Non-league football, it’s becoming more and more popular within England and we are starting to reap the rewards of this in way of some very interesting title races.

Why has non-league football suddenly come to the attention of so many? Well it hasn’t, it’s always been relatively well attended. In 2000 the average attendance, in what was then known as the conference, was 1,619. Kidderminster won the league and the likes of Yeovil, Morecambe and Doncaster Rovers were competing at this time.

Fast forward to 2017-2018 season and the same league, now known as the national league, saw attendances of 2,045 on average. That’s an increase of around 26%. Now you many be thinking what’s the big deal? Well it’s proof that the National League and FA’s initiatives to promote non-league football is working.

In 2010 the idea was formulated and advertised to fans within the UK. The idea and concept is that when teams from the Premier League and Championship aren’t playing, due to an international break, that supporters of those teams go and support there local non-league side. The hope is obviously is increase attendances and funds on those days, also that some may like it and come back on a more frequent basis.

So at the top of this article we told you that non-league is now reaping the rewards or rather the neutral fans are. The top two levels of non-league (three leagues) the difference between the top two is no more than two points. If we look at the National League South, Torquay United now under the management of Gary Johnson, have seen a turn around and now sit top of the league on goal difference. Woking in second have gradually been caught and overtaken by the Gulls. Both teams are winning and dropping points almost simultaneously and it’s now set up, with 10 games to go to be a cracker. The two teams meet at the Kingfield Stadium on the 6th April which could make or break the others season. TheFootballArticle will be watching and keeping tabs on all non-league and hope to bring you a in-depth view of how all of these league pan out.

If you haven’t been to see a non-league game this season ensure that you do! For young children it’s a great experience being so close to the pitch, standing right by the dugout and being able to hear every word. It’s a different footballing experience and if your not a fan of the ‘show’ of Premier League football this is for you.

The January window this year, with roughly three hours to go, has been uneventful to say the least. Possibly the most exciting transfer being a loan in the form of Higuain to Chelsea. So, whilst the media make the most that they can out of a boring and dull month, is it not time to knock it on the head?

The summer eighteen window saw clubs in the premier league spend a total of £1.24billion. Compare this to the winter window last season where the total was £419.5million there is clear evidence that most business is done in the summer.

Premier league teams voted that the 2018/2019 summer transfer window would close prior to the season starting. Fourteen, at the time, premier league clubs voted for this action.
According to the BBC, mangers had complained that signing players when the season had already started was a disruption to preparations. This wasn’t a decision without risk as other major leagues in Europe stay open until the end of August and beyond.
Premier league clubs have again voted for this action for the 19/20 season implying that any worries about an early closure didn’t affect many.

Disruptions to preparations is one thing but players coming and going halfway through a season surely would bring more disruption? We have seen Marko Arnautovic’s head turned with a big money move to China on the table, who can blame him when it’s reported he would be earning £200K a week for four years. That’s £10.8million!! As we now know the forward will stay at West Ham, it is however thought that at least a few players within the squad are annoyed by his attitude, in particular the way he has handled the matter.

Ok so the January transfer window isn’t all doom and gloom, we have seen the likes of Suarez, Vidic and Aubameyang all move to the premier league during January and it can be a season saving month.

The burning question is if the summer window closes before the season why do we have a window in the middle? The life expectancy of the winter window may not be as long as you think.

Over the last few weeks, media sources have played on Manchester City’s lack of fans within the Etihad stadium. This has transpired to looking into where the club sits in relation to its European counterparts.
With attendances it almost impossible to decipher how many actual fans were in the stadium, due to a number of clubs (especially Arsenal) publishing how many tickets were sold instead of how many fans actually attended.
Football is changing, as is TV, so perhaps a good place to start is social media. With instant highlights at a touch of a button and great interaction between fans and clubs, it’s a great way to promote matches, merchandise and players. Manchester City has 6.59million followers on twitter but how does this compare? English top clubs – Manchester United have 18.7million, Liverpool 10.9million, Arsenal 14million, Tottenham 3.18million, Chelsea 12.4million. European Elite – Barcelona have 29million, Real Madrid 10.1million, PSG 6.62million, Bayern Munchen 4.53million. It would be fair to say that City doesn’t look out of place with these numbers however the gap between them and arch-rivals United is possibly a feet that will not be matched.
Sheikh Mansour took over Manchester City in September 2008 and in just over ten years the growth on the pitch has been something remarkable. So, the global fanbase is still growing? Yes, Manchester City are still yet to win the Champions League a competition which is seen to highlight Europe’s best but in turn, implies the world’s best club team. Providing Sheikh Mansour and Pep are still at City it’s surely only a matter of time before City earn this crown. This will no doubt raise the clubs fanbase abroad.
Manchester City fans won’t thank us for highlighting the gap between themselves and United but as a club the reds are streets ahead. United have big fan bases in Brazil, America, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Thailand. Asia is a huge market for English football and we have seen this with a number of premier league stars choosing to play in the Chinese Super League for purely financial reasons. So the market is there otherwise why are clubs investing so much in these players?
With this considered is it a coincidence that Manchester United have a huge fan base in Asia and that Sheikh Mansour, a member of the royal family in Abu Dhabi, has purchased City? Absolutely not. The majority of Asian countries with fans of United won’t have witnessed many games in person if any, the introduction of Sheikh Mansour means these fans may be persuaded to swap alliances. The team have travelled to the UAE on a number of occasions and their PR is increasing.  They have also increased their number of pre-season tours to America a country where Liverpool and United have been on regular occasions.

All of this is evidence that Manchester City are playing catch up and certainly know the countries in which they want to tap into. We have them favourites to win the champions league this season and if they do that we anticipate that the country/continent that City travel to for their preseason tour next season will see a huge rise in their fan base. This alongside whatever big name signings are imminent in the summer is a combination for growth and success.

Do we think City can overtake United? We don’t believe that it is in City’s hands in fact we believe it depends when United can get out of their slump. In the meantime, the gap will surely shorten between the two clubs but can City overtake Manchester United? Only time will tell.