<p><em>World Soccer Talk writer Euan Walsh takes us on a journey to experience what life is like supporting a lower-league club in the United Kingdom. Walsh is a supporter of Swindon Town in the south of England. Swindon was previously in the Premier League but now finds itself in the fourth tier (League Two).</em></p>



<p>England’s Football League has a new exclusive broadcast deal exclusively in the United States with CBS Sports and <a href="https://paramountplus.qflm.net/c/330866/1007330/3065" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener sponsored nofollow">Paramount+</a>. It’s an unprecedented opportunity for American soccer fans to watch 147 <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/efl-championship-preview-and-predictions/">Championship</a> games per season. There are 20 from each of the bottom two tiers, League One and League Two.</p>



<p>Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased Wrexham in November 2020. They captured the imagination of American audiences, who’ve since watched the Welsh club achieve back-to-back promotions and return to League One for the first time in 20 years.</p>



<p>But Wrexham’s story is more representative of Hollywood fantasy, something of a completely unprecedented anomaly within the lower reaches of English soccer, than the reality of supporting almost any of their League One or League Two counterparts.</p>



<h2>Range of crowd sizes across EFL</h2>



<p>Supporting a lower-league soccer club in England (and Wales, and indeed Scotland beyond the relentlessly well-oiled winning machines of <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/teams/celtic-tv-schedule/">Celtic</a> and pre-2012 Rangers) is, in my opinion, defined by four things: authenticity, hope, heartbreak, and routine.</p>



<p>Soccer in the English lower leagues is authentic. Many clubs have a cultural identity in alignment with their local working-class communities, who continue to support them irrespective of their demise, mediocrity, or success. Clubs like Grimsby, whose 9,052-capacity stadium, Blundell Park, has the picturesque backdrop of rows of terraced houses surrounding it from all sides, perfectly represent the local, authentic feel of the lower leagues.</p>



<p>Crowds in England’s lower leagues vary. Relative giants who’ve fallen from the Premier League, such as Birmingham City, Bolton Wanderers, and Charlton Athletic can draw crowds of over <a href="https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/league-one/besucherzahlen/wettbewerb/GB3/plus/?saison_id=2023" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">20,000</a>. Meanwhile, minnows such as Bromley, Harrogate, and Crawley Town, rarely see crowds surpassing 4,000 supporters.</p>



<h2>A new season of hope</h2>



<p>Despite the struggles from the season before, most English Football League fans return from the summer break with renewed optimism about the upcoming campaign. </p>



<p>However, supporting a lower-league soccer club is more about being hopeful of success than expecting it to happen. When a team connects and unexpectedly climbs up the league table, the stadium’s stands fill, and the atmosphere rises. The whole town or city it represents is taken on an emotional rollercoaster. They begin to dream of a once unthinkable promotion.</p>



<p>When a supporter’s local team is within a chance of promotion, they spend months contemplating the away stadiums they’d visit in the league above. It is a blissful experience before their dreams exit by the finest of margins at the end of the season. </p>



<h2>It’s the hope that kills you</h2>



<p>Only four teams get promoted out of League Two, and just three out of League One. Success is hard to come by, and many teams can go years, even decades, with little glory to dwell upon. </p>



<p>Lower-league teams performing beyond expectations often experience larger clubs poaching their star players. Success, therefore, is difficult to sustain. </p>



<p>But for many in England, watching the local soccer team is just part of a routine. It is independent of the entertainment, or lack thereof, on the field. </p>



<p>It’s an opportunity for supporters to spend time with friends and family they otherwise wouldn’t see. There, they enjoy the food and drink available in and around the stadium. That generally consists of a combination of beer, chips, and burgers. In partaking, supporters enter the arena of their town or city’s culture.</p>



<p><em>PHOTOS: IMAGO</em></p>

What it's like supporting a lower-league club in the UK

World Soccer Talk writer Euan Walsh takes us on a journey to experience what life is like supporting a lower-league club in the UK.

