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So, for my weekly Non League vlog, the destination was Rugby Town FC last Saturday for their vital bottom of the table clash vs AFC Rushden and Diamonds. After contacting the club midweek, the very helpful Neil Melvin was great in answering every question I needed answering. Matchday! It was a bit of a nervous wait in the morning as to whether the match would go ahead what with the freezing weather conditions across the country so I had a few back up matches in reserve just in case. Thankfully, at the 10.30am pitch inspection the pitch was declared good to go, so I was happy with that and I set off. I arrived at the ground ridiculously early, and the only people there at that time were a coach load of Oldham Athletic fans who had decided to attend the game after their trip to Eastleigh was postponed on route! Footage of Oldham fans deciding to divert to Rugby Town. (credited to @BradleyKnowles on X) I had a chat to a couple of them, and the coach driver was the one who held my phone as I filmed my opening link to the vlog! After that, I hung around a bit outside as the players were starting to arrive. I made a beeline to a fella in a Rushden & Diamond tracksuit and asked him would it be ok to do a quick interview… I had no idea he was their captain! and, of course, as this is Non League, he obliged! After that, I had a nose around Rugby Town’s Butlin Road ground, which, I have to say, is very very impressive. I actually bumped into Neil, and he kindly showed me around the dressing rooms and arranged another interview, this time with a Rugby Town player... actually, a club legend as he is their all time leading goal scorer! After all that filming, I had loads of time before kick off, where I was talking to plenty of people, notably David , who’s 17 year old son Devonn had just moved to Rugby Town on a months loan from Stratford Town FC. He was telling me how emotional he got when his son scored for STFC on Boxing Day, which was a very poignant day for the club, due to the first anniversary of a tragedy. So, onto the match, and, as I always say, I won’t spoil what happened as I would like you to have a look at the vlog at the end of the post. Full time then, and my fingers are absolutely freezing, I made my way down to pitch side where I managed to nab a couple more interviews, and a good off camera chat with R & D club photographer Shaun. I thoroughly enjoyed my afternoon out at Rugby Town, I found it such a friendly place, and the atmosphere was really good… I believe it was actually their best attendance of the season, with plenty of away fans dotted all over the ground, and, of course, the Oldham fans! So, if you have never done a ground hop at Rugby Town, I would strongly recommend it, and, if anyone is reading this and is connected to R& D, I would love to do a vlog there too. Thanks for reading! A big thankyou to Darren Ashley for sharing this with us on our Proper Football Groundhopping page, you can watch all of Darren's other content on his YouTube channel and please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/@dash7148

We had the pleasure of meeting the 1960s and 70s football great and Nottingham Forest legend Ian Storey Moore for the second time on our recent visit to Carlton Town Football Club. We have to say Ian is one of the nicest guys you could wish to meet, a very humble man and extremely approachable and more than happy to talk at length about the game. The recently released book about Ian called "Give it to Moore, He Will Score!" tells the full story of Moore’s life and career with the authors drawing on their extensive interviews with him, his personal scrapbooks and their own first-hand memories in this authorised biography. Ian's career started at Nottingham Forest in 1962 aged 17, he was predominantly a left winger and scored 105 league goals for the Reds in 236 appearances and earned one cap for England during this spell. Moore’s sensational on-off transfer to Derby County for a British record fee was front-page news and left Brian Clough unable to speak to him for two decades! He opted to move to Manchester United in 1972, but his league career was sadly brought to an early end by injury in 1974. He went on to play for non-league Burton Albion, as well as North American Soccer League side Chicago Sting and later served as player-manager for Shepshed Charterhouse, and for Burton Albion in his third spell at the club, before becoming chief scout at Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa. We received a copy of the book from the great man himself and we have to say its a fantastic read! Even if you’re not a follower of Nottingham Forest or Manchester United its a wonderful book about a football icon who played with the likes of Law. Best, Charlton and many many more. We interviewed Ian when we first met him at Carlton Town on what was National Non-League Day in March last year and his enthusiasm for football was as strong as ever and his admiration for Non-League football was clearly evident and he is a regular visitor to watch and support his local side. We can only reiterate that Ian is one of the nicest fellas you could meet and will do anything for you and is a living legend to many, and we look forward to having him as a guest to talk about his career and his book on our brand new 'Proper Football The Podcast' which is coming very soon. You can find "Give it to Moore, He Will Score!" by clicking the link, we fully recommend it! Coming soon!

