Whats is it like to watch youth team football? Worth it? Brentford Under-18s
My first experience of watching youth team football was around a year ago when i began photographing some of the Under 18 games at Brentford. The first thing that surprised me was the huge variability in size of the players. Some looked more like 25 and some 15 years. The second thing was the real quality of the football. What was missing was the majority, not all, of the thuggery and cynical fouling that one sees week in and out in the football league. Dont get me wrong there is some strong tackling but not so many cynical fouls. The football standard is hard to gauge but maybe around Ryman Premier standard and on bad days Ryman South. Crowds tend to be small and some bring chairs to sit on not unlike a cricket game. Most of the noise comes from the players. Games are generally played on training pitches, so no stands and terracing. Games get videod.
Personally I would happily watch this level of football on a regular basis. If a few more folks would come down that would further improve the atmosphere.