The Loneliness of a Non League Football Wife


(Hobson’s Choice - a free choice that is actually no choice at all).

“Are you going out to football again?”

The atmosphere changed. Like the morning weather, it suddenly became very frosty.

I decided to reply with confidence, “Yes we are”.

“So, I’m going to be left alone again?”

I smile sympathetically, with a shrug of my shoulders, it went down like a tofu salad.


I know what you’re thinking, invite her along. Great, however, we’ve tried that. It’s too cold, too wet, too boring, I don’t get it, and finally, how long is left?

From my (selfish?) perspective, I want to enjoy the game, not worry about entertaining someone who doesn’t want to be there. Around 75% of football fans are male, that’s just the way it is. Sometimes the stereotypes are true (unless you believe the BBC). If that makes me sound insensitive, then maybe I am.

For any females reading this, you might think, “I’d love to have Saturday afternoons to myself “. “I can do this that and the other”. Unfortunately, not everyone wants that.


Football is something I have been involved in for forty years, like most fans, it’s not something I’ve used as an excuse to escape. It’s a major part of my everyday life, even more so now I write about football.


So off we go, my son or my daughter or sometimes altogether, mostly close by but sometimes hours away. Sometimes we even stay away for the night in an AirBnB. Not every game is a classic but more often than not, they’re entertaining, and the odd few leave you buzzing.


We love it, we laugh, we moan and we talk, we bond and make memories that we’ll hopefully remember forever. We have piles of scrapbooks with pictures and tickets, programmes and footy shirts.


The return home is always greeted with smiles and “did you have fun?”. That’s when there’s a little pinch of guilt, but I shouldn’t feel guilty, should I?


Going to non league is not expensive, especially when you compare it to the giants of the game who are already overloaded with Arabian black gold.

So What is the answer?

Maybe my wife can find her own hobbies, maybe she will get into football, who knows. Maybe she’ll run off with the milkman (very 70’s).

But…then there’s the games on TV. Sunday afternoon, weekday games and European matches. TalkSPORT, podcasts and YouTube shows. Now I have wrote this down it seems really unreasonable, but there seems to be gallons of milk in the fridge (every cloud).


The loneliness of a non league football wife is not an easy life, it’s a patient one, a tolerant one and a loving one. This should be recognised and appreciated, for they are OUR supporters.