Mission 10K and 3UP

 

I visited Wembley every year between 2016 and 2019 for the National League Promotion Final, watching emotional days for Grimsby and Tranmere Rovers as they regained Football League status and equally important milestones for Forest Green Rovers and Salford City.

As a neutral, the early-bird offer of excellent seats for £20/£10 was a good one, although prices for the competing teams were often high with little time between qualifying for the final and the day itself to grab some affordable trains down to Wembley.

The high-pressure nature of the matches and the relief/despair felt at the final whistle, was magnified by the play-off system in the National League (involving five clubs) and by only two overall promotion places being available.

To highlight their 3UP campaign for three promotion places into the EFL, National League 3pm kick-offs on Saturday 15th November will start at 3:03.

That includes Carlisle United against Eastleigh at Brunton Park, the Cumbrian club one of those who could be in that end-of-season bunfight if they don't manage to win an increasingly competitive league outright.

They are looking to get 10,000 spectators through the turnstiles with advance ticket prices £10 for adults and £5 for U18s.

Week Ahead - 3rd November

The FA Vase is at the Second Round stage with fixtures across the weekend from London Samurai Rovers on Friday evening to Yarm & Eaglescliffe on Sunday afternoon. 

Two midweek Championship fixtures with reduced prices, at Sheffield Wednesday when they host Norwich City on Wednesday, and Bristol City where a maximum price of £20 for adults is in place for the visit of Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday.

I haven't managed to spot too much else at this stage so it's a good time to highlight brilliant sites such as Scottish Football Fixtures for games north of the border and The London Football Guide.

Keep up to date on our X page and to support Affordable Football, now into our 13th year, click here.

The rebuild begins

Has there ever been a more positive atmosphere around a home fixture for a team on minus points and seemingly destined for relegation, even before Halloween?

But that was the case at Hillsborough on Saturday afternoon (and into the evening as confirmed by my wife who was meeting a few friends in the local area) despite Sheffield Wednesday losing 2-1 to Oxford in the Championship.

The announcement, late last week, of the club entering administration, triggered a wave of support from those who had either stayed away in the final throes of the Chansiri reign, or tried to spend as little as possible with the club, over and above anything they had already paid for season tickets.

The openness and honesty of the administration team, with Owls fan Kris Wigfield to the fore in public, has been rewarded so far with ticket and merchandise sales of around £500,000 since Friday last week, vital funds to keep wages flowing while a new owner is sought.

And next Wednesday's game at home to Norwich has been designated as 'Blue & White Night' with ticket prices reduced and starting from £20 for an adult on the Kop.

Week Ahead - 27th October

Kick-off the week with England Women U23s against Portugal at Sixfields, home of Northampton Town, at 7pm on Monday evening. Tickets are priced at £5 adults, £3 concessions and £1 for under-14's.

Sunderland U21s play the first of four scheduled Premier League International Cup matches at the Stadium of Light when Anderlecht visit on Wednesday (tickets £3/£1). In the same competition and on the same evening it is Southampton U21s against Real Madrid at St Mary's (7pm). Tickets are £7 for adults with under-18's free.

Free tickets are available once again at Rochdale AFC in the National League Cup. Manchester United U21s are the visitors on Tuesday at 7pm and there are plenty of ties being played at League One and Two grounds in the FA Youth Cup.

Keep up to date on our X page and to support Affordable Football, now into our 13th year, click here.

Week Ahead - 20th October

UEFA Youth League action at Easter Road on Wednesday (7.45pm) with Hibernian taking on FC 2 Korriku of Kosovo. 

Tickets are priced at £5 with accompanied U13's going free.

Staying in Scotland there is free admission to Stark's Park, home of Raith Rovers, for Scotland Women's U23s against Sweden on Thursday (7pm).

The Women's FA Cup is at the First Round Proper stage with the majority of ties taking place on Sunday 26th. Home Park hosts Plymouth Argyle against Maidstone United and tickets are priced at £5 for adults and free for accompanied under-14's.

Luton Town U21s host Brentford in the Premier League Cup on Tuesday (7pm) with tickets costing £3 and £1. 

Keep up to date on our X page and to support Affordable Football, now into our 13th year, click here.

A Place Like Home

Coventry City versus Blackburn Rovers, Saturday 18th October 2025 and the Sky Blues head back to the top of the Championship table, two goals in as many second-half minutes breaking the resistance of a hard-working, disciplined visiting side.

Just over 20 years into its existence, the Coventry Building Society Arena as it is now known has finally become a home for Coventry City FC, not just because ownership of the club and the stadium is now in the same hands, but because it has become a place where you can actually enjoy spending your Saturday afternoon.

Results on the pitch help, of course, and the Sky Blues have continued their upward trajectory of the last few years, seasons that have seen two promotions, two tilts at the Premier League via the play-offs and a dramatic FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.

The Ricoh Arena, as it was, was a spectacularly uninviting place at times, the occasional efforts of those at the club to make it feel welcoming, such as the 2018 Community Day.

Saturday saw the opening of a new fan village in the Arena's Exhibition Hall, open late after the game, to go alongside the bars and food stalls that line the East Stand prior to kick-off. The price of a pint was kept at a reasonable price and, as the marketing messages have been keen to remind people, every penny now spent at the ground goes back into the club.

With tickets for the Blackburn game only available on a ticket exchange in the past few days, it had the look and feel of a big club in action, on and off the field.

Often when I have written about the Sky Blues on this blog since starting it in 2013, it has been in the context of the troubles affecting the club, punctuated by attempts to re-engage with the supporter base through ticket offers and the likes.

The need to tempt people through the turnstiles isn't a problem at present, demand may soon exceed supply in that regard.

Yesterday's ticket cost £32 which, in the context of prices for all manner of things at present, probably doesn't qualify as affordable but isn't extortionate either, although I am well aware that other matches have cost more and that Birmingham City fans were very unhappy with the prices charged to them recently.

Week Ahead - 13th October

More Vertu Trophy 'football for a fiver' as Bradford City host Everton U21's on Tuesday (7.30pm) with concession tickets just £1. 

There are games scheduled throughout the week in the FA Youth Cup, the tie between Macclesfield Town and Hartlepool United standing out. That takes place at 7.30pm on Friday with admission £4/£2.

Free football at the MKM Stadium on Tuesday (1pm) when Hull City U21s take on Crewe Alexandra and it is the next round of the Welsh Cup with games scheduled on Friday and Saturday.

Keep up to date on our X page and to support Affordable Football, now into our 13th year, click here.

Week Ahead - 6th October

The October international window is upon us and that often means that clubs lower down the pyramid offer reduced prices to season ticket holders from the higher divisions and give them the chance to catch a match.

In midweek it is the Football League Trophy in England with football for a fiver at Walsall for the game against Northampton Town and tickets priced at £6/£4 and £1 for non-ST holders at Wigan Athletic as they host Wolves U21s, both games kick-off at 7pm on Tuesday.

Staying with Wigan, the Latics Women play in the first game to be held at the club's refurbished Edge Hall Road Stadium on Sunday 12th, tickets are free but must be claimed online.

Cray Wanderers welcome AFC Wimbledon in the London