DESPITE joining the Echo as a sports reporter only last year, I have been a regular at non-league matches all my life.

I have been a season ticket holder at West Ham United from a young age, but my dad and I have often flocked to non-league grounds across the country to watch football whenever the Hammers have been away from home.

I have visited the likes of Old Trafford, Anfield, the Etihad Stadium, the Emirates Stadium and Highbury to support West Ham, but I have also witnessed non-league fixtures as far away as Bath.

Dagenham & Redbridge is my local non-league club and one of my first memories of football outside of the top four divisions was going to watch the Daggers take on Hereford United on a cold night.

The Sky Sports cameras were also at the game and Dagenham were embarrassed in front of a national audience, as they lost 9-0.

The great thing about non-league is you never know what you are going to get. You could get an absolute cracker or the wind could make it a horrible game to watch.

There were even times when my dad and I would predict the amount of balls that would be kicked out of the stadium because the football could be so poor.

Having been a regular at Dagenham for many years, I saw the likes of Dwight Gayle, Danny Green and Paul Benson climb the pyramid - with Gayle even reaching the Premier League.

The stories of Gayle, Jamie Vardy and Charlie Austin show that it is possible to reach the pinnacle no matter what level you start at, and that is another plus point of non-league - rather than joining a Premier League side’s academy with little chance of hitting the big time.

Since joining the Echo, I have been to a few stadiums I had not yet visited.

I have watched football in more than 100 stadiums across the world, and I can now say I have gone to places like the Len Salmon Stadium!

And, thanks to the community feel at non-league clubs, it is a pleasure.