Bristol Rovers manager Joey Barton the playing and non-playing staff have today shaved their hair off in support of teammate Nick Anderton 26, who was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in the summer. Since coming to terms with the news, Nick then learned that the cancer had spread and he required chemotherapy. The Gas Heads went to The British Barber CO in Clifton to get their locks shaved off by the barber who supports their big rivals and wore his Bristol City shirt. So far the fundraiser for the defender has passed the £27,000 mark! Barton is delighted to see so much money raised for Anderton and his young family in their time of need. "It will keep the wolves from the door and allow him to focus on his recovery," he said. "He's got a new baby in the house as well, so it's the minimum we can do and we're thankful to everybody who has donated or shared and raised awareness. Every pound, every penny will make a difference in terms of helping Nick with his recovery." You can find the go fund me in the link below. https://www.gofundme.com/f/nick-anderton-as-brfc-players-shave-heads?

One of the reasons we started Proper Football just over 18 months ago was because some of us had become disillusioned with football, yes, that may seem a bizarre thing to say and beggars the question, why set up a football page? Well, for those of us who follow teams in the Premier League or a yo-yo side in the Championship, since the birth of the Premier League on 27th May 1992 we have gradually seen our clubs which we have worshiped like a religion and have played a massive role in our lives become like an old friend who has drifted away and you just don't recognise them anymore. We feel no connection to our clubs or a sense of belonging or feeling part of a bigger family, a complete disconnect from the players and boardrooms. Yes, we know not all clubs are like this, but they are a minority and many fans will see or feel it differently from us and we won't knock them for that, but just as many of us feel like we're customers supporting a brand in this corporate money-driven world we live in. Extortionate ticket prices, overpriced food and drink, 3 football kits that change every year, ridiculous kickoff times often changed at short notice to satisfy foreign TV audiences, overinflated player wages, football tourists sitting in silence with half-n half scarves, the new breed of johnny come lately fans who want instant success and are calling for the managers heads after one bad performance and overzealous rules that sanitise the atmosphere and the passion. Some will call us dinosaurs that are stuck in a time warp and say we should move with the times, but some of them weren't going to the match pre-1992 when yes, football did actually exist! We acknowledge that modern football with the influx of TV money has seen the birth of state-of-the-art stadiums and good facilities and it could be said better quality players and a more exciting top division but that is up for debate, but the old saying of ‘football is nothing without fans' is that really true anymore? Covid affected many clubs especially those down the Pyramid but it proved one thing, the Premier League doesn't have to rely on bums on seats, because one of their biggest incomes and growing markets is the TV revenue from around the world, it was recently announced for the first time in its history that the Premier League is set to earn more revenue from international, rather than domestic, broadcast rights! Don't even get us started on the foreign investors buying up our clubs and servicing the debt against said club, or state-owned country's sports washing to promote themselves, or owners who have no clue about our football culture and just see the golden egg and the cash cow the Premier League dangles. The reason we set up Proper Football was not just to highlight the aforementioned issues but to also promote the many good things still in the game, the fantastic work clubs do in the communities, the great followings from teams in the EFL and the unsung heroes behind the scenes, and that brings us to Non-League football. We've come across many fans on our Live shows, social media platforms and when we've been on the road to do our away day Vlogs at non-league grounds, and the conversation is always the same. “Love it down here" “had enough of the Premier League" “bring my kids down here every week, they love it” “You feel part of the club" "You can have a beer and watch the game” “it's affordable and you're putting money back into the local community” “got fed up with all the plastics and paying a fortune watching overpaid prima donnas” “all they care about is the corporate prawn sandwich brigade” “stewards telling you to sit down every couple of minutes” we could go on... The stats do back up that more people are going to non-league games now from steps 1 to 4 with an increase of 43% since 2011/12. It must be said we are not naive to the fact that there are some unscrupulous owners and some player's wages are overinflated at certain levels of non-league football and that the National League has many full-time playing staff so clearly money does play a big factor, but one thing is for sure, Non-League football is on the up and many fans are starting to fall back in love with our beautiful game. This article is not a dig at fans who follow their Premier League and Championship teams up and down the country week in and week out, in fact, we applaud them and doff our caps because at the end of the day, we all love the same game and share a passion, but some of us have found new friends and a place where we feel part of something again. Here's one of our Awayday Vlogs on our YouTube Channel. Please subscribe. 👍🏻👌🏻

NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH Congratulations to AFC Fylde who won the National League North after winning 2-0 at Bradford PA, a result that sadly sent the home side down, Kings Lynn in second place also won but it just wasn't enough to overhaul the new champions AFC Fylde. Kings Lynn Town will now go into the playoffs along with Chester FC, Brackley Town, Alfreton Town, Kidderminster Harriers and Gloucester City. Here's a great little Vlog from the Brackley Town v Alfreton Town match from Darren at Simply Football. Final Standings. It looked like Gloucester City were going to miss out at as they were losing 1-3 at home to Chorley but they came back from the dead with goals in the 74th, 87th and 93rd minute to get themselves into the last play-off place! Kettering Towns' 3-0 defeat at Kidderminster also saw them relegated along with Leamington, Bradford PA and rock-bottom Telford. NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH Ebbsfleet Town had already wrapped up the championship with an impressive 103 points so It was just down to the final positions of the playoff spots to see who will play who. At the bottom of the South Division things were far from settled in the fight for relegation and amazingly Weymouth who were dead and buried having been in the relegation zone all season went on to win their last 3 matches and stayed up on goal difference after winning 0-2 at fellow survivors Dover in the last game of the season which resulted in Dulwich Hamlet going down after their 0-1 defeat at home to Chippenham! Here's the wonderful scenes at Dover with Weymouth fans celebrating at the final whistle. (video credit to Andrew Brown a very happy Weymouth fan 😁)

In the Isthmian Premier League playoff final it was Aveley who were victorious after beating Hornchurch 0-1 in front of 2,040 fans. Aveley will be joined in the National League South next season by Truro City who won the Southern Premier Division South playoff final defeating Bracknell Town 2-3 away with a 94th-minute winner! In front of 1,554 fans. In the Northern League Premier Division Warrington Town beat Bamber Bridge 1-0 with a goal in the 90th minute having been down to 10 men with a red card in the 80th minute in front of an impressive crowd of 2,550! Joining Warrington in the National League North next season are Rushall Olympic FC who beat Nuneaton Borough on penalties after the Southern League Premier Central playoff final finished 0-0 after extra time in front of a fantastic attendance of 3,563!

Dawley Town Football Club a team based just South of Telford in Shropshire have had a remarkable season in the Salop Leisure Football League Premier Division which is the 11th tier of the English football pyramid. They not only won the League but also went the whole campaign unbeaten winning 26 of 27 matches with only one draw. The Invincibles decided to celebrate in style through the town, but the mode of transport was the back of a scaffolding truck instead of an open-top bus! The streets were lined by supporters, family and friends plus some bemused locals just going about their day. The small town of Dawley was once a mining town for over 3 centuries and was even mentioned in the Domesday Book, it has a regular street market in its town centre that consists of a single pedestrianised street, a street that was awash with blue flares and colourful ticker tape as the team passed through with chants of “Championes Championes Ole Ole" echoing around the historic buildings. The Shropshire side lifted the trophy at their Doseley Road ground at the weekend following a 5-0 win against Wem Town which meant The Jockeys finished 10 points clear of nearest rivals Ludlow and secured promotion to step six in Non-League next season.

It's the return of the greatest club Cup competition in the world with the FA Cup🏆⚽ 2nd round taking place over the next four days with the obligatory homemade tin foil FA Cups on show on terraces and stands up and down the country. But which of the 10 remaining non-league sides do you fancy causing an upset? Tonight sees the first potential upset as National League side York City FC face League One Wigan Athletic at home. On Saturday National League North side Alfreton Town FC are at home to Walsall who dispatched the lowest-ranked team Sheppey United in the 1st round. High-flying Maidstone United FC in the National League South are at home to inform League 2 Barrow AFC. Newport County AFC of League 2 are at home Barnet Football Club of the National League. Bottom of League 2 Sutton United FC are at home to Horsham FC of the Isthmian Premier Division (level 7) who had a reprieve in the Cup after Barnsley were thrown out. On Sunday we have two National League sides facing League 1 opposition with table toppers Chesterfield FC taking on Leyton Orient and Eastleigh FC playing Reading Football Club and Aldershot Town Football Club against League 2 leaders Stockport County. Also on Sunday Wrexham take on National League South Yeovil Town at the Race Course Ground. And last but no means least the lowest-ranked team left in the cup, Ramsgate Football Club who play at level 8 in the Isthmian League - South East Division and are top, travel to AFC Wimbledon on Monday night with 1500 Rams cheering on their team! Best of luck to everyone taking part and🤞🏼for the cold weather not to disrupt any of the games.

Oxford City have won the National League South playoff final with an emphatic 4-0 victory over St Albans City. The game was over as a contest in the first half as the Hoops raced into a 4-goal lead in front of a record attendance of 3,100 at their Marsh Lane ground. Oxford City who finished 3rd in the National League South this season beat Worthing at home 2-0 in the playoff semifinal and now with this playoff final success, they will be plying their trade at their highest-ever league level in their 141-year history! The Oxfordshire club have been more successful as a Cup side in their history having reached the 2nd round proper of the FA Cup along with a few appearances in the first round proper as well. The club was once managed by England's World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore along with Harry Redknapp as his assistant. Congratulations to The Hoops and best of luck for next season in the National League!

The regular season is now over in the EFL and the National Leagues so it's time for one of football's best most recent innovations...(Tell that to Notts County) The playoffs! Here are the fixtures for the playoff finals in the National League top division and the North and South divisions along with the EFL League 2 semi-finals. Here‘s the lineup for the semi-finals in the EFL League 1 and the Championship including the dates and kickoff times for the finals weekend at Wembley. Best of luck to all the teams taking part.

Bury FC Supporters' Society and Bury AFC have both voted overwhelmingly in favour of a merger. They will come together under the name Bury and be back playing at Gigg Lane next season! Members of both clubs failed to reach a two-thirds majority in the first merger vote in October. This time 90.1% of the Bury FC Supporters' Society and 97% of Bury AFC members voted to form one club to play at Gigg Lane from next season. Having a unified club in Bury means it also now qualifies for local council and government levelling up funding with £1.3m is available in total - £450,000 from Bury Council and the rest coming from the government's levelling up fund. A statement on the AFC Bury website said; The motion to adopt the Gigg Lane Stadium as the football club’s home playing venue was approved by 97% of the vote. 1116 were in favour, 34 against and 9 abstentions. The motion to adopt Bury Football Club as the playing name was approved by 92% of the vote. 1046 were in favour, 95 against and 24 abstentions. The Resolution that the Society and Bury Football Club Supporters’ Society Limited (Register number 29385R) (“BFCSS”) shall be amalgamated pursuant to section 109 of the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 was approved by 97% of the vote. 1109 were in favour, 35 against and 15 abstentions. As the Bury Football Supporters’ Society also approved their motion to amalgamate with a 90% majority we are pleased to confirm that the amalgamation will proceed subject to the Confirmatory Vote which will now begin and the results announced at the next General Meeting at 7 pm on 19th May. AFC Bury play in the Premier Division of the North West Counties League, the ninth tier of the English football pyramid, staging their home games a few miles down the road from Gigg Lane at Stainton Park, Radcliffe and also Bury fans completed a deal to buy back their old Gigg Lane ground in February 2022 and currently trade as Bury FC but with no team. There has been many disputes and division between some of the two fan groups but hopefully, this will now see some unity and most of all a club back at Gigg Lane representing the local community of Bury.

It's all still to play for in the race for the Championship playoff places with 2 games to go with everyone in with a shout from 5th down to Watford in 13th albeit with the Hornets needing a big goal swing. Luton and Middlesbrough have confirmed 2 playoff places already and as it stands 6th placed Coventry who have sold out the CBS Arena for today's game with a crowd of over 30,000 and 7th-placed Sunderland who have sold out the Stadium of Light with a crowd of over 45,000 expected are currently in poll position. At the bottom of the championship Wigan Athletic will be relegated if they lose to Reading today who themselves need a win to take their survival bid to the final day, Huddersfield still have 3 games to play while QPR and Rotherham need one more win from their last 2 games to avoid the drop. In League 1 Plymouth Argyle and Ipswich Town will be promoted with victories against Burton Albion and Exeter City respectively today. If Plymouth win and Ipswich lose Argyle will be crowned champions. Plymouth will also be promoted if Sheffield Wednesday drop points at Shrewsbury Town, and Ipswich will go up by matching Wednesday’s result. The scrap for the last 2 playoff places is between Bolton, Derby and Peterborough. At the bottom, Morecambe and Accrington Stanley who play fellow strugglers Oxford need to win today to guarantee taking their survival bid to the final day, while defeat for Cambridge United against Stanley could see them relegated on Tuesday, when they play their game in hand against Burton Albion. MK Dons are still in danger and will be looking to beat Barnsley who are guaranteed a playoff place. In League 2 Northampton Town and Stevenage will be promoted with wins today and the 4 playoff positions are still wide open with Stockport, Bradford Mansfield, Carlisle and Salford all within a chance with the last two teams mentioned facing each other today. At the foot of the table Hartlepool United will be relegated if they drop points in their next game or Crawley pick up one more point. In the National League, it's a shootout between Bromley, Boreham Wood and Southend for the remaining two playoff places on what is their last day of the season. The final relegation place will be filled by Torquay, unless they win and either Maidenhead lose with a seven-goal swing in goal difference on the final day, or less realistically, York lose with a 14-goal swing in goal difference in favour of the Gulls. In the National League North AFC Fylde are one win away from being champions regardless of what Kings Lynn do. Scarborough, Buxton, Chorley, Kidderminster, Gloucester, Curzon Ashton, Spennymoor and Darlington can all still reach the playoffs with 1 game to go. As for relegation, Blyth Spartans need to win to have any chance of overhauling Farsley Celtic, Kettering and Southport. And finally, in the National League South, the last playoff spot is between St Albans and Havant and Waterlooville. Three points on Saturday against Dover Athletic would see Weymouth stay up on goal difference with Dulwich Hamlet needing just a draw to stay up. Best of luck to every team involved.