FoxesFan#1

I was surprised too on my last visit (S'ton game) when they got clapped onto the pitch for warm up I could see a few sat folded arms refusing to clap them onto the pitch

I think this is quite a likely outcome for the next few years and I definitely agree There are just so many similar sized clubs with ambitions of having a run in the PL that it will be tough breaking through that alone They were given all the riches and the perfect platform to carry on a fantastic PL run but instead have spectacularly chucked it all away to be exactly where they were when they took over I'd imagine next season they will be competitive but not as dominant as 23/24 undo Enzo and failing to come back up for a season in the PL could see the slow run back into being an established Championship club only I wasn't there yesterday, but I didn't miss it at all which sort of saddens me after going to 100s of games and the likelihood is that I will probably only return 1-2 games a year now (at best)

This is a great post as I often think the same I remember post MON years seeing Reading on TV, thinking just how good it was seeing a vibrant fan base enjoying their first season in the PL especially as ours was on the wane then. Funnily a friend of mine used to have season tickets at Charlton in their PL years... he now goes to Leicester! Taking that special tourist feel round the country, PL chasers maybe! The PL has a lot of deadwood following it for sure. I watched highlights of Oldham v Halifax this week and what a fantastic atmosphere that night. It put all PL clubs to shame. I was actually jealous of them, something I'd never have thought I'd say

Phew, yeah it does look tough and I have 1-2 away games lined up. Quite like to go to Solihull Moors as it's easy to get to from home. Hopefully the sloping pitch (in multiple directions!) will continue to give home advantage as a friend of mine that used to play in step 2 hated playing at Brackley in the second half as the away side normally has to go up hill! It will be a pleasure being part of the NL next year and good to see Boston again.

I’m very much looking forward to the NL next year at Brackley. It’s going to be very tough. It really is an incredibly strong league when you look at it from the eyes of my local club. We beat Hartlepool + Braintree in the FA Cup this season and you could see a little more quality in the style of play but not too much difference. So many good teams and I hope Scunthorpe go up as it’s my wife’s nearest town from where she grew up.

To end 27+ years of watching them, good to have closure on something and to know it has ended. Nice to tell people around me in person that I'm ending my season ticket. Hope that's OK with you?

Ooh yeah that was much better, Let me entertain you followed by Ready to Go! I think I have it in the right order. Good news in the old ground, half the speakers didn't work!

Blimy it is indeed a fractured fan base I was quite amazed to see so many clapping players onto the pitch for warm up (mainly with the clappers, not with their hands I might add) I said to chap near me as they warming up, they don't deserve our support but he quickly put me in my place and said we must get behind the lads - summed it up for me so I decided to not utter a word against the cult like feeling the majority still has. Personally I ignored the players coming on the pitch, they did not deserve any applause for getting relegated again - I'm not rewarding bad behaviour!

I was at the game yesterday in SK2 for my last match as a season ticket holder I thought I'd try and work out the age range in SK2 and it does not look good for the next few years in terms of available seats for younger fans or atmosphere The average age must be close on 60 and I'd say from rough guesstimates that anyone under 16 was outnumbered 50-1 Then regards to age group 20-35 that was in very low in numbers too. Just a few here and there but not so badly outnumbered as kids are, but they are still very low in numbers. So my thinking went deeper and I wondered where on earth do the kids in the family stand go once they age out (is that what happens?) If they don't age out then the youngesters could be in their 30s now in the family stand but if they do then they really have very few places to go in the stadium I wondered if it was just SK2 that was very old in attendance but on the way out there were very few younger people walking with families too It's no wonder the atmosphere is so bad now and I know that as I have got older (been a season ticket holder for over 27 years since university days) and I don't feel like I want to cheer like I used to. One final thing, as I got into the ground mega early yesterday it appears they turn up the volume at 2.30pm to start drowning out the supporters with the so called dressing room music tunes! Before that the music was nicely just background noise. That music just drowns out any chance of any real support Sorry for the long message, just a few musings

Absolutely 100% agree with your post and your final comment is spot on too We all have incredible talents inside of us and to tap into that is a skill in itself I still love football, less the millionaire side of it, more the smaller teams and to also marvel at the skill of the top players especially in World Cups etc. But that Man City style football is absolutely dreadful now

Love it, sounds perfect! I may go full on 'Severance', get chipped so I cannot remember anything about the game the moment I walk out of the stadium! I watch too much Apple TV these days!

Exactly the same with me, hated seeing how PL clubs behaved during lockdown so switched to a team closer to my home these days. Swapping the cinema style football experience at Leicester to one of real community saved my football love. Last game for me today at Leicester but tbh I’ve hardly been in the past few years. I have to admit it’s a real drag even going today for one final time.

That must have been a great trip back in 2005. I went to Vojens as a teenager on the club coach in 1994 for the World Final. I think sadly for the sport you are so on point about all of the aspects you raised, it certainly needs a good shake up across the nations. Oh yeah Tai is very lucky for it not to have been so much worse. My Dad knows most of the riders and the vast majority are really nice guys off the track so it must have been nice speaking with two fine racers on the plane like you did

That's amazing you have been to Poland to watch a meeting, I'm very impressed and slightly envious too. We used to be the leading light for the sport but many years of neglect have let it get to its current level So many old clubs lost their stadiums to property developers so that bland housing estates can be built or warehousing to be extended. The sport never reinvested in itself but thankfully there are approximately 15 professional clubs running still. Some will sadly not be here in the next 3-5 years not due to crowd levels but mainly down to stadium owners selling up to property developers. Some grand old clubs been lost with big followings but there are shining lights and some clubs re-appear out of town like Workington that used to share with the rugby team now have a great set up at their old training track. The clubs with the best future own their own land (or have long leases) and there are still enough to keep the sport running in the UK. The ones to worry about are the ones in Greyhound stadiums like Poole, Sheffield, Edinburgh etc Anyhow to bring it back to football, Berwick Speedway share with the football team and is the bigger of the two clubs. Berwick football is non-league, ha I know it's not but trying to find some link back to the thread!