What it's like supporting a lower-league club in the UK - World Soccer Talk

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<p>Newcastle United is close to spending $13 million, plus up to $6 million in add-ons, on Sheffield United’s 21-year-old striker William Osula.</p>



<p>It is rare, if not entirely unprecedented, for an English club outside the Premier League to receive such a lofty fee for a player who is still relatively unproven at any level of senior soccer. Indeed, he has a goal record that does not inspire confidence. The Danish forward has scored just&nbsp;<a href="https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/william-osula/leistungsdaten/spieler/609556/saison/plus/1#gesamt" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">eight times in 52 career appearances</a>.</p>



<p>For instance, similar-aged strikers like Fulham’s Jay Stansfield, who enjoyed goal-filled loan spells in both League One and the <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/championship-tv-schedule/">Championship</a>, would be unlikely to command a transfer fee comparable to what is being touted for Osula.</p>



<p>So why is Newcastle, a club whose transfer business has been largely effective rather than flamboyant since their <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/saudi-led-consortium-completes-newcastle-united-takeover-20211007-CMS-348518.html">controversial October 2021 takeover</a>, willing to pay a transfer sum that seems well over market value for Sheffield United’s young striker?</p>



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<h2>William Osula has the desirable traits of an elite-level striker</h2>



<p>There is a growing trend among Europe’s top clubs to take greater risks in the transfer market on young players they believe they can develop. Young players with desirable attributes, generally a combination of height, speed, and directness, are now viewed as projects to work with and coach rather than as unproven or unsuccessful at the elite level.</p>



<p>In the past, top clubs might have preferred young strikers who were already demonstrating an ability to perform and score goals in senior soccer. However, modern recruitment focuses more on acquiring players with the right blend of physical attributes and the potential to evolve into world-class talents with the appropriate coaching.</p>



<p>Osula stands 6ft 3in tall, has the speed to get in behind defenses, and possesses powerful ball-striking abilities, which, irrespective of his 21 Premier League game spell where he didn’t register a single goal, creates profile similarities between him and Newcastle’s first choice striker Alexander Isak, as well as many of the other best forwards in the world, including Erling Haaland, Dusan Vlahovic, and Alvaro Morata.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<div class="ck-youtube"><iframe loading="lazy" title="Osula Hat-Trick secures PDL final spot 🔥 | Sheffield United U21s 4-0 Bristol City | Highlights" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QC_bGqFh9MI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
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<h2>Osula has shown glimpses of his full potential</h2>



<p>The Aarhus-born striker, whose portfolio of goals, assists, and contributions to wider play is admittedly still sparse, shows glimpses of a striker who could make it to the very top.</p>



<p>During Sheffield United’s 23/24 season Premier League encounter with Manchester City, Osula caused the champions problems with his tenacious ability to carry the ball up the field, outmuscling world-class midfielders and defenders in the process. In other phases of play, he demonstrated strong hold-up play and the ability to retain possession with his back to goal.</p>



<p>William Osula appears to have already developed his own signature move: an intricate step-over to lure defenders in before shifting the ball onto his other foot and powerfully striking past the opposition goalkeeper. The move feels slightly Marcus Rashford or Kylian Mbappe-esque in style and it has already proven effective on multiple occasions, albeit against lower-ranked teams in the FA Cup and the English Football Leagues.</p>



<p>The striker’s out-of-possession play is something that manager <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.com/tag/eddie-howe/">Eddie Howe</a> will be excited about, too. Osula’s aggressive pressing, work rate, and defensive aerial dominance will stylistically meet the demands of how Howe wants his strikers to play at Newcastle. It is surely something that will have been observed during Newcastle’s identification and pursuit of the 21-year-old.</p>



<p>Whether Osula evolves into one of the Premier League’s best strikers remains to be seen.</p>



<p><em>Photo: IMAGO / Every Second Media</em>.</p>

Why Newcastle are spending $19 million on William Osula

Newcastle's $19 million interest in William Osula appears over the odds for a striker yet to score his first Premier League goal, or is it?

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What it's like supporting a lower-league club in the UK

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Why Newcastle are spending $19 million on William Osula