Two recent matches in the Sheffield area provided plenty of contrasts but, ultimately the same sense of enjoyment at being out and about at a game.
The first Tuesday in September it may have been but it felt like summer was in the air at Hallam FC as a perfect evening encouraged more than 600 spectators for the Northern Counties East League clash against Shirebrook Town.
Short sleeves and outdoor pints were the order of the day with the action on the pitch, where the visitors conceded two goals and a red card early on, a backdrop to the relaxed air of conversation on the touchline.
Everyone involved at Hallam has done a superb job over the past few years, harnessing the history of the club to modern methods of promotion to get more people through the gate and gradually improving the quality of the facilities available once they are there.
One week later and it was coats and warm drinks needed as Stocksbridge Park Steels hosted Tadcaster Albion. In Turriff in August one of the club officials had talked about a 'dreich day' and that uniquely Scottish word fitted the weather bill perfectly here.
Located around 10 miles from Sheffield, Steels' catchment area of potential supporters comes from mainly within the town itself and, following a recent managerial change, chairman Graham Furniss wrote in his programme notes that regularly getting 250 people into the Eco-Power Stadium (which I like a lot as it has plenty of different vantage points to sample throughout a 90 minutes) would be a real boost to the club.
154 was the attendance for the Tadcaster game but the quality and intensity of the game did reflect that it was two divisions higher in the pyramid than Hallam, Tadcaster's neat build-up not matched by their finishing and Steels eventually benefitting from a man advantage with two second-half goals.
