FoxesFan#1

Excellent thread as always, so good to read about experiences around the grounds. I was at Brackley v Alfreton yesterday, a really tough game as the visitors always make life tough down here. If I’m being polite to their style of football I’d say they’re disrupters! A hard game but Brackley persisted well and 2 goals from Matt Lowe secured it late. He’s on fire this year. We have some real gems in that team including Lewis Hall’s older brother (Connor). A favourite of mine is Ricardo Calder, ex Villa and shows real quality getting past his man. Almost 1000 in for the game and top of the table now. I’ve been going for 4 full seasons now, so barely go to Leicester City now. It’s sad as I miss the old Leicester City I once loved but feel incredibly lucky to have such a vibrant non-league club on my new doorstep.

Yeah I remember the ball hardly staying in play for ten seconds, it was awful Martinelli was the worst one for pretending to be injured. The priest was even called to read him his last rites and then lo and behold he made a miracle recovery to score a disallowed goal moments later. Arsenal were utterly embarrassing that day with their tactics. Glad I’m missing it this weekend tbh

That’s incredible, so good to see NL North similar too, almost anyone can beat anyone!

Really good to hear, it’s a breath of fresh air. I feel the same, especially as the old character returns when you visit small clubs. Much of that character is lost in the mega echo bowls they have at big clubs. I watched a few mins on YouTube of away fans at Chorley buying potato pies in butter and then being given metal spoons to eat them with! I have to admit I’ll give those pies a miss! I was at Brackley today, a hard fought 1-0 win. Enjoyed it fully as always. Just popped 5 mins of Brighton FA Cup match on TV and was instantly bored by it. The atmosphere was atrocious. Just echo sounds as a few booed or sung a little.

Just watched 10 mins of Brighton FA Cup match and atmosphere is awful, perhaps it’s a top flight thing now. I think too many are just going through the motions now, top flight football really is boring these days. I wish it wasn’t like that.

This is the best thread on FT and I’ve learnt a lot about the goings on in other non-league clubs for which I’m grateful It’s great hearing (and seeing) all of your experiences in non-league So with that in mind I’m at Brackley v Peterborough Sports tomorrow, anyone else got games planned?

This is so sad to hear, I’ve heard of similar stories where they literally just wave you off. Maybe it’s the low quality staff in the club not being paid enough to be bothered. We don’t need them to molly coddle us but on rare occasion a bit of understanding for long standing fans would be much more welcome than the nonsense they pump out before the game. Maybe we should have a text number blasted out for long suffering fans to be able to report their club of running it into the ground! On a side note… Truro City are a good team down your way, they’re well supported and I know I’d check them out if I lived in Cornwall.

Mobile phones are just the stepping stone so will only be a brief solution for ticketing. Facial recognition to gain entry into most things will be the end goal and it’s almost here. Probably 3-4 years max. USA already testing it at a venue and it’s no secret as a quick search will show that mobile ticketing is just the bridge between the old paper/plastic World and the new digital World.

That’s great to hear, it’s exactly how I feel too. We get to Brackley games an hour before kick off so we can get a drink in the superb clubhouse. It really is excellent in there. Crowds are generally a good number considering how small the town is. I think there are a lot of PL nomads down here. I miss the old LCFC we used to have in 90s but this new team I support now is easily replacing my old allegiance to Leicester. Some very good players in our team, and the main central defender is easily better than Leicester’s back two!

Filbert Street every day of the week First game v Tranmere 23 Feb 1994 Miss the 90s football a lot, would swap these last few years for those days in a split second No character in top flight now at all, almost all of it gone. Can we imagine Gazza playing now. Players are zombies now, no personality just like the stadiums

Let's face it, whether we like it not, we're being herded into the digital age. Even if LCFC would be happy for us to have the choice of analogue v digital entry they'll be under instruction to achieve it by a certain date. It's not difficult to see the direction of play especially with some big clubs already further down the line than us It's honourable seeing Foxes fan debate it and push back, but it only delays the move at best I'd bet almost everyone here will cross the line when pushed (after the asking phase has been completed) rather than missing out!

Highly entertaining game at Brackley today wining 4-1 against Spennymoor. Over 800 in was another very healthy crowd and it’s Kidderminster on Tuesday for what will be a real tough game at the top of the table. Brackley are a very well run club with a well drilled team. It’s always a tight league but they’re really punching above their weight in the NLN. I just read the ridiculous distances people are travelling to watch LCFC and it makes me so happy to be enjoying local football over PL now

This is beyond crackers! No wonder the roads are clogged. I’m now 50 mins away so I now go to watch my new local club instead, I can highly recommend knocking the travelling on its head. I was home by 5.10pm today and I didn’t leave at 80 mins!

