Non-League Day is a day set aside in English football where supporters of clubs playing at the highest levels of the game are encouraged to experience football at non-league 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 [1] and is set to coincide with a break in fixtures within the football calendar when the Premier League and Championship 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 clubs as well as MPs, media organisations, charities and from non-league clubs themselves. The Football Association also gives its backing to the campaign. [2] [3] 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. [4] Clubs can also offer incentives for fans to attend. In August 2014 Bungay Town handed-out mushrooms to supporters attending their match with Martham in the Anglian Combination League Division Two doubling their normal match-day attendance to 100. [5]
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply embedded in Scottish culture. It has reflected and contributed to political, social and religious division and sectarianism in Scotland. As a result, matches between them have had an enduring appeal around the world.
AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Merton, London. The team compete in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system.
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to speculation and debate. The club is owned by the club's supporters through the Exeter City Supporters' Trust.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home ground in 2005 to the Pirelli Stadium from Eton Park. The club's nickname, The Brewers, evokes the brewing heritage of Burton upon Trent.
The National League is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It’s the highest league that semi-professional teams in the English football league system play. Notable former English Football League clubs that compete in the National League include: Chesterfield, Oldham Athletic, Rochdale, York City, Hartlepool United and Southend United. The National League is the lowest division in the English football pyramid organised on a nationwide basis. Formerly the Conference National, the league was renamed the National League from the 2015–16 season.
The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship in England and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the English football league system, after the Premier League, and is currently contested by 24 clubs.
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football, and play at Champion Hill.
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since opening in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although provisional planning permission is in place to expand to 42,000 if required.
The Racecourse Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as the STōK Cae Ras, is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C.
Blundell Park is a football ground in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England and home to Grimsby Town Football Club. The stadium was built in 1899, but only one of the original stands remains. The current capacity of the ground is 9,052, after being made all-seater in summer 1995, reducing the number from around 27,000. Several relegations in previous years meant the expansion seating was also taken away; that reduced the capacity further from around 12,000 to what it is now.
Stadium MK is a football stadium in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League Two side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National League South side Milton Keynes Dons Women. In 2022, the stadium hosted several matches during the UEFA Women's Euro 2022.
The Magic Weekend is an annual event organised by the Rugby Football League in which an entire round of Super League matches is played over a weekend at a single stadium to promote the sport of rugby league.
Scarborough Athletic Football Club is an association football club based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The club currently play in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system.
The South Wales derby is a local derby between Welsh association football clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City. The fixture has been described by The Independent as one of the fiercest rivalries in British football. Although based in Wales, both clubs play in the English football league system and have won English honours: Cardiff the FA Cup in 1927 and Swansea the Football League Cup in 2013.
The rivalry between Millwall and West Ham United is one of the longest-standing and most bitter in English football. The two teams, then known as Millwall Athletic and Thames Ironworks, both originated in the East End of London, and were located less than three miles apart. They first played each other in the 1899–1900 FA Cup. The match was historically known as the Dockers derby, as both sets of supporters were predominantly dockers at shipyards on the River Thames. Consequently, each set of fans worked for rival firms who were competing for the same business; this intensified the tension between the teams. In 1904, West Ham moved to the Boleyn Ground which was then part of Essex until a London boundary change in 1965. In 1910, Millwall moved across the River Thames to New Cross in South East London and the teams were no longer East London neighbours. Both sides have relocated since, but remain just under four miles apart. Millwall moved to The Den in Bermondsey in 1993 and West Ham to the London Stadium in Stratford in 2016.
Bromsgrove Sporting Football Club is a football club based in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England. The club was founded in 2009 and played their first season, 2010–11, in Midland Football Combination Division Two, where they ended third. The club currently play in the Southern League Premier Division Central.
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingborough Town from July 2012 to the summer of 2017. A groundshare agreement with Rushden & Higham United was agreed for the 2017–18 season. The club was formed by supporters in July 2011, after Rushden & Diamonds, a former Football League club, were expelled from the Football Conference and liquidated.
Rangers Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Glasgow.