Stuart Pearce celebrates Non-League Day at Marlow F.C.

FORMER England captain Stuart Pearce hailed the invaluable work of volunteers after paying a special visit to eighth-tier Marlow FC to celebrate Non-League Day this weekend.

The Three Lions legend was in Naples for England’s impressive 2-1 victory over Italy on Thursday but swapped the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for the Alfred Davis Memorial Ground as he returned to his Pitching In Isthmian League roots. Pearce came through at non-League Wealdstone before sealing a move to Coventry City and revelled in being back at the level where it all started for him over 40 years ago.

The 60-year-old, who watched Mark Bartley’s high-flying side secure a comfortable 2-0 win over Tooting & Mitcham, said: “These clubs don’t run without volunteers, there is not a budget to pay people.

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It’s the same clutch of local people, they love football and want to give something back, it’s fantastic.

It’s the enjoyment of being involved in a football team, at whatever level. There are the 22 players fortunate enough to play, but it’s the rest of us watching or volunteering.

There will be a lot of players that will have been youngsters at bigger clubs that haven’t made the level and need to play.

I was fortunate that when I left school and had nowhere to play, my local caretaker took me to Wealdstone; young players need somewhere to play and bounce back.

People will be surprised by the quality on show and there is a real family feel at non-league games.
If you have only experienced the top end of the game, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by the enjoyment, the camaraderie, two sets of fans enjoying each other’s company.”

A bumper crowd of 330 flocked to Buckinghamshire to get their football fix while the Premier League and Championship were on pause for the international break, with many fans stopping to get their picture with Pearce.

Pearce made the trip to Marlow as part of his ambassadorial role with Pitching In, title sponsors of the Trident Leagues, and spoke to chairman Ian Benfell about the importance of Non-League Day and volunteers.

“We typically have around 20 people; covering the gate, putting up corner flags, goal nets, catering after the game – all the regular duties that make sure the game is on,” he explained. “They are all volunteers; we have some paid staff for pitch maintenance, but it is all largely run by volunteers.

“It really is a passion. We have people come to the club during the week because there are simply things like taking the bins out that need to be done.”

Pearce watched on from Marlow’s iconic main stand as the hosts earned a hard-fought 2-0 victory against the struggling visitors, before awarding the Man of the Match award to lively winger Khalid Simmo. It kept the Blues third in the Pitching In Isthmian League South Central ahead of the final run-in, and boss Bartley hopes many of the new punters will come back for more.

“It was good to have a good crowd, lots of kids from the youth section which is great to have them involved,” said Bartley. “A bit of extra support, especially when you are tired and we are at the end of a long period of midweek games, for them today they needed a lift and the bigger crowd can do that. They were great for us today."

“You hope they come down, enjoy that they can get closer to the players and return when their first teams are playing away. You always want to win when you get a big crowd; victory, clean sheet, as a manager that’s about as good as it gets.”

By James Reid, Sportsbeat

Ladbrokes, with the support of its owner Entain, has launched a multi-million-pound investment programme, Pitching In, designed to support and promote grassroots sports. For more details head here.