Strength in Depth
The depth of football in this country, in which crowds of hundreds or even thousands can still turn out for games at the seventh or eighth levels down, is one of the very best things about the game here. It’s history, however, is extremely complicated, and in this ten-part series I attempt to tell it.
Podcast 240: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part Ten
So finally it's time for the final episode of Strength in Depth, our ten part series on the history of non-league football. For this final episode, we're taking you from 2004 to the present day, including Leigh Genesis, My Football Club, Steve Evans and much more. For...
Podcast 231: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 9
We reach the penultimate episode of Strength in Depth this morning, and this is the story of the shonky ownership that so many non-league football clubs have endured as speculators - and occasionally criminals - have circled with no intentions of doing anything but...
Podcast 228: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 8
With the Football League facing an unprecedented crisis during the mid-1980s, the decision to allow automatic promotion and relegation changed the face of non-league football forever. In this week's edition of Strength in Depth, our history of non-league football, we...
Podcast 227: Strength in Depth A History of Non-League Football, Part 7
Since the very beginning of the game of football, promotion and relegation have been a big part of how we perceive the status of our football clubs. This, on the whole, has usually been dealt with meritocratically, but at one critical juncture the most important...
Podcast 226: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 6
After a two week diversion into the FA Cup and the FA Amateur Cup, this week's episode of Strength In Depth takes us back to 1946. There was an attendance boom waiting for football following the end of the Second World War, but the amateur game took up most of the...
Podcast 225: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 5
This morning we reach the halfway point of Strength in Depth, our history of non-league football. The FA Cup is, of course, the oldest football tournament in the world, but whilst no non-league club has won the competition in almost 120 years, it retains a very close...
Podcast 224: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 4
A little later than usual, it's time for this week's edition of this week's episode of Strength in Depth, our weekly podcast history of non-league football. Last week's podcast took us up to the start of the second world war, but this week we're going right the way...
Podcast 223: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 3
It's Saturday morning, so it's time for the third episode of our latest podcast series, Strength In Depth: A History of Non-League Football. This week, it's the story of the non-league game between the two world wars, a period during which the Football League swelled...
Podcast 222: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 2
The formation of the Football League in 1888 proved to be an immediate success, and this success meant that there would be competition throughout its early years. This week on Strength In Depth, we look at the first quarter century of the non-league game. The Southern...
Podcast 221: Strength in Depth – A History of Non-League Football, Part 1
It's the start of a new season, so it's time for the start of a new podcast series. And this one is, in many respects, the most ambitious project that I've yet taken on. Welcome to Strength In Depth - A History of Non-League Football. This is the third series of...