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The FSA has once again teamed up with the Non-League Paper to sponsor its Non-League Away Day of the Year Award, and nominations are open now.

The FSA has long supported the work behind Non-League Day, and this year the BBC joined in and helped shine the spotlight on one of our community-owned clubs, Scarborough Athletic, by bringing Football Focus to the Flamingo Land Stadium on Saturday.  

Fans at non-league are already feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis, with more than half (57.7%) saying it had already impacted on how much money they had available to spend on football, according to the results of a joint survey between the FSA and the Non-League Paper.

Last week we launched a survey with the Non-League Paper looking at what impact fans expected the cost of living crisis this winter to have on their attendance. If you are a fan of a non-league club, you can fill in that survey here. 

The cost of living crisis and its impact upon fans at non-league level is at the heart of a new joint survey between the FSA and the Non-League Paper, which launched this weekend.

You may have seen the controversy unfolding at Staines Town this year, where the end looks to have come for the 130 year old club who failed to register for next season’s competitions and shuttered their online presence.

York City supporters are the latest to gain a significant stake in their club after buying out the previous majority owner of the National League side.

Blyth Spartans have been named as the 2021-22 overall winners of the Best Away Day in non-league at the National Game Awards in association with Buildbase. It is the third time we’ve partnered with the Non-League Paper to recognise the clubs who are the best at welcoming fans from Steps 1 to 4 of the National League, and the first since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FSA has once again teamed up with the Non-League Paper to sponsor its Non-League Away Day of the Year Award, and nominations are open now.

Non-League Day, the biggest volunteer-led event in the non-league system, is returning for the first time since 2019 this weekend.

An overwhelming majority of fans of non-league clubs are in favour of reforming the voting structure of the National League, according to the results of a Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) survey.

In a worrying development in non-league, two clubs – Abingdon Town of the Hellenic League at Step 6, and Whyteleafe of the Isthmian League at Step 4 – have given up their league status for the 2021-22 season in disputes over stadium rent.

Two non-league clubs have taken the remarkable step of calling for a National League extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and a vote of no confidence in the chairman and the board.

The FA confirmed on Friday that the season for clubs at Step 2 of non-league (National League North and South) has been declared null and void, while the National League season at Step 1 will be played to a conclusion, with no promotion and relegation between the two tiers. 

Clubs at Steps 3 to 6 of non-league have received some clarity on their future, following the FA’s decision to curtail the 2020-21 season with immediate effect, but uncertainty remains at National League North and South level, where a group of clubs have launched a legal challenge to the league’s decision to declare the season null and void.

In a letter to the FSA, Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston has confirmed that ‘at no stage’ did the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) offer ongoing to support to the National League only in the form of grants. 

Uncertainty remains over the future of the 2020-21 season at non-league level, as clubs have been responding to consultations via the FA and the National League.

Earlier this week the government announced that clubs at Steps 3 to 6 of non-league would benefit from up to £10 million in grant funding to support them through the shutdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this month Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council agreed to list Basingstoke Town FC’s former home, the Camrose Stadium, as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), becoming the latest in a long list of football grounds that have received this protection.

The Government is facing growing calls from National League clubs to provide ongoing pandemic support in the form of grants, rather than the loans that have been promised under the Government’s Sports Winter Survival Package. Rather than become further indebted to play matches behind closed doors, there’s a growing fear that clubs could refuse to complete the season at the top levels of non-league as a result.