BullJet Blogs

For the past three years, Christmas on Canvey Island has been the time of year when something special happens, the two non league football clubs meet for the first of their two derby games during the season. Ever since Concord Rangers were promoted to the Ryman League Premier these games have led to countless discussions & banter between the two clubs & their fans. Rarely do the matches disappoint either. Prior to this Boxing Day four matches had taken place between the two sides, with the Beachboys coming out on top 3 times to Canveys 1. However the higher final league position has fallen to the Gulls in both previous years. Given that the last game was the Canvey win at Thames Road, & the fact that Concord were coming off a 6-3 demolition the week before, Canvey should have had some confidence, their fans certainly did when I spoke to some before the game.
The match was on at 3pm Boxing Day, mainly thanks to the hard work of the staff, players & committee who spent …

Football as a sport has been around for generations, the majority of fans follow teams in the professional leagues, but the "non-league" set up below has been slowly developing teams & players for all that time. For the past 3 years my interest and involvement in non-league has grown immeasurably and with that I've been able to see first hand how the sport at this level has grown in popularity across the country. I also appreciate the set-up of non-league, it's differences to the pro game and the effort, drive & passion that goes into it at this level. When i first saw non-league games as a young child, it was just football, it was all the same to me, but I realise & appreciate that it's not.That's no bad thing, don't get me wrong! But the way I see it in my head is almost as a different sport to the top flights, and i follow Concord Rangers with as much emotion & passion as i do West Ham.
Basically non-league football is the game in leag…