Football Food For Thought / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 05 February 2008 / 1

Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco tells us why you're unlikely to find him tuning into Setanta's Non-League offering on a Thursday night

A few years ago I was at my local supermarket with an ex-girlfriend shopping for ingredients for dinner that night. The girl in question asked me to go and pick up some salt for her whilst she went and chose some meat from the butcher's counter. I returned with a packet of basic table salt and on handing it to her received a glare of disapproval normally reserved for convicted criminals or estate agents. "Run-of-the mill table salt", she explained "is the lowest of the low in the salt food chain and will only enter my kitchen over my dead body. The only salt I use is coarse sea salt which is the aristocracy of salt and offers a healthier, more flavoursome and flexible alternative to its unpleasant and one-dimensional aforementioned cousin".

Of all the things to be, I was going out with a salt snob. I'm not hugely fussed when it comes to my choice of salt, but the same cannot be said of football. Yes, I'm probably a football snob and the reason I say that is that like my former girlfriend, I'm a big believer in quality. Which explains why you'll seldom find me tuning into Setanta's live televised match from the Blue Square Premier on a Thursday night. It's not rocket science: the quality of football on offer is vastly inferior to what you'd find on your TV screen when watching football from higher leagues, be it the Premiership, Championship or even French Division Two football. Non-League fans argue that despite this, the NL stuff is "real football" or "what football is all about". That may well be the case but in this day and age of endless choice, I choose watching the guys who can do stuff that I could only dream about doing myself, not those who are only slightly better than some of the guys who played for my University's First Eleven.

They say cream rises to the top and players at Non-League level who are able to show superior levels of skill and ability and possess the physical attributes (plus mental strength) to go with it will be given their chance higher up the football chain. Just look at DJ Campbell, who went from lowly Yeading to the dizzy heights of Premiership Birmingham in just two years. Ok, he didn't quite make it when he was there but he was good enough to at least experience the big time. But he is in many ways an exception and most players at Non-League level are just good, solid professionals who give their all every time they step on the pitch - they're just not hugely entertaining to watch.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Non-League football and I'm delighted that Setanta Sports have come along, found a gap in the market and given Non-League fans up and down the country their weekly fix. All I'm saying is that I don't necessarily buy some of the arguments that exponents of Non-League football come up with, one of which is that fans at this level are more passionate. I have as little time for the "never been to Old Trafford Johnny-come-lately Man Utd" fans as the next person but I don't think you necessarily have to have been born a stone's throw from the ground to be a true fan. Being a passionate fan is about being emotionally involved with the club you support and feeling like you're a part of something. Watching that team every week doesn't necessarily make you passionate about them. I'm an Everton fan who happens to live on the same road as Fulham's Craven Cottage and have a season ticket there purely out of convenience. I want Fulham to do well (partly because I want the option of watching Premiership football again next season should I choose to renew my ticket) but I wouldn't say I'm passionate about them. And I suspect this sort of attitude applies to Non-League fans more than they would care to admit.

Lastly, I don't necessarily agree with those who argue that the footballers at this level are hungrier or try harder than the millionaire superstars who have already made it. For every Winston Bogarde there is a Jimmy Bullard or Roy Keane who gives 100% every match and probably would do anyway if they were paid just a tenner for playing ninety minutes. You only remain at the top of the game by being at the top of your own game. Listen to Sir Alex Ferguson talk about how Ronaldo practices his free-kicks for hours after training to the point where it's anything but a fluke when they consistently end up in the top corner. Or to use another sport as an example, how Jonny Wilkinson is out practicing his kicking on a muddy park on Christmas Day. Non-League players aren't any hungrier than those playing at a higher level, they just get paid less!

And as Forrest Gump would say "And that's all I have to say about that..." I'm off to the shop now to buy a few ingredients for a curry I'm cooking tonight, including stocking up on some pepper. Not any old pepper, mind you.

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1. Dave Ward | 05 February 2008

   The 'Pacman'just seems to be critisising Non-League without any convincing arguments or sound reason for doing so. DJ Campbell is far from being 'the exception'and every season several players step on to the ladder of league football with Ian Wright probably being the most notable name. Some of us stick to non-league because that's where our roots are, others, like FC United fans, are finding out for the first time, that there's still a camaraderie on smaller terraces that is disappearing or gone from each of the major grounds. Then there's the cost. Pacman might be able to fund his superflous Fulham season ticket from the rewards of his opulent income but some of us are struggling to be able to watch a Premier League game as we attempt to survive on the 'wrong' side of the north/south divide ie outside of the M25. Yet more of us are a little disillusioned with the overriding commercial ambitions of clubs who take their fans for granted while taking them for a ride at the same time. The advantages of non-league are undeniable: cheaper entertainment, watching young talent blossom, knowing our money is having an impact, mixing with like minded people. But then there are the down sides: not being able to listen to some politically correct idiot raving on about where we can and can't buy the right salt & pepper, and lastly,not being able to stand next to somebody who would rather be somewhere more glamorous and doesn't mind telling everyone.

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