It is no secret that non-league football is seeing more and more coverage thanks to its increasing popularity – and two friends now look forward to watching their local side on a regular basis.
Builders Rob Marriott and Raymond Buchanen are huge football fans but whilst they cannot get to every Forest game they have definitely caught the non-league bug.
Gedling play in the 10th tier of the football pyramid nine leagues below the Premier League and are run by volunteers with an average attendance of 92 at each home game.
This is a 30% increase from pre-covid levels.
“I took a walk up to my local side Gedling Miners Welfare and I was instantly hooked.”
Rob Marriott
Raymond said: “It was so easy to talk to people in the club and everyone knows each other which makes it a great club and I always love going to watch the team play.”
Rob said: “As a massive Forest fan I do enjoy going to games but I cannot make every single one and I found myself being quite bored on some Saturday’s but I took a walk up to my local side Gedling Miners Welfare and I was instantly hooked.”
Since their first visit two years ago they have seen Gedling progress to being a once relegation threatened team to becoming a play-off chasing side with the hope of gaining promotion.
Rob added: “It is incredible to see how much the team has progressed over the last three years we are delighted to see how well the club is doing on the pitch.”
“It is always something I look forward to and it is so cheap considering the ever rising costs of tickets for professional games which can not always be afforded anymore,” he added.
An adult ticket to see Gedling play costs just £6 and for Forest the average ticket price is close to £30.
Gedling are continuing to gain more fans and are seeing attendances grow – proving just how powerful non-league is to communities in local areas such as Gedling.
Raymond added: “We love having a chant and a laugh up at Plains Road no matter win or lose we will continue to support the team and hopefully one day they might play Forest.”
