When we founded Protagonist Soccer in 2018, there were three other primary outlets for lower league soccer content: SocTakes, Midfield Press, and NonLeague America. It was a tiny group of us, grinding out content on the sport we love. Over the last 4 years, the first two have slowed production, but it came as a shock to the lower league soccer world when NLA announced last week that it would be shuttering shop and ending production on any future content. I reached out to Steve Bayley, the founder of NLA to discuss his story, the rise of NLA, and what led to his decision.

“I founded NLA in January 2012 during a period of transition in my life,” Steve mentioned as we discussed when he founded Non League America. “I was unemployed and in grad school part time, having recently saved enough money to quit my job selling cars for three year and preparing to go to an additional 3 month ad school in New York that summer. During the previous several years 2008-2011 I had become a big Revs fan but because I had to work every Saturday on the car lot I could never get out of work early enough on Saturday to make it down to Gillette to go to games. I used to go home every Saturday after work and my then girlfriend, now wife, and I would grill and watch the Revs on TV.”

The MLS interest would eventually lead Steve down the rabbit hole of the Open Cup and all the interesting names of lower league clubs that were new to the budding American soccer fan. “Through thecup.us I started learning about the local amateur teams in the open cup qualifying and was curious to know what leagues these teams played in during their regular season. At the same time I had been reading a lot of English groundhopping blogs which I found fascinating and was particularly enamored with a humorous one called Adventures in Tinpot. I emailed thecup.us to see if I could find out more info about the local leagues and that’s when Josh Hakala asked me to write some game recap articles about Open Cup qualifying.”

At the time, the vast majority of match recaps were being done without actual match attendance, this really bothered Steve. Even when he tried that approach, he “found it all very boring and mechanical and wanted to discover and capture more of the culture and flavor and if possible humor of the experience the way the Adventures in Tinpot blog did. I also realized that no one in the United States was doing groundhopping blogs so I might have a chance to get some readership by filling a void. That’s when I got the idea to structure the blog around my attempt to attend 100 games at all levels in 1 year.” While he wouldn’t make his goal that first year, he had found his passion or as he put it, he “fell deeply in love with local soccer.”

As you may have guessed from his introduction to the game through MLS, unlike many in lower league soccer, Steve didn’t start off drawing a hard line between top tier American soccer and lower league. In fact, as he began NonLeague America, it was fellow MLS fans that rode shotgun. “It was through attending the Revs games that I met Chris Reid, who became my partner in NLA, and various other Co-conspirators from the Revs fanbase who were involved in the local soccer scene and supported the blog and my efforts. I watched a lot of those early games with Joe Curran, the original supporter of Mass United, founder of the Tubthump Army, Hank Alexandre, who used to host The Midnight Ride podcast, Chris Camille, coach and founder? Of Groton House FC of the BSSL, Brian O’ Connell of New England Soccer Today, Chris Reid, Matt Zytka, Fran Harrington, and several others. The vast majority of the games were solo missions though, so I enjoyed the company when I could get it.”

His blog, then called Deep In the Pyramid, started attracting attention. “People started reading the blog, and I felt well supported by the local soccer community.” It was then that Steve discovered the route he would take in his fandom. “At that time I was taping a lot of games, and making video highlights and posting them to YouTube, they were very informal videos but I wanted to document the games. Unfortunately, where I lived in New England there was very little fan attendance and atmosphere at these amateur games, but I had been researching online and had seen in other communities around the country they were getting good-sized crowds for these types of games and I wanted to capture that.”

The name change would come as he began to change both his approach and mission. “When I decided I needed to expand to national amateur coverage and change the primary output from sarcastically written blogs to documentary videos is when I changed the name from Deep In The Pyramid to Non League America. This is also around the same time it was becoming clear to me how soccer in this country worked and the disdain the federation had for supporting anything other than MLS. That’s where the conspiratorial elements of the logo come into play. Matt Zytka designed the NLA logo and he just knocked it out of the park. The second I saw it I knew that it was right.”

In 2013, Bayley moved from Massachusetts to Atlanta and truly discovered the blossoming world of NASL. “It was during 2014, as I became deeper and deeper involved with the Silverbacks supporters and the Atlanta Ultras, that I started to understand exactly how much US Soccer and MLS stood in opposition to the independent movement. 2014-2015 was an amazing time to be involved in the independent soccer movement. NASL was thriving, drawing big crowds and making waves in the US Open Cup. It was also during this time I saw the apathy to the problem from those on the MLS side and firmly cemented my support of independent soccer. Supporting the Silverbacks brought me some amazing Friendships and allowed me to build a community with like minded independent advocates and for that I am forever grateful. Thank you to Steve Gurlen and Mike Bell for welcoming me into the Ultras community. Our opposition to MLS hegemony was a huge positive for the overall soccer movement in Atlanta and opened up opportunities for others to explore the rich Atlanta soccer landscape beyond MLS.”

In 2014, the famous NonLeagueAmerica account would launch and the next year, NLA would begin creating the documentaries it would become lower league famous for. It wasn’t easy at first, as Steve experimented with techniques and approaches, all while battling a learning curve with editing. But over time, Steve would find the right people and subjects to begin creating documentaries that continue to inspire lower league soccer fans. When asked which of his projects stand out, his first response was his piece on Bearfight FC, Vol. 8: Bearfight FC of Wilmington. The short film was shot by Jamisa Johnson of Peace Living Films and helped to expose the punk rock aesthetic that has always driven Bearfight. But after thinking, Steve responded, “if I had to pick one project I think it’s Vol. 13: Vietnamese Soccer Live From Houston. On that project we pulled in Alfonso Bui to Direct and the production quality is even higher. That doc is the best personification of the vision I had in my head for NLA output. Tight, highly produced 5 minute mini docs. My goal was always to get to the point where I could drop one of those every week. Obviously I was never able to secure the interest needed from big pocket investors to make that happen.”

But over the years, Steve’s life and perspective has changed. “I have three growing kids and my family needs me now more than ever, and I’ve also seen the ideals that NLA championed, of advocating for an open system, take several steps back from where the momentum was in the peak NASL days. I’ve accepted the reality that the systemic change I hope to see is unlikely to happen in my lifetime and my attention is probably more wisely focused on my career as an advertising professional and in supporting my family.”

Non League America’s story is one we’ve seen repeated over and over again in lower league soccer. A lower league champion rises, full of passion and fire, pushes for change, but is eventually worn down by the lack of financial support, institutional resistance, and the uptick of personal and professional demands. While it’s sad to those of us that are fans, it’s a cycle that hasn’t shown any sign of changing. Even in the lifetime of this website, we’ve seen other sites pop up and then die out. But that’s another conversation for another day. Today let’s celebrate Steve Bayley and his audacious belief that covering lower league soccer professionally would someday pay off. It didn’t end with financial gains, but there are a host of us who were moved, inspired, emboldened by his work.

As we ended our conversation, Steve thanked “everyone who supported Non League America along the way.” No Steve, thank you for everything you have done for lower league soccer. Your passion and eye for beauty in the game will live on forever online.

- Dan Vaughn