Amateur Hour

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With the Covid-19 pandemic restricting fan access to top-level football, the author challenges himself to go to a game in every round of the 2020/21 FA Vase, from the qualifying rounds to the final under the famous arch.

From Johnnie Lowery, author of the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards 2024-shortlisted Match Fit: An Exploration of Mental Health in Football.

Despite its charms, the FA Vase generally remains a footnote in the football calendar, escaping the attentions of the average match-going fan. But the 2020/21 season was like no other. With the country in and out of various lockdown restrictions, ‘elite’ sport was largely played behind closed doors. If you wanted to get your football fix, you had to attend local non-league games.

Set in a unique football season fraught with uncertainty, this fascinating book includes:

A first-person account of Lowery’s attempt to attend a game in every round of the 2020/21 FA Vase
Visits to an array of non-league clubs – from Whitley Bay to Warrington Rylands – from where Lowery captures the matchday experience in light-hearted but vivid detail
Frank reflection on Lowery’s own mental state to provide a deeper insight into his lockdown experience
An interesting and emotional side-plot as Lowery’s beloved Sutton United look like they could make history

Filled with funny and sometimes poignant reflections on life and the grass roots game, Amateur Hour captures both the strangeness of the lockdown period and the beauty of lower-league football.