Ahead of Non-League Day on Saturday March 25, Sky Sports looks at some of the most unique stories below the EFL, including interviews with Dagenham & Redbridge rap artist Matt Robinson and Dorking Wanderers owner-chairman-manager Marc White on the club's incredible rise
Saturday 25 March 2023 10:39, UK
There was a time when Matt Robinson's love of rap music was thought of as a distraction to becoming a professional footballer when a scholar at Leicester.
"It was very much frowned upon as something that was going to take away from the focus of being a footballer. There was an ignorance towards the image of what a rapper was," Robinson told Sky Sports.
"If people actually listen to my music there's very rarely anything referencing violence, nothing illegal, but the perception of rap music holds that identity a bit. There were older coaches or people within clubs who didn't understand it for what it was for me, which was a creative outlet."
The Dagenham & Redbridge captain, also known as rap artist Kamakaze, has seen his tracks streamed more than 16 million times on his Spotify profile and last year he was nominated for a MOBO (Music of Black Origin) award as Best Grime Act.
"Music and football have been the two biggest passions of my life as a consequence of my dad," said Robinson, who is in his seventh season at Dagenham after winning the National League title with Luton in 2014. "I've been making rap music since I was 12. For as long as I've been a professional footballer, I've been rapping as well.
"I have thought about choosing one over the other. If I put all my energy into one would things have prospered differently? All you can do is be thankful for the present you have and I'm very grateful for what I have."
Robinson's primary income comes from football but he is set to release his eagerly-anticipated first album this year and creating music provides an important distraction outside of the game.
"One of the things I've noticed within my time in football is a lack of individuality," he said. "I know that sounds rude but if people look at footballers and what they do outside, the template is pretty straight.
"A lot of them genuinely suffer with their emotions, you see a lot of footballers who turn to gambling or alcohol because they don't know what they are out of football. When that identity of football is taken away it's like, "s*** who am I?
"When I got released by Leicester at 18 that was the biggest identity crisis I've ever had. Not only was I set to be a footballer but then wasn't, I was also Leicester's own, I loved Leicester, supported them and was from there. That was taken away from me. It was something I had to tackle at a young age.
"When people don't have an answer to who they are without football, it's quite difficult to turn it around into something positive."
Robinson is in the prime of both his football and rap careers. He'll head straight to the studio after training or a gig after a match. Fans of his music turn up to games, not to watch the football, but to meet him - and he's determined to make the most of it while he can.
"How many rappers do you know who are going to make it at 35 when you finish a football career?" he asks. "I've got to go for broke until the time's up. I haven't come this far to just get this far.
"After football, I don't want to do anything with football, maybe journalism or punditry, but I have my heart set on doing things for charity. My whole life has been about me, trying to be the best I can be, I had a lot of things from a young age that a lot of people didn't have. I had opportunity, a lot of people don't have that.
"The emphasis should be on something other than me, bettering everyone around me or as many people as I can reach. I've not figured out how it's going to work yet but that's what is over the horizon for me.
"I want to be a good parent and a good partner to my fiancee. I want to be happy, this year has been the hardest year for me mentally. My best friend Luke passed away in December. That was the biggest loss I've ever felt and I still feel it every day. Being happy was something I took for granted beforehand.
"I'm still navigating that journey of grief and a way back to feeling normal. I'm not sure if I'll ever be there to be honest but feeling happy and finding a way that's healthy to live without my best friend has been the objective."
Non-League Day fixture: Torquay United vs Dagenham & Redbridge - National League, kick-off: 3pm
Hashtag United have evolved from an internet-based football team to a record-breaking one - and are targeting a 22nd consecutive win on Non-League Day.
Founded by YouTube personality Spencer Owen, Hashtag initially played exhibition matches with highlights uploaded online for their subscribers to watch, an audience which has grown to over 600,000.
Owen took the club to the next level - literally - in 2018, convincing the FA to allow them to enter the football pyramid at the 10th tier under the name of Hashtag United.
Their acceptance into non-League was initially met with caution from traditionalists but the club quickly dismissed any concerns with their professional and unique approach.
Led by experienced manager Jay Devereux, the Tags have won two promotions are well on their way to a third from the Isthmian League North - the eighth tier - having won their last 21 matches to give them a nine-point lead.
Every match is filmed in a documentary-style with access to team talks and behind-the-scenes footage before being uploaded for their worldwide audience to watch.
Hashtag, who groundshare at Essex-based Bowers & Pitsea, also have a women's team playing in the FA Women's National League, more than 40 youth sides and a FIFA esports team.
Among Devereux's squad is 38-year-old former Reading, Sunderland and Wolves defender Greg Halford and ex-Love Islander Toby Aromolaran.
Non-League Day fixture: Stowmarket Town vs Hashtag United - Isthmian League North, kick-off 3pm
It is the closest thing to real-life Football Manager - Marc White has taken Dorking Wanderers from the lowest rung of non-League to the top with a staggering 12 promotions in 23 seasons.
White founded the club in 1999 with a group of friends, starting out in park football, and he has remained the owner, chairman and manager ever since.
"We were in Division Five of the Crawley & District League, the lowest level of football you can play in the UK, clearing up dog poo off the pitch and washing the kit ourselves," White told Sky Sports.
