Every Saturday, while hundreds of staff prepare large, professional football stadiums for tens of thousands of fans to walk through its turnstiles, several levels down will see just a small army of volunteers do the same thing, granted at a much smaller scale.
Across England’s non-league landscape, these men and women form the invisible infrastructure that keeps football alive far from the big-money leagues. Each role plays a role that money can’t buy for these clubs, whether that is the cameraman recording the games for the club’s YouTube account, the handyman painting the shed because the old paint is falling off, or the bar staff who keep the happy fans’ bellies full of beer.
This is the story of those people, the ones who give their time, energy and often a piece of themselves to clubs that mean everything to their communities, whilst asking for very little in return.
A few miles outside Birmingham, Halesowen Town FC sits at the heart of its community, a club shaped as much by the people behind the scenes as those who take to the pitch. Founded in 1873, its history is long, but it survives and prospers because of the willingness of ordinary people who give up their time.
On matchdays at The Grove, that commitment reveals itself in small, familiar rituals. The turnstiles click open, the bar hums into life, the groundsman works tirelessly to make sure the players can play on the best pitch that the level allows. All of this is the result of years of dedication from volunteers, many of whom have more roles than one within the club.
Rob Lloyd is someone who has committed years of his life to Halesowen. Rob was a volunteer for many years, taking on responsibilities that often stretched far beyond what anyone would expect of a volunteer. Like many at this level, his role was never confined to a single job title. Instead, it evolved with the club’s needs.
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“I used to do all sorts of stuff.” Rob said. One of his biggest contributions came through running the ‘Friends of the Grove’, a monthly draw that became both a fundraising tool and a way of bringing supporters closer to the club. “People would pay £10 per month, and with that, half the money went towards the upkeep of the club, and the rest got paid back out in prize money.”
What started as a simple initiative soon evolved into something more ambitious. “It grew quite a bit really, and we realised that between some of the supporters who were paying this £10 per month, there was actually a good number of people who were quite skilled.
“Rather than pay tradesmen to come in and do stuff at the club, we worked out that if we could get enough people together, we could start to do work around the ground ourselves.”
Those efforts became known as the club’s “working parties”, groups of volunteers who would give up their time, particularly during the summer, to maintain and improve the ground. “The first 12 months or so was mostly painting things, minor repairs, that sort of thing” Rob said. “It was paid for with the money we generated through Friends of the Grove.
“If you have a look at the ground now, when you look at, for example, the blue pitch perimeter fencing and the blue fencing around the outside of the ground, that was all paid for through the Friends of the Grove, after years of hard saving.
The work doesn’t stop when the season begins, however. Matchdays bring a different kind of demand, the type that relies just as heavily on volunteers willing to step in wherever needed. Rob said: “Volunteers on a matchday were very much needed to make everything happen.
“As a volunteer, you have to be ready to do anything really.
“On a matchday, I did things like sell programmes, I used to sell 50/50 tickets, turnstile operating, I’ve worked behind the bar” Rob recalls. “Some of us volunteers used to have to go and get the food and drink that as needed for the match. I’ve also helped with the pitch and cutting the grass, lots and lots of painting as well.
“Everything you see at the Grove that is blue, I’ve probably had a paint brush near it at some point.”
That sense of commitment has not only sustained Halesowen Town across generations, it has, in some cases, been passed down.
Rob’s son, Nathaniel Lloyd, is part of a newer wave of the hidden workforce at The Grove, taking on the role of the club’s videographer. Where his father’s contributions were often physical – painting, repairing, maintaining – Nathaniel’s work captures the clubs in a different way, documenting its moments as they unfold.
In an era where non-league clubs are increasingly visible online, his role has become an important part of how Halesowen continues to grow. The role of videographer may have become one of the most important roles within a non-league club in today’s society.
“I first went to a Halesowen match over 10 years ago,” he said. “One match about three or four years ago, I was stood next to the old videographer and jokingly asked to video.
“As it was a friendly, he let me.”
What began as a one-off moment quicky turned into something more regular. “Whenever he needed covering for matches he couldn’t make, I was asked to do it.
“This led to me doing the role permanently once he left.”
His matchdays follow a similar routine each time. “Normally I try to get there 40 minutes before kick-off and collect the camera from the radio and media guys,” he said. “Then I’ll walk up to the TV tower, set up the tripod and camera, and wait for the game to kick off.”
