I DO sometimes wonder what I’m doing. It is Tuesday night and I am standing here watching Thame United play North Leigh at the ASM Stadium.

Nobody has told the South Oxon gods that it’s spring and there is a nip in the April air as a youthful Thame team try to find a way past a North Leigh side who seem to have Andy Caton in goal.

A great man, the former Football League midfielder has been pressed into emergency action between the sticks when really he should be running his physio clinic in the warm in Witney.

Meanwhile, in a parallel universe Manchester City are playing Real Madrid on TV. Every goal is a belter, so well struck that even Caton would struggle to save it. I could be sat at home on my sofa, cold beer in one hand, Aldi middle aisle snack in the other, enjoying the cream of European football without leaving the house.

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I’ll let you into a secret (nobody reads this page so it’ll just be me and you). The temptation to watch the second half of the City game in the bar at the ASM is almost overwhelming, and there are people here who have no intention of watching the Thame game. They MAY have said that’s where they were going…

I’ve resisted the bar so far but do feel the need to explain my behaviour. I am here because I love football. In front of me are two sets of players who are way better than I ever was as a player, representing clubs run by volunteers and local fans who give countless hours just to keep their club going.

They get little reward for giving up their evenings and weekends to attend countless meetings. Most of them will be here to tidy up, turn off the lights and lock the gates long after I am safely home tonight.

Local football needs your support. I am not suggesting that you need to volunteer to write the programme or operate a turnstile, but I would like you to go along a little more often and watch a game or two.

We are coming to the end of the season. Have you been to see the team in your town or village this season? If your answer is no, then why not?

The football may be more Morrells Sunday League than UEFA Champions League, the socks may not always match and you may occasionally see a midfielder forced into goalkeeping action because the real one hasn’t turned up, but there is an honesty about local football and there are just as many backstories, curious incidents and controversies as there are in the higher echelons of the beautiful game. Give it a try.