"Now we're going to Notts County with 350 travelling fans in an 8,000 attendance on TV - you pinch yourself. But you've got to get that sweet spot between sight-seeing and keeping focused on the job in the hand."
Dorking, for a change, are in a relegation battle in their first-ever National League season. They are one of only two part-time teams in the division and after making a fast start, injuries, long-distance away trips and lack of top-flight experience has caught up with them.
"It's a league that is notoriously difficult to stay in and all four promoted teams are struggling, the only difference being that they're full-time and we're not," said White, whose side are renowned for playing free-flowing, attacking football although that has seen them concede 83 league goals in their new division.
"We had this out-gunning mentality early on which frightened a few teams and worked for us. There's no question this division is closer to the one above than it is to the one below. That is the full-time aspect. It's definitely the EFL Three.
"It's been our most challenging season and it would be a good one to get through unscathed. The target was to stay in the league and the target is massively in our hands."
Dorking's meteoric rise has meant a never-ending battle off the pitch to meet ground-grading standards. In 2018, they moved into their current home, a new stadium in the centre of the town named Meadowbank which they share with landlords Surrey FA and are now attempting to purchase.
The club has had to raise £400,000 this season alone to spend on improvements, including away terracing and new floodlights, having outgrown their old Westhumble ground which White and friends converted from an unused, overgrown field to a football pitch with floodlights and changing rooms.
Wanderers have captured the hearts and minds of football fans not only in this country but abroad through their popular warts-and-all YouTube series Dorking Uncovered, while White has also regularly forked out hundreds of pounds from his own pocket for opposition fans to spend in local pubs on match days.
"We've complimented the league for sure. We've brought a refreshing lower-level of football mentality to the National League," said White. "We've shown people in this division we are a true non-League team through the documentary.
"The status of the National League is so big now especially given the profile of the clubs and the Wrexham situation. It's helped us really and we have great a relationship with Oldham and Wrexham in particular, who would have thought that?"
Dorking will hope for an attendance of over 2,000 on Non-League Day - offering reduced admission for season-ticket holders of Premier League and Championship clubs - a world away from their humble beginnings in the park leagues.
"There was one guy who literally used to wander along with his dog, stop and watch us," added White. "In our first-ever game in the Sussex County League Division Three, six below where we are now, we had an attendance of 40 which we tried really hard to get. We had no fans, zero interest, no nothing.
"It is an incredible story and it's a testament to what can be done with a lot of hard work. I'm really proud of it."
Non-League Day fixture: Dorking Wanderers vs Maidenhead United - National League, kick-off 3pm
From Weymouth to Wealdstone, Mansfield to Margate, Jefferson Louis really does have more clubs than Tiger Woods - 42 in total.
And the ultimate football journeyman is still going aged 44. Louis had the perfect opportunity to retire on a high last summer after coming off the bench to score twice in stoppage-time to win a dramatic promotion for North Leigh from the eighth tier.
But in November, the striker went full circle by signing for Oxfordshire-based Thame United, one of the starting points for his nomadic 27-year career, and a club that gave him a second chance.
Louis was sent to prison in 2001 for dangerous driving and driving while disqualified, serving six months before then Thame boss Andy Sinnott brought him back into the game.
It led to a successful three-year spell at Oxford United - the longest of his career - who he fired into an FA Cup third round tie against Arsenal at Highbury.
"In a way, I needed to go to prison to get myself onto a different path," Louis, who is also registered for Slough Town on dual registration, recently told The Non-League Paper. "I had to experience those dark moments to grow as a person and develop my mental strength.
"I want to be a role model in everything I do by showing that I'm living proof that a different path is possible. I don't quite know what the future will hold. I want to keep on playing as long as I can and I'm sure things will stay exciting whichever direction I go."
Non-League Day fixture: Thame United vs Welwyn Garden City - Southern League Division One Central, kick-off 3pm
"Remember the name, Wayne Rooney!" Paul Stretford is making more football dreams come true at Warrington Rylands 1906.
Rooney's agent is powering the Cheshire-based club through the pyramid, with eyes on the Football League, since becoming owner in 2018 and winning three promotions.
Stretford, whose company also represents Harry Maguire, played for Rylands for 10 years from the mid-70s after his grandfather had turned out for the club following the First World War.
His father Ron had also acted as club treasurer and it was on an errand for him when Stretford bumped into former teammate Ian Finchett, then the club's chairman, who persuaded him back to the club.
The 64-year-old initially spent £100,000 on ground improvements and helped the club recover to a sound financial footing until he took over five years ago with Rylands now boasting a ladies side and teams at all age levels.
The club's big moment came in 2021 when they lifted the FA Vase - the national knockout competition for clubs in tiers nine and 10 - at Wembley, inspired by striker Elliott Nevitt's hat-trick.
Rooney, who burst on to the scene with Everton, had visited Rylands' training in the build-up to the final before Nevitt delivered his own life-changing performance which earned him a five-league jump into professional football at League Two side Tranmere.
Nevitt scored 14 goals in 53 starts for Rovers before Crewe forked out an undisclosed fee to sign the 26-year-old in January.
Meanwhile, Rylands have consolidated in their debut Northern Premier League Premier Division season - the seventh tier - although have seen a change of manager when Jody Banim resigned after 24 games in January. He has been replaced by former Manchester United defender Michael Clegg and assisted by the ex-Bolton right-back Nicky Hunt with Warrington poised to push for promotion next season.
