The bottom corner : a season with the dreamers of non-league football

Everyone loves an FA Cup giant-killing: a smug Premier League team being knocked out by the plucky underdogs.In these days of oligarch owners, superstar managers and players on sky-high wages, the tide is turning against the big teams as fans search for football with a soul.Enter non-league football – the heartland of the beautiful game. Nige Tassell spends a season following top dogs Tranmere Rovers as they attempt to get back into the Football League, and inhabitants of the ‘bottom corner’ Bishop Sutton, who are just trying to get eleven men on a pitch. He tells the stories of this corner of society – the internationals playing eighth-tier football, the agony and the ecstasy of a Cup run, and the volunteers who keep the sport going.Filled with interviews with the players, the managers, the owners, the volunteers taking tickets and running the hot-dog stand, and the fans who turn up every Saturday, The Bottom Corner is a fascinating insight into the win-or-die drama of non-league football. Everyone loves an FA Cup a smug Premier League team being knocked out by plucky underdogs. In these days of oligarch owners, superstar managers and players on sky-high wages, the tide is turning against the big teams as fans search for football with a soul. Enter non-league football the heartland of the beautiful game. Nige Tassell spends a season among the characters who inhabit this world. The raffle-ticket seller who wants her ashes scattered in the centre-circle. The envelope salesman who discovered a future England international. The ex-pros still playing with undiluted passion on Sunday mornings. One thing unites they are all dreamers. Tassell ventures all over the footballing map, from the giantkillers of Salford City to hungover cloggers on Hackney Marshes, interviewing obsessive groundhoppers, record-smashing goalscorers, dictatorial managers, ukulele-strumming fans and the captain of the Filipino national team. He makes extended stopovers at both new boys Tranmere Rovers looking for a speedy return to the Football League and the inhabitants of the bottom corner Bishop Sutton, who are just trying to get eleven men on a pitch. Hope and ambition. Triumph and tragedy. Faith and despair. All human life is here in the win-or-sink drama of non-league football. In these days of oligarch owners, superstar managers and players on sky-high wages, the tide is turning towards the lower reaches of the pyramid as fans search for football with a soul. Plucky underdogs or perennial underachievers, your local non-league team offers hope, drama or at least a Saturday afternoon ritual that's been going for decades. Nige Tassell spends a season in the non-league world. He meets the raffle-ticket seller who wants her ashes scattered in the centre-circle. The envelope salesman who discovered a future England international. The ex-pros still playing with undiluted passion on Sunday mornings. He spends time at clubs looking for promotion to the Football League, clubs just aiming to get eleven players on a pitch every week, and everything in between. One thing unites them: they all inhabit the heartland of the beautiful game. ' The Bottom Corner is a wonderful journey through life in the lower reaches of the football pyramid. A fascinating tale of a very different world of football from that of the overpaid stars of the television age' Barry Davies Everyone loves an FA Cup giant-killing: a smug Premier League team being knocked out by the plucky underdogs. In these days of oligarch owners, superstar managers and players on sky-high wages, the tide is turning against the big teams as fans search for football with a soul. Enter non-league football--the heartland of the beautiful game. Nige Tassell spends a season following top dogs Tranmere Rovers as they attempt to get back into the Football League, and inhabitants of the 'bottom corner' Bishop Sutton, who are just trying to get eleven men on a pitch. He tells the stories of this corner of society--the internationals playing eighth-tier football, the agony and the ecstasy of a Cup run, and the volunteers who keep the sport going. Filled with interviews with the players, the managers, the owners, the volunteers taking tickets and running the hot-dog stand, and the fans who turn up every Saturday, The Bottom Corner is a fascinating insight into the win-or-die drama of non-league football Everyone loves an FA Cup upset: a smug Premier League team being knocked out by plucky underdogs. In these days of oligarch owners, superstar managers and players on sky-high wages, the tide is turning against the big teams as fans search for football with a soul. Enter non-league football – the heartland of the beautiful game. Nige Tassell spends a season among the characters who inhabit this world. The raffle-ticket seller who wants her ashes scattered in the centre-circle. The envelope salesman who discovered a future England international. The ex-pros still playing with undiluted passion on Sunday mornings. One thing unites them: they are all dreamers. Tassell ventures all over the footballing map, from the giantkillers of Salford City to hungover cloggers on Hackney Marshes, interviewing obsessive groundhoppers, record-smashing goalscorers, dictatorial managers, ukulele-strumming fans and the captain of the Filipino national team. He makes extended... A fascinating tale of a very different world of football from that of the overpaid stars of the television age' Barry DaviesIn these days of oligarch owners, superstar managers and players on sky-high wages, the tide is turning towards the lower reaches of the pyramid as fans search for football with a soul.