Non-League Day is a day set aside in

English football Football is the most popular sport in England. Widely regarded as the birthplace of modern football, the first official rules of the game were established in England in 1863. The country is home to the world's first football league, the oldest ...

where supporters of clubs playing at the highest levels of the game are encouraged to experience football at

non-league Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

level with which they may be unfamiliar. The idea was suggested in 2010 by James Doe. It is a non-profit and volunteer-run initiative and is set to coincide with a break in fixtures within the football calendar when the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

sides do not have games. This is so that international fixtures can be played and top level players will be on international duty. It has received widespread backing from the Premier League and from

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

clubs as well as MPs, media organisations, charities and from non-league clubs themselves.

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

also gives its backing to the campaign. Clubs often look to this day for a boost in attendance figures and offer reduced admittance prices to fans of other clubs for games played on Non-League Day. Clubs can also offer incentives for fans to attend. In August 2014 Bungay Town handed-out mushrooms to supporters attending their match with

Martham Martham is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. England. It is situated some north-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and north-east of the city of Norwich. History The villages ...

in the

Anglian Combination The Anglian Combination (currently known as the Fosters Solicitors Anglian Combination for sponsorship reasons) is an English association football, football league that operates in East Anglia. The league specifically covers Norfolk and northern ...

League Division Two doubling their normal match-day attendance to 100.

References

External links

Non-League Day
Non-League football Association football culture Sports culture in the United Kingdom Association football fandom {{footy-stub