Merse: ‘Quality’ non-league is all action

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Premier League icon Paul Merson showed his support for non-league football ahead of the weekend’s Non-League Day.

This year marks the 15th edition of Non-League Day, an initiative that promotes lower-level football during the men’s international break and is promoted annually by the Premier League.

On a visit to Isthmian League side Hanworth Villa, where both he and his son Sam played, Merson said: “Non-league is all action. You see people playing because they love the game and that’s a big part of this. It’s 100 miles an hour too.”

Merson played in non-league for Tamworth and Hanworth Villa, as well as Welsh outfits Welshpool Town and Caerau.

His son Sam, 30, has carried on the family tradition, representing St Albans City, Redditch and Biggleswade Town before moving to Hanworth in 2020.

The father-son pair joined up in West London to see the impact of Premier League investment through the Premier League Stadium Fund. Hanworth Villa are one of over 1,000 clubs to have benefitted since 2000, receiving eight separate grants totalling £100,000 – including to refurbish their energy-efficient LED floodlights.

“I drive past here all the time to take my [youngest] son training and when I look in, it’s always busy,” Merson said. “Even when I take my boy training at 9am on a Saturday morning, there are kids playing football here.

“I have the utmost respect for non-league players. I say that because tonight they’ve come to train, and will do so Tuesday and Thursday and then play Saturday. That’s a love of the game and respect at the highest level.”