By Geoff Twentyman BBC Bristol

Gates at Mangotsfield United average just 175

This week's 'Grass Roots' series on BBC Bristol set me thinking about my early football experiences.

Non-league football, of which I am a huge fan, is where it all started for me and I have some incredibly fond memories of my time in the amateur and semi-professional game.

I joined Preston in 1983 at the age of 24 after an apprenticeship in the tough, uncompromising world of amateur football on Merseyside.

Aged 16 I played for my home-town club Maghull in the Liverpool County Combination.

Talk about learning the hard way. I remember one incident as if it happened yesterday.

I was stood on the half-way line watching the action as my team attacked. Then, just like that, the centre-forward I was marking, who was reputedly one of the best and hardest around, punched me smack in the mouth and nobody saw a thing.

As the blood poured I asked the bloke responsible, who barely came up to my chest, why he did it. He looked at me and snarled: "'Cos you are too good for me !"

Suffice to say you had to learn quickly.

Non-league football is also awash with genuine characters and people who simply love the sport. It also produces players for the professional game. There is an endearing honesty about it all.

Mangotsfield United FC have function rooms which host skittles every week night. The revenue from this is the club's life line. Geoff Twentyman, BBC Bristol

I have often wondered how so many teams in the Bristol area have managed to co-exist.

These are tough times for the region's football teams as playing budgets are being cut and they have to concentrate on not just winning games on a weekly basis but also survival.

Football clubs are focal points for local communities. Mangotsfield United FC have function rooms which host skittles every week night. The revenue from this and other events is the club's life-line.

They also have boys and youth teams that provide dozens of youngsters with the opportunity to play.

Sometimes I worry about the existence of some of the region's non-league clubs because they really do need our support.

So the next time your 'main' team is away, why not venture down to your local non-league ground?

I guarantee that you will enjoy the experience.

Geoff presents the Twentyman Talks Back football phone-in at 1900 GMT on Fridays on BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Somerset. If you missed the latest programme, listen to it now.

Like Mangotsfield United my club Paulton Rovers are dependent on functions within the club to exist in the Southern League. As a members club we live within a tight but reasonable budget. Manager Andy Jones has built a good squad with many having league experience. Our former striker Ashley Barnes (from Dunkerton) near Peasedown St John) is now a regular at 19 years old in the first team at Plymouth.

Unlike many clubs in Division One of the Southern League all our players reside within fifteen miles of the club! We have regular supporters throughout Bristol, S Glos and Somerset (from Coalpit Heath to Sherbourne). I wish we had a few more!

Tony Walsh

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