Non-League Day founder James Doe believes the backing of Spanish giants Athletic Bilbao – and La Liga – has added even more impetus to this year’s event.
The top-flight club, who famously only sign players born in the Basque community or who came through a Basque club, have some British roots.
The Lions’ first red-and-white kits, which made their debut in a 1910 friendly against Sporting Irun, originated from England – although it hasn’t yet been possible to establish for certain whether they came from Sunderland or Southampton.
Impressed by Non-League Day, which kicked off in 2010 and celebrates semi-pro and grassroots football in the UK, Athletic Club have launched a version of their own and will run a third edition of Basque Non-League Day on March 22-23, coinciding with the latest one here.
Fundamental
Besides playing a crucial role in local communities, grassroots football is a fundamental part of Athletic Bilbao’s youth development strategy.
Athletic has affiliate agreements with close to 170 clubs across the Basque Country.
In an extra tie-in with our own Non-League Day celebrations, Athletic Club have teamed up with six English Non-League clubs that play in red-and-white stripes.
The half dozen – Altrincham, Bromsgrove Sporting, Evesham United, Sheppey United, Steyning Town and Witton Albion – have all received one Athletic men’s jersey and one Athletic women’s jersey to raffle off at their respective Non-League Day fixtures.
Impact
“I got approached by one of their directors on LinkedIn a few years ago,” Doe told The NLP.
“They’d heard about Non-League Day and loved the concept.
“We went over, had a chat and gave a presentation.
“We went to their training ground and they treated us like new signings!
“They came over and went to a game at Dulwich Hamlet for Non-League Day and have since done their own.
“This time, the tweet they put out about the shirts for English clubs has had huge engagement – and La Liga reposted it.
“It’s made quite an impact.”
Beneficial
With Non-League Day now just under two weeks away, the Bilbao headlines have been perfect publicity, and Doe is confident that it will prove to be another beneficial day to show off our level of the game.
“There are a lot of exciting things happening, and the Athletic stuff helped get things moving even more,” he said.
“We’re doing things with the Premier League, and a lot will be based around the Essex Senior League groundhop.
“We’re hearing about promotions from a lot of clubs.
“The most eye-catching one I’ve seen so far is Ascot United, who are having a St Patrick’s Day theme with cheap Guinness and fancy dress at their game against Farnham Town – it could be carnage!”
But however the day pans out, Doe – a Harrow Borough and QPR fan – will no doubt be left reflecting on how Non-League Day continues to surprise 15 years after its launch.
“At times, you can think that maybe you’ve taken it as far as you can, but something comes up every year to make you think that this is still well worth doing,” he added.