Exactly this, we all live in a cult, our whole society is a cult. It just decides to tell you which cults it dislikes more without telling us we’re actually living in a cult everyday of our lives! I can see both sides of the story in this thread, our fan base is ageing badly and the PL literally stinks. It’s not enjoyable anymore so maybe a trip to League One will rid the deadwood. Maybe it would be the worst thing for the club to go down to those depths but maybe it won’t as we may have a club to care about again.

My Dad played for Nomads in 1970s, I’ve never been but they do get spoken about by him still. I should go one day!

I can echo your mates thinking, I lost so much interest in top flight football starting in 2019 and when I went to my first non-league game at Brackley Town in 2020 I fell in love with the sport again. But do we get more joy/despair… Not for me, I just enjoy being at the non-league game, seeing new teams, cheering us on but not getting too worried about results i have to admit I wasn’t too disappointed about losing the play off finals for the past two seasons as NL North is a great level to be at

You are right for sure, I’m easing myself off Leicester City and it’s only the second game I’ll have been at all season. It’s more to meet friends there and that’s it now. If it wasn’t for them I’d not be back.

Just so good! Down here at Brackley the man of the match recently got a box of meat from the butchers! I’m going to the Leicester-WHAM match next week and I can’t say it does anything for me now. Roll on my next home game that I can make at Brackley v King’s Lynn!

Superb win, very pleased, for you - I was talking to Cobblers fans yesterday and thought that if I wasn’t at Brackley today I’d quite liked to have gone. I’ve been living ten mins from Northampton since.2006 and since 2020 a couple of us made the choice to go ten mins west for our local football instead of back to our first clubs (LCFC + Spurs). I was at the Brackley-Braintree game today but missed our ET and penalties as had to leave at 5pm to take my son to Buckingham, another big crowd with over 1100 and Brackley into R2 too Braintree fans were superb, prob 200-250 of them. Noisy, singing irons songs. Good natured too and mixed in with no segregation. Roll on an easy (ish) set of ties for Brackley + Kettering as the target has to be taking Leicester on in R3!

I’d have the 90s Leicester of old back any time over modern football, such a good match and two great goals!

Sounds like you’ve made a great choice and I’ve just been reading up on Ashington AFC. Nice main stand and healthy crowds too. I’m thoroughly enjoying football again since going to Brackley in 2020. Only been to LCFC once this year and I think that is enough for me now. What I like is the players connect with the supporters and are much more like us rather than the ungrateful millionaires on the pitch in PL etc. They have normal jobs in NL North, train twice a week and have time for the fans. Do you get a good atmosphere at Ashington? I have to admit the away fans tend to be louder and sometimes out number the home fans at Brackley!

This is so true and explains the real reason for why we have sport especially football, as it’s designed to distract us and to separate us. I understand that the Rugby head master in the 1800s (Thomas Arnold) help designed modern day sport for this reason. I still love the actual game but could care less about the rivalries now. I appreciate the skills and efforts players put in but now prefer non-league football. I used to love LCFC but the last few years have been dire as a supporter. I think I stopped loving it when they did that first light show and Liverpool beat us 4-0 on Boxing Day 2019. I too wondered if it is an age thing but it’s not at all as I’m now a born-again football fan loving watching my local non league side. Football is good fun again except for the odd visit to Leicester. If my new team loses it isn’t a problem, in fact I don’t want them to get promoted! It makes me sad to say these words after going to 500+ LCFC matches but I just think top flight/big club football has no soul now.

Phew! That will be a real test for Brackley! Big step up taking on NL clubs. Truro the round before was some trek too

Same here, much more enjoying my move into non league since 2020, it’s like going back in time when players cared and speak to the supporters. I was at Brackley v Ramsgate yesterday in the FA Cup, not such an easy game for the Saints. It took until just before 90th min to take the lead and then we won 4-1 with 3 late goals.

Love hearing about trips in the lower leagues, that stadium looked something else back then! My favourite time was 2008/9 seeing so many of those league one away grounds. Visited Scunthorpe United for first time that season, and will be doing the same in the non league this year before they rightly so move up. I didn’t expect to but I enjoyed the Wrexham documentary, so much so that I look out for their results now. Apart from a couple of filler episodes it’s been a good watch. Now watching the AFC Richmond documentary, but I’m struggling to locate them in the league! Ha only joking of course!