Billy Smith believes the stress factor has spread into non-league.

Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier underwent an 11-hour heart operation to provoke a debate this week on how bad management is for the health.

And Crawley boss Smith, 42 years in the game, blames society for increasing the pressure on the individuals in the hot seat.

He said: "It is stressful for managers. There is much more stress these days. It never used to be like that ten to 15 years ago.

"But now if you win a game you are a hero and if you lose everyone in the crowd hates you.

"That is the way society is now. Everyone wants everything now and that is reflected in football down to our level.

"Every supporter thinks their team is the best, the only club. But what they forget is that there are 21 other sets of supporters in the Dr Martens premier alone who are thinking the same way.

"When I was a player supporters always wanted you to win but it wasn't so pressured, there was more patience."

He feels the game should not take all the blame for inducing stress.

"Maybe my blood pressure has gone up and I've got a few more grey hairs because of football, but I feel okay and I'll carry on managing.

"Yet I lost a best friend this week who had nothing to do with the game and he was younger than me.

"Everybody from all walks of life gets stress that can cause a heart attack or whatever."

But he confesses he is hooked to the game.

"I hate losing and it is stressful watching from the sidelines. When I go home it is terrible for my wife. I just have the hump all weekend and sit there Saturday night and all day Sunday saying nothing. But I love the game. I enjoy it. It is something I look forward to away from my business."

Smith runs a flower-selling business in London and survives on four hours sleep a night. It gives him a sense of perspective.

"Recently I came back from a match in Newport at two in the morning and had to start work a couple of hours later.

"League managers have just one job to get stressed about. I've got two and at the moment my business is giving me more stress than the football.

"We are losing a lot because we normally supply flowers to hotels for tourists from America but, of course, there aren't many coming because of the atrocities."

Smith will take his high-flying Reds to Bath to continue their title bid on Tuesday.

He said: "I'll enjoy the trip and hopefully I can lead them to the title at the end of the season.

"Being a manager is a challenge. You want to prove you are a winner."

The definition of "stress" in the Chambers Dictionary is: physical, emotional or mental pressure; the insistent assigning of weight or importance."

Football people like Billy Smith are prepared to deal with that so they can live and breathe the game they love.