With the rapid growth of online platforms and social media, organisations – including non-league clubs – have had to adapt to an increasingly digital landscape. These platforms now offer valuable opportunities for clubs to expand their reach and engage with supporters. Social media, in particular, enables fans to stay connected with their local teams, providing access to match updates, highlights and live coverage, something that would have been far less accessible 20 years ago without physically attending games. “I think media and video content has changed the way non-league clubs connect with their supporters,” Nathaniel said.
“Supporters are able to rewatch goals and highlights on YouTube and discuss key moments from the game.
“The players and management team are also able to rewatch the match to look for extra details they may have missed during the game.”
His connection to the club came largely through his father’s time volunteering, which highlights how involvement at non-league is often passed on, due to the community aspect of clubs like Halesowen. “Seeing my dad be a volunteer has always been kind of normal to me, as I don’t really remember him not doing it,” he said.
“This is something I ended up doing to just help him as well, previously I helped sell programmes and pin badges before kick-off.
“I think my footage can help the club grow off the pitch.
“Recently, Jason Cowley’s goal was shown on the news, which can put extra eyes on the football club who normally wouldn’t have seen the goal online or had been at the match.”
Across non-league football, stories like this are anything but rare. Thousands of volunteers dedicate their time – and often even their own money – to support clubs that sit at the heart of their communities.
At places like Halesowen, many give their all with little expectation of reward. A free ticket, a pint after the match, or simply seeing the club thrive is often enough. What drives them is the genuine connection to the people and the place that they have. These are neighbours, friends and familiar faces they see each week.
That sense of belonging and shared purpose is what makes non-league football so special, something the professional game, for all its glamour, can never truly replicate.
Tom Cartwright is part of Radio Halesowen, the club’s radio broadcast, working as the club’s main commentator, a role that, like so many others, sits quietly in the background while playing a key part in how supporters follow the team. Listeners who cannot make games rely on his coverage to stay connected to the club.
His route into the role is a similar story to many who find themselves involved with non-league football, he simply turned up. “I started going to matches just after lockdown and then became a fan who went home and away,” he said. “They were looking for someone to help out and do co-commentary, so I applied and they had me.
“I then did a few main commentaries throughout last season, and then at the start of this season the person who was doing most of the main comms left, so I now do all the matches as main commentator.”
Matchdays, like so many volunteer roles, begin well before kick-off. “Usually I’m there pretty early.
“Another job I’ve took up is working the scoreboard, so I get there and set that up and help with the radio equipment.”
His work continues long after the final whistle, conducting interviews and uploading them for supporters to watch back. “After the commentary I interview the manager Russ Penn and upload it to Facebook and Twitter,” he said.
Being a radio commentator is no easy task. Unlike their television counterparts, commentators must paint a picture for listeners who cannot see the game, describing every moment in detail. Keeping that commentary engaging is a constant challenge, requiring a rich variety of language and expression to avoid repetition and maintain the listener’s attention throughout.
Tom said: “Between us we try and incorporate a lot of banter so it feels like they’re just sitting with mates at a pub.
“The key thing is making sure they know who’s got the ball, where it is and what they’re doing.
“It can be tough, especially in the later parts of the game when there is so much happening and trying to keep up with it all.
“But I think I’ve gotten better at it with experience, and the notes I make beforehand help add something in dead moments.”
Like any volunteer role, it comes with its challenges. “Viewing positions can be a problem, especially at smaller grounds,” he said. “And supporters around you trying to talk to you during the match.”
Yet those moments are heavily outweighed by the reasons he keeps coming back.
He said: “The people there (are the reasons I keep coming back). And hearing people tell us how much they enjoyed listening if they can’t make a match.”
For Tom, as with so many others across non-league, the role is about more than just commentary. Clubs like Halesowen rely on people stepping up to help out for the wider growth of the club. Asked what he would say to others considering getting involved, he said: “Do it. Non-league clubs are always looking for people to help out.
“Most people are volunteers, and you have a great chance to get involved at any level.”
Taken individually, these roles might seem small. But the essence of volunteering lies in collective effort, everyone playing their part to make clubs like Halesowen Town not just better footballing institutions, but better places to be.
Halesowen Town FC is a community. It is built, maintained and shared by people who give their time without expectation of recognition, driven by a connection that goes beyond just the football. Whether it is Rob’s years of hands-on hard work around the ground, Nathaniel capturing moments that travel far beyond it, or Tom bringing the match to life for those who cannot be there, each contribution becomes part of the same collective effort.
It’s easy, particularly for outsiders, to focus solely on the 90 minutes between kick-off and full-time, but non-league football lives just as much in quiet, consistent work that hold everything together.
Without this ‘hidden workforce’, there would be no game at all.