at best. I'm sure there will be moments of joy for those that go to Leicester, but I could not bring myself to donating any more funds to millionaires masquerading as footballers!

As a regular NL North attendee these past 4 seasons, I can definitely agree that the league is always wide open and almost everyone has the ability to beat their opponent on the day. On the opening day I watched Scunthorpe shred my team Brackley last season, King's Lynn played some superb football to win 1-0 in December, Buxton utilised their left winger to a fine standard to take the win and even Radcliffe Boro outplayed us but we we still won the league. Kidderminster looked like they had won the league when they beat us end of March, just 3 weeks before the end of the season. Seeing football played honestly and with a fairly level playing field compared to the PL is a real treat these days. Anyone that gets the chance to go to NL North or South will be in for a pleasant surprise On a selfish note, I'm chuffed Scunny got promoted as my wife is from that area so when she wants to visit people I can plan our visit with the Brackley away game