Friday Freebie: It's Almost The End Of The Ride

Strap in for the final few weeks

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We have around ten weeks left of the non-league season but as we all know while the matches might stop, everything else goes into overdrive for at least eight weeks while we wait for the next campaign to begin.

With the sun shining in through the windows as I write this one it’s a far cry from the last few weeks where those with grass pitches have endured a stop-start couple of months and some face three games a week minimum until the end of April.

Not the fault of anyone there, it’s been a tough time for grounds people up and down the country and with grass pitches severely underfunded and unable to cope with the deluge of rain that falls these days there is little option but a few Saturdays off.

March begins tomorrow and it really signals the business end of the campaign beginning. Margins of error become less with each passing week, the time when games in hand now have to be won.

For neutrals there are some great title races going on and play-off places up for grabs which can change dramatically from one week to the next. At the other end of the table scrutiny over how many points those in the bottom four need to escape and whether it’s possible given the form over the last few months.

The competitive nature of most divisions in non-league football is what brings people back week after week and is attracting more to the game. Sport is after all a competition and when that edge comes away it’s difficult to remain invested in what is going on.

The same clubs winning everything in sight does feel more like a monopoly. Yes, there has been times in the past where it’s happened like it does now but back then it went in cycles.

Now it feels more like if you can’t compete financially at the top levels then the best you can hope for is to trundle along, do your best and take a pat on the back, very mundane.

Money is of course in the non-league game too, always has been like the professional game. But, unlike the top it doesn’t always guarantee a similar sort of success at these levels. Contact time is less, there are plenty of other clubs to move on to should it not be to the player’s liking.

We appreciate budget levels have always been a huge difference at whatever level you play or watch the game, but they certainly don’t guarantee anything which I think is what makes the non-league game more exciting.

Those clubs are expected to win everything, they do have a target on their backs that everyone wants to take. Regardless of how much money you have success is earnt on the pitch and that will never change.

Over the next few weeks the amount of twists and turns likely to come will no doubt surprise, it’s all about keeping your nerve and those that do will win out, those that can’t face a year at least of rebuilding.