Social media now plays a huge role in promoting non-league football.
With local newspapers’ ability to cover non-league now strangled by dwindling resources, clubs have taken it upon themselves to expand their reach on their own platforms.
Those around the game believe it helps build stronger relationships with the community and helps expand marketing opportunities as well as advertising matches.
From goal highlights, interviews or in-depth features like Dorking Uncovered, it is helping grow interest in non-league, with attendances growing. In Dorking’s division, average attendances reached 1,221 during the 2024-25 season – that was a 134% rise on the average a decade before.
White started Dorking Wanderers just outside the M25 radius with his friends because they were bored of paying for Premier League matches and just wanted to play.
He believes the rising costs of watching top-tier football, either by buying tickets or TV subscriptions, is pushing more and more people to non-league.
But they have to know where to find it and social media helps that.
“I think a lot of people underestimate how little people know about their local football club,” said White.
“And when you’re now talking about decades of people that have never picked up a newspaper, and that target audience probably watches the Premier League and they have no idea what’s going on near their local high street, where probably the beer is cheaper, the travel certainly cheaper, and they know a lot more people there.
“And it’s quite a social connection for them. So, you know, I think for me that the power of social media largely is taking the clubs to their own target market and also taking the target market to the clubs. It’s kind of connecting the two.”
There are other ways online is growing attendances. Aaron Hunt gained thousands of followers streaming on Twitch about his success with his local club Daisy Hill FC, based in Westhoughton, Bolton, on the management simulation game Football Manager online.
Hunt was invited to be chairman of North West Counties Football Counties side, whose stadium is now sponsored by YouTuber AngryGinge and called GingePower Stadium after he streamed one of his visits to a game to over one million people.
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