Non-League Day co-founder Mike Bayly has just moved back to Sheffield from London. In an ever-changing world and having made a life-changing decision, he finds a little solace in the start of a new football season, and with Sheffield United under-21s. In February this year, the ‘London Is Changing’ project, led by Rebecca Ross of Central St Martins Art School, set out to capture the stories of people moving to, within, or away from London, and display them on billboards throughout the city. The results were illuminating. Although London’s history, diversity and tolerance were rightly praised, the overwhelming narrative was one of financial and social ostracism. “Initially, I was excited about moving to London, but it feels like this will be temporary,” observed one contributor, with another adding, “London is great if you’re young or rich. I’m neither.” The project articulated my increasingly despondent views on life in our capital city. I moved to London from South Yorkshire in 2005 seeking better employment prospects. Like many economic migrants, my decision to relocate was part necessity, part curiosity. Initially, I embraced the opportunity to live in one of the most exciting cities on Earth. But the older I got, the more opaque these attractions became. Life became a damp-shirted commute on the underground, weaving through a mass of disparate communities, in order to service a barely affordable rent. There is an endless supply of transients looking to escape this expensive diaspora. For them, London is more a giant departure lounge than a home. Time enervated...
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