Non-League Day is around the corner (the weekend of 28th March to be precise) and if your club has a home fixture that day, you might be wondering just what you could do to celebrate and potentially bring a few more supporters through the door.
Over the years, Football in Berkshire has compiled various lists and ideas we’ve seen clubs implement, as well as our own thoughts you may or may not like to take on.
The one thing I am wary about is (outside of free tickets for kids and schools) offering out free tickets. Having been a turnstile operator among many jobs at a club in my time, creating that feeling of value is hard-earned and easily dismissed, so I think it’s important to be front and centre that ‘there is a value to this’. If you’ve paid for something, even if it is significantly discounted, it’s less easily dismissed.
Non-League Day of course is brilliant for putting the grassroots game in the spotlight. No Premier League fixtures means the focus can be on lower Football League and Non-League teams. But there’s a balance between attracting the casual fan and staying true to the regulars – not over promising on an experience you can’t deliver every week.
Every player interacts with a kid
This is absolutely vital. Especially if you have gone down the route of putting match tickets into schools or offering free tickets to kids. Get your players to interact with a kid before the game.
It’s the single most important thing you can do this Non-League Day. It can be as simple as high-fiving a few as you walk onto the pitch, or as memorable as running to a group when you score.
You might not think it as a player, but you are a role model to these kids. I can remember when I used to go with my dad as kid to the old Larges Lane ground, one player (Peter Skerritt) would also say hello, shake hands after the game whether he’d won, drawn or lost.
This is how you build a fanbase, and get those kids and their parents coming back every week.
Season tickets for 2026/27
Feels early? Possibly. But what if you take Non-League Day as your starting marker for next season. Come to the game and book your season ticket at a heavily discounted rate. That’s money in the bank early. But it also gives people a reason to keep coming back before the end of this season as (hopefully) there’s something on the line for the team – and you get their contact details.
If you don’t want to discount the rate, what can you offer as an additional incentive? A capped amount of free Friends & Family tickets like Slough Town offer? A ‘free’ kids season ticket or perhaps unlimited tea and coffee?
Open an extra bar or bring in an outside food vendor
I’ve said about not over-promising on atmosphere and spectacle, but if you are anticipating bringing in a few extra fans for NLD, and additional food space might not be a bad idea.
The two best tips for this are a) something different from your own food offering b) charge a pitch fee or percentage of takings – one Festival I’m involved in charges 20% – of course, this is based on a good faith agreement.
Who knows, maybe it becomes a regular thing.
Online tickets and a mailing list
Perhaps you’ve resisted online tickets? Perhaps you don’t quite see the point when everyone pays on the day. My thinking on this has evolved and I see it as a way to engage people who aren’t yet regulars.
For example, if you did some paid online advertising, or had posters on the local bus route, you want to be able to see a return on that investment, so having a ticket portal potential supporters can go to and act on there and then is a really good thing.
We’ve just teamed up with INTIX as our new ticket platform of choice – crucially, INTIX has tools to allow you build a mailing list within its system as people sign up as buy tickets from you – meaning you are constantly building your database. Interested? Contact our mate Rob here.
Card payments on the gate
Speaking of paying at the gate, please make this a priority for 2026/27. You might not like it, you might disagree with it, or like me, it might be weeks since you last used cash, but being able to take card payments at the gate is better than turning people away – and when people are in they’ll spend money in the ground. You can buy a Sumup machine from Argos for £15 – but please do your research on fees.
Setup a Matchday page on your website
Burnham do this brilliantly already, but I’d go a step further and turn it into an FAQ – a page you can throw out any time anyone asks – how much are tickets? do you do a printed programme? can I bring my dog?
Replica shirts at cost – start selling next seasons now
What better way to advertise your club around your village/town/city than all your supporters decked out in club colours?
Depending on the size of your fanbase, replica shirts aren’t the money spinners they would be even in the Championship, but selling shirts at cost to get as many supporters as you can decked out in club colours? There’s an unquantifiable value to that.
Even better, f you can get people to commit before the end of this season, to next seasons shirt – perhaps as part of the season ticket – that has commitment wrapped up in a lovely box with a bow on top.
What if we went further though? What if you worked with your shirt sponsor to incentivise sales? After all, every shirt you sell is a walking billboard for them. This becomes part of your sales pitch that every shirt sold, the sponsor pays additional money to the club for a purpose such as upgrading the tea bar, the loo’s. Something that makes the match experience better.
I’d love to hear your own thoughts and ideas for Non-League Day. Let us know in the comments.
