By Tom Sargent
A football match in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier league, which forms levels 7 and 8 of the English football league system, saw a remarkable 2,127 people attend on a Tuesday night.
The Northern Premier, along with the Southern league and Isthmian league, all form levels 7 and 8.
The derby match between Stourbridge FC and Halesowen Town has regularly attracted large crowds over the years due to the rivalry between the two towns and the fact only 5.8 miles separate the sides.
Crowds of this size are rarely seen at this level of football – the team with the highest average across the three levels this season is Dulwich Hamlet FC with 1,208.
The game broke the record for the highest crowd of the season in the Evo-Stik Premier league and was the first over 2000.
Evo-Stik Premier Congratulations on a new highest crowd of the season and the first over 2000 as 2127 saw Halesowen Town v Stourbridge
— Non League Crowds (@NonLeagueCrowd) March 8, 2017
7 March Crowds Evo-Stik Premier
2127 Halesowen Town v Stourbridge
587 Blyth Spartans v Frickley A
440 Stafford Rangers v Sutton Coldfield T— Non League Crowds (@NonLeagueCrowd) March 8, 2017
The fixture is seen as the biggest money-spinner for both clubs, with Stourbridge’s average attendance at 828, whilst Halesowen’s is 414.
Stourbridge fan Paul Higginson thinks these type of crowds are signalling a rise in non-league football: “Its massively on the rise, I went to a Stourbridge v Halesowen match at home in 2008 and the crowd was 750 and we thought that was a good crowd!”
He also commented on why non-league football is on the rise. “It’s through a combination of welcoming everybody and through disillusioned fans from pro football where the experience has left them cold. It is the total opposite at Stourbridge where everyone is approachable from the chairman down.”
Albeit the disappointing result everyone at @halesowentownfc & @StourbridgeFC wanna be proud of the advert created for non league last nite.
— Mankini Dave (of The Yeltz Army) (@Spag68) March 8, 2017