Wierdly I'll be at this game after not going since January, and it will be my last one as a season ticket holder as I got rid of my Ipswich ticket on the re-sale platform Realistically it will be my last game ever unless someone lends me a ticket! Had enough of donating hard earned cash to millonaires masquerading as footballers. It's not just the Leicester team that are disliked, most PL footballers have lost sight of themselves now. My pet hate is the players that ignore fans on the way into the ground wearing their anti-social headphones etc

Oh yeah they're brave lads that race, incredible souls that literally risk serious injury every time they line up for a race. Thankfully it is much safer now with air fences but it's still a tough sport Some good young lads racing tonight aiming to get into the British Final at Belle Vue later in the season, with the winner of tonight's meeting being a local lad. Those that get to the top in England find lucrative contracts in Poland waiting for them, where crowds are often close to 20,000 - the authorities there support the sport and they have football style stadiums, unlike in UK where they range from old Greyhound stadiums to tracks in fields. I'm just grateful good people keep it running. So good to hear you went to the Rider's too, it's good to see what else is going on. Great speaking and apologies all for diverting some talk onto another sport!

That's superb that you went, that makes my day! I was there too, got back home at 10.15pm. Very small crowd tonight with it being a qualifying round but actually the racing was good. Normally get 1200 or so for league meetings, about double what was there tonight I'd say. Last meeting (Ipswich) was much bigger crowd. Ha yeah, that rain was annoying! My Dad is involved in the club so we got to dash through the pits and head into the stand. My mate owns the stadium and used to run the team too. So good you went and to bring it back to football I saw the sign for Anstey as I was heading to the track!

And you should go, you should enjoy it still. Everybody’s circumstances are different and hopefully thoughts are unique too so if it’s right then enjoy the game. I’ll consider coming back when they’re in League two… maybe as an away fan if I’m lucky!

Good question I’m never not busy and always fill my time so it’s easy for me I go to Speedway, plus I support my local non league football team, and go out with family, friends regularly if none of that then I’m continually managing my business, building new business ideas and learning new skills all of the time. Failing all of that then I grow fruit. We even put an apple tree on the front to feed the local wildlife like the DHL driver who thinks we haven’t noticed him taking apples! The Amazon driver always asks nicely which is appreciated. Dropping LCFC has been a breeze, I wouldn’t have given up so easily but watching millionaires not care one bit about the fans made it easy to walk away. Watching players turn up with headphones on is shameful, how embarrassing they cannot engage with fans.

Super article, sums up my feelings too. The only downside for me was that after doing close on 20 Brackley games this season I was away for the final game of the season! I see your photo in the article and I'm now more gutted to have missed it! Ha, but not to worry going to non-league has reconnected lots of lost football fans in my small circle of family + friends I can take my son on ad-hoc games (cant do it at Leicester very easily), my Dad joins us for 2-3 games a year, my brother-in-law came to a game and loved it so much he now goes to Radcliffe Boro every home game near his home after no football for 8 years, and most importantly a very good mate (he's a Spurs fan sadly) comes to 90% of the games with me so is my main stay for watching games. Others have joined us too but didn't come back! On the odd occasion I go on my own, only to bump into ex-work colleagues that we can share a drink with but I prefer to socialise so going on my own isn't my preference. I never wanted to turn my back on Leicester but how they treated some long standing fans in the winter of 2021/22 will never be forgotten.

Looked a dramatic night all over the play-offs, it's a great event for the non-leagues and drives much needed revenue. I've been very lucky to see Brackley in the play-offs for the past three seasons having 5 play off home games in that time, some huge crowds and lots of disappointment too. They attract a lot of floating fans that wont be seen on a wet Tuesday night, but still great for the clubs.

Hope you had a great evening regardless of result, I keep meaning to go to Anstey for a game as I'm back in that neck of the woods quite regularly. My Dad used to play for them in the 1970s and I had one outing for the Swifts in the 80s! Possibly had my best ever game in central midfield. Funnily I'm at Beaumont Leys tonight for the Speedway just touching distance from the Nomads

I’m with you 100% The moment I swapped Leicester for Brackley in 2020 I started loving football again You're so right, the NL game is played in the style we remembered. That Arsenal game two years back pretty much sealed it for me. One of the worst games I have ever watched live.

Yeah I agree 100% When I went to see Leicester in the UCL at Copenhagen I was amazed by their fans back in 2016 They were in the ground orchestrating noise over an hour before the game. We have our moments over past few years but it’s getting worse now. Tbf we’re a fractured society now that’s fully molly coddled with little life left so it’s no surprise big clubs are woefully supported now

This is a super website to take a look at for attendances https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/southern-football-league-premier-central-division/attendances Harborough averaging just over 500 this season