Attendances in the National League South and the Isthmian Premier Division have hit a 10-year record high for the 2024/25 season.
This campaign the average attendance in National League South was 1,221, a rise of 134% from that figure for the 2014/15 season.
The National League South is one of the two divisions, along with the National League North, that makes up the sixth-tier of English football and ‘step two’ of the non-league football pyramid.
Similarly, a step below in the Isthmian Premier Division, 2024/25 saw average attendances hit 764, this is 94% higher than a decade ago,
Several of London’s non-league teams play in the National League South and the Isthmian Premier Division, including Enfield Town FC and Dulwich Hamlet.
Paul Reed, chairman of Enfield Town, said: “I think what we’ve seen is a perfect storm of people disenfranchised with the Premier League and modern football generally.”
He added: “I think what non-league has done is it’s been able to carve a niche for itself in terms of affordable, family friendly football that’s entertaining. You don’t get all the histrionics of the Premier League.
“People can have a beer, watch the game, all the stuff that I think people associated with football in the past, and the enjoyment of that at a price that is affordable for people to bring their family along.”
Enfield Town FC were formed in 2001 following a fan led breakaway from Enfield FC and they proudly call themselves ‘The Country’s First Fan-Owned Club’.
This year they finished 19th in the National League South, their highest ever finish, and had an average of 978 people at their games.
Another non-league side with a strong fanbase in the capital are Dulwich Hamlet.
They regularly saw crowds of over 3,000 people this season despite playing in the seventh tier of English football.
Former MD and owner of Dulwich Hamlet, Tom Cullen thinks that affordability is a key reason for the increased attendances.
He said: “We have very cheap tickets compared to other people in our league or the league above and alongside that, the widest ranging concessions in football. We have concessions for pretty much everyone.”
The Hamlet offer reduced prices for blue light workers, members of the armed forces, and council workers, as well as a pay your age season ticket scheme for fans between the ages of 13 and 19.
Praising this initiative, Cullen said: “It’s a way to get young people to come to the club, and then it becomes their club.”
The club has also benefited from Premier League fans ‘downsizing’ and turning towards their local non-league team.
Cullen said: “When fans walk through any turnstile of any non-league club, they immediately feel part of the club. They feel part of the family.”
He added: “I think for a lot of people in this country, they lack community.
“Non-league football allows people from all walks of life to find somewhere they can call home and feel like they’re part of something bigger.”
Matt Badcock, editor of The Non-League Paper, agreed with Tom’s sentiment.
He said: “When you go through a non-league turnstile, you know that £10 or £12, whatever you’re putting into the pot, actually really, really matters, and that if you’re not there, then it’s not like someone else is just going to take your season ticket.”
Improvements in technology have also been touted as another reason for non-league’s popularity.
Matt stressed the importance of social media for modern non-league clubs.
He said: “Every club has got it, every club uses it. You’re getting live updates throughout the games. That has massively changed it, I think.
“The impact of Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube, that’s been massive for the growth and the exposure of non-league football.”
Tom agreed, saying how important social media had been for Dulwich’s growth.
He said: “We went from getting an average of about 1,000 to selling out 10 to 15 games a year, 3,500 and a lot of that was driven from social media. A lot of that was through Twitter.”
“A really important part of any non-league club’s overall strategy should be social media, how you can use it, how you can amplify what you do and try and get yourself into the feeds of people who might share those values, or might be looking for something to do to get involved in or for that connection. So I think it’s absolutely vital.”
Non-league football is going from strength to strength as more and more fans turn towards their local team in search of better value and connections.
Both Enfield Town and Dulwich Hamlet will be hoping that trend continues for the 2025/26 season.
Statistics sourced from Football Web Pages.
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