You have to hand it to English Non-League Football clubs; at least some of them. Over the last few years, we have witnessed some remarkable stories, highlighting the level of commercial creativity in the game in the lower echelons.
In 2010, Lewes FC was heading for trouble, saved from liquidation only due to a fan-led rescue which shifted to a 100% community ownership model containing over 2,500 ‘owners’ across 40 countries.
Since then, there have been a number of other genius moves that have helped to differentiate the club and make them stand out giving it a unique selling point.
A Moral Shift To Leave A Legacy
What came in 2017 was somewhat of a masterstroke when the club realised that it was spending more on the men’s playing squad than on the women’s which, inspired by Charlie and Karen Dobres, led to the Equality FC campaign.
As such they became the first professional and/or semi-professional club globally to allocate equal playing budgets to their men’s and women’s squads. It has proven to be a masterstroke, especially from a publicity perspective.
The initiative created a media whirlwind, with outlets such as the New York Times, CNN and The Guardian all flocking to the Dripping Pan (the club’s ground).
In response to the decision, the club famously asked the question: “How can you tell your daughter she is worth less than your son?”. The argument being that if a club claims to serve a community, it cannot logically treat half of that community as secondary.
Cleverly treating equality as a business strategy, the board believed that being the only club to do this would attract global sponsors that were fed up with the traditional, male-dominated sports landscape.
An Initiative That Sparked Considerable Benefits
Following the launch of the campaign, the club witnessed a major shift. Financial rewards included a sponsorship partnership with premier brands like Xero and Lyle & Scott, due to the equality approach, while global fan investment continued to flow in.
Meanwhile, the club partnered with charities such as Brighton Women’s Centre to make sure the ground could be a safe space for “unwelcome women” and the men’s side took a proactive role by calling out misogyny and sexism, helping to fundamentally change the ‘blokey’ attitude issuing from the terraces.
Perhaps one the club’s most successful moves was pressuring the FA to increase women’s prize money, which led to a considerable boost in 2023 and as of December 2025, they were still campaigning to close the gap further.
With equality very much an engine the club treats it as a commercial differentiator, not a charitable cost and this has helped significantly; the club seemingly feeling that this offers some restitution for the FA’s 50-year ban (1921-1971) on women’s football.
Looking forward, it is suggested that the success of Lewes FC isn’t measured by trophies, but in its ability to prove that fairness is a viable, sustainable and powerful business model for the modern professional game.
Matt Tomiak