Lower League Footy - Is It Better?

[Toddacelli]

Last night I was on the terrace in the home end as Scunthorpe won their first playoff game.

It was standing. The quality was suspect, but the fight was not. The songs were surprisingly fun and the banter with the female lino was cheeky but respectful.

And the limbs.
Oh the Limbs!

I enjoyed the match in a way I haven’t at Everton in a long time and in a way that reminded me of away games in the 80s as a kid. I got so much more from it than I expected and it felt like a real footy experience. A real battle. No VAR. No acting up for cameras.

So with how far we’ve come with all the tech and money in football these days - is lower league footy a purer expression of what football meant to us as kids?

[Cods]

In terms of enjoyment, the scene, the crowd, the experience, the noise, the colour, nothing for me beats Goodison live. Can only imagine what the old lady under lights would have been like....Hope for a BMD experience one day too...

As for the game itself, in pure football terms, and despite any attachment...I have to say 4th division German Regionallia football was just as much of a football spectacle and more open, engaging, individual, very decently-skilled, not stifled, less narrow, even with a similar scoreline, and at a fraction of crowd size the noise and atmosphere was great.

Non-football-going travel companions said the same.

EPL seems a bit more sizzle than steak at times.

[Toddacelli]

If Scunner win the semi-final against Rochdale tomorrow - I’m going to Wembley for the final.

[Cereal Killer]

Let’s put this here

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... gx70pzq1jo

Quite amazing some clubs would still be making a loss even if their players played for nothing! What the fuck can they be spending money on??

I’m not sure getting a fatter pay off from the PL will help financially either, it’ll just make them gamble more money on trying to achieve success

[Robioto]

I'm fairly vocal on here about it, but the Premier League "matchday experience" isn't what I originally loved about watching live football. The last 10 years has seen it change so much, particularly in London from my experience, with clubs from elsewhere catching up quickly, including Everton.

I regulary watch my local club Exeter City who were relegated from League One to League Two last season and I also go and watch Torquay United (6th tier), Tiverton Town (7th tier) and even the enemy Plymouth Argyle on occasion (3rd tier) and while the football is obviously a step down, it's still football and the "match day experience" is much more enjoyable for me.

I've been rapidly falling out of love with top level football for about a decade now. And all this Man City stuff, the world cup corruption, the super league talk, the ticket prices and membership being mandatory, the price of shirts / TV subs, all the invasive forgien investment, etc, just drives me further and further away. It feels so sterilised and just not very personal anymore, it really does feel like a business now.

I love Everton and I used to come up 3-4 times a season. I just can't justify it now and I've not even been to BMD yet as I'm just put off by the eye watering cost of a weekend in Liverpool to watch football. The cost involved it not massively different to flying to Malaga or Porto (done both in 2026) and spending the weekend there instead with my wife, where I can still watch football for the fraction of the cost and also get some sun and a sceney change.

I just find the situation very sad, but lower league football and going to watch random teams in Europe fills that void.

[NickNack]

I was fuming at the thought of the super league at first. After everything thats happened I don’t see how the PL can continue - the whole thing is meaningless going back to when City started cheating.

I’m coming round to thinking the sooner the ‘big 6’ whoever they are fuck off the better