UK Edition
On March 26, 2000, Geri Halliwell’s seminal hit ‘Bag It Up’ – sample lyric “I like chocolate and controversy, he likes Fridays and bad company” – reached No 1 in the UK charts. With far less fanfare, another seminal event took place that day with the publication of the first edition of The Non-League Paper.
Unlike Ginger Spice’s solo career, the weekly NLP has proved robustly resilient surviving more than one brush with administration as well as a couple of dodgy accountants and last Sunday it celebrated its 1000th issue. With a cumulative monthly circulation of more than 80,000, the NLP is Britain’s biggest-selling sports publication, which may prove a shock to those who seem to believe that football does not exist beyond the ‘Big Six’.
The NLP provides coverage, profile and most of all a sense of community to non-league clubs that would otherwise be ignored outside of the early FA Cup rounds when broadcasters unload their patronising bombs – “Look! A footballer who is also a builder! A pitch with a slight slope! Whatever next?”
There is never a shortage of human-interest stories or colourful characters. Certain former non-league managers such as Steve Evans and George Borg could provide an edition’s worth of material in a single phone call. The NLP has often been at the forefront of many stories from covering the birth of AFC Wimbledon to pioneering the introduction of the FA’s Fair Play League.
It has also charted the ascent of dozens of players who have graduated to the Premier League, including Andre Gray, Michail Antonio, George Boyd (nicknamed the ‘White Pele’ in his days at Stevenage Borough) and Yannick Bolasie, who was paid a burger for every goal he scored during his time with Hillingdon Borough.
The poster boy for the benefits of non-league scouting remains Jamie Vardy who came through spells with Stocksbridge Park Steels, FC Halifax and Fleetwood Town to become an England international and Premier League winner with Leicester City. Vardy has since attended the NLP’s National Game Awards, demonstrating that he has not forgotten the publication which first highlighted his goalscoring prowess.
The NLP was founded by David Emery, a former sports editor of The Daily Express, having recognised a huge appetite for the non-league coverage when he ran the shortlived Sports First newspaper. “It was a niche market that was not being catered for,” Emery said. “At the time the only paper that even carried results was The Mail on Sunday. What the success of the NLP comes down to is there is a real passion for non-league football. Non-league fans are very loyal and I think they are genuinely delighted to have their own publication.”
Just the production process is a minor miracle. The NLP carries around 200 match reports each week in 14 leagues from the National League (the old Conference) through to Northern Premier League Division One East. It must be one of the few remaining publications to employ copytakers and it was not that long ago when some clubs took to faxing over their match reports.
Obviously the lower down the footballing pyramid you go, the harder it comes to find reliable match reporters at every club. More often than not, a handful of reports will go missing each week, which entails phoning the clubhouse and trying to ascertain the details of the game from its usually inebriated patrons.
At its height, its circulation touched 40,000 but it still consistently sells more than 20,000 a week, which is again a staggering accomplishment in today’s diminishing print market. Even with the advent of club websites, it remains an indispensable one-stop shop for supporters of non-league clubs and probably a fair few Premier League scouts searching its pages for sight of the next Jamie Vardy.
We should all raise a glass to the enduring success of The Non-League Paper - proof football does exist beyond the 'Big Six'