The main ethos behind us starting Proper Football was to shine a spotlight on the game outside of the Premier League and give a platform to champion all that is great about non-league and grassroots football and the wonderful pyramid that is the foundation for our beautiful game.
There are many other individuals on social media who share their love of non-league football and Ray Margetson's excellent content that details his travels around the country visiting many grounds, giving a fantastic insight into each club is always a great read, so to say we were overjoyed to hear he was publishing a new book would be an understatement!
Ray's new book 'The Beautiful Grounds 2', A Journey through the non-league Clubs of England, is a fantastic read, 200 pages covering 64 different teams from step 1 to step 6 of Non-League Football.
Ray's zeal and passion for non-league really shine through in this book, travelling to all corners of England, clocking up 1000s of miles in the process, from Berwick Rangers on the English and Scottish border to Ramsgate on the Kent coast.
In the book, Ray's enthusiasm and dedication are mirrored by the many unsung heroes who work tirelessly for all of the clubs, clubs that are a hub and a vital main focal point for the surrounding communities and are mostly run by volunteers.
Ray's knowledge of the game is second to none at this level having played for Ilford Town and holding the role of club secretary along with coaching youth football teams at Chichester City and Bosham, Ray details the importance of youth football in the book and highlights the amazing work many of the clubs are doing to incorporate the local children with both boys and girls given a pathway into football and hopefully going on to play for the first teams.
A perfect example of this is the 3-page writeup on Ascot United, who claims to be the biggest grassroots football club in the country, with 73 boys and girls teams playing in a variety of leagues each weekend!
Each of the 64 teams highlighted in the book receives a well-written insight into their history and their current standing along with detailing the terracing and stands and the facilities at the ground along with conversations with those behind the scenes and the chairman and owners of the clubs along with a brief rundown of the match taking place on the day
The book covers clubs from both ends of the non-league pyramid from the National League to The Combined Counties Division 1, it covers the opening fixtures at brand new grounds like Cray Wanderers to the oldest football team in the world at Sheffield FC,
The book is full of quirky stories, fun facts, and hundreds of pictures and is written with a sense of humour that adds to the enjoyment of the overall read.
This book is a brilliant intuition into non-league and grassroots football and one that highlights the importance of what it brings to the game as a whole and those who work tirelessly to keep it alive.
The Premier League may take all the limelight on our TV screens and across the global media with its corporate branding and its billion-pound industry, but we'll take non-league football over it all day long, and reading Ray's book makes us love it even more!
This is clearly a labour of love for Ray, and he has also been travelling around the country delivering personalised books to many of the clubs involved, which is another really nice touch.
We can't recommend this book enough and are currently reading Ray's first book, which has 190 teams featured in it!
If you would like to buy a copy of Ray's new book you can visit his new website by clicking here;
We also caught up with the author at the recent opening of Cambridge City's new stadium which you can watch below,
Comments