Non-league football: Dorking influence and why social media is growing non-league interest

"I know that if they don't edit out the right bits, I'll get banned every week."

Marc White is one of the most recognisable faces in non-league football.

From the baseball caps to the foul-mouthed rants on the touchline, the founder, owner and manager of Dorking Wanderers has become a star of the lower levels of the English football pyramid.

It has been helped by a documentary series called 'Dorking Uncovered' on the YouTube channel 'Bunch of Amateurs', run by Rich Phippen, as they rose from a team of mates paying a fiver each to rent a pitch to the National League South.

They have been promoted 12 times since they were founded 26 years ago. Their only relegation came in the National League in 2024.

White, 52, is the longest-serving manager in the top six tiers of English football - which he jokes is always at risk with behind-the-scenes cameras following their every move.

"I love the fact that so many people watch, we had half a billion views in 2025," he tells BBC Sport.

"I'm involved in the edit because if I wasn't, I would probably be banned constantly. I'll probably be the first football manager to get a lifetime ban."

'A lot of people underestimate how little people know about the local football club'

Social media now plays a huge role in promoting non-league football.

With local newspapers' ability to cover non-league now strangled by dwindling resources, clubs have taken it upon themselves to expand their reach on their own platforms.

Those around the game believe it helps build stronger relationships with the community and helps expand marketing opportunities as well as advertising matches.

From goal highlights, interviews or in-depth features like Dorking Uncovered, it is helping grow interest in non-league, with attendances growing. In Dorking's division, average attendances reached 1,221 during the 2024-25 season - that was a 134% rise on the average a decade before.

White started Dorking Wanderers just outside the M25 radius with his friends because they were bored of paying for Premier League matches and just wanted to play.

He believes the rising costs of watching top-tier football, either by buying tickets or TV subscriptions, is pushing more and more people to non-league.

But they have to know where to find it and social media helps that.

"I think a lot of people underestimate how little people know about their local football club," said White.

"And when you're now talking about decades of people that have never picked up a newspaper, and that target audience probably watches the Premier League and they have no idea what's going on near their local high street, where probably the beer is cheaper, the travel certainly cheaper, and they know a lot more people there.

"And it's quite a social connection for them. So, you know, I think for me that the power of social media largely is taking the clubs to their own target market and also taking the target market to the clubs. It's kind of connecting the two."

There are other ways online is growing attendances. Aaron Hunt gained thousands of followers streaming on Twitch about his success with his local club Daisy Hill FC, based in Westhoughton, Bolton, on the management simulation game Football Manager online.

Hunt was invited to be chairman of North West Counties Football Counties side , whose stadium is now sponsored by YouTuber AngryGinge and called GingePower Stadium after he streamed one of his visits to a game to over one million people.

Then there is also the Wrexham factor and others being inspired by Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac leading the Welsh club from non-league to the Championship.

One of the latest celebrity names to invest in a team outside the Football League is YouTuber KSI, who bought a stake in Dagenham and Redbridge this year while claiming he can take them to the top tier.

"Just more eyeballs, more exposure," said White. "We've seen a flurry of well-known names. But obviously, there's only one thing better than a well-known name, and that is a well-known name that's social media connected. And KSI, he's the perfect candidate for that.

"And it benefits every single club in the league because he's bringing attention to the product. And that's great.

"We spoke briefly when we played them, but I think it's all a bit of an eye-opener for him, really. There's no glamour.

"It will be just great to see the impact that has over the period of time. But I think it's brilliant."

For White and Dorking, the dream is to reach the Football League. They are two more promotions away and have started this season in mixed form.

"We think that getting to the Football League would make us one of the world's - it sounds mental - but we do think it'll make us one of the world's most recognised sports successes," said White, whose team average a crowd of around 1,600 at their Meadowbank home in Surrey.

"I mean, if we go anywhere in America, who are obsessed with the English football pyramid, they know us.

"I've always wanted to win at Wembley, too. So maybe if we could go up via the play-offs, that would tick two boxes."

He has courted controversy. Last year, he was given a six-match touchline ban for a comment he made on a podcast about women.

Despite being widely shared on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube, White isn't on social media himself.

"I get plenty of clips sent to me," he said. "But if you saw some of them that get edited out, I'd be out of the game.

"I've never been bothered about the cameras. If they went tomorrow, it would be all about the football like it always has been.

"I love the fact that it resonates with loads of people that might have played non-league football, Sunday football, might have given up, might have followed a team, no longer in love with the game. That's our market.

"It's like people that fell out of love with the game, people that have become disillusioned with the Premier League, the TV sport, they're the people that love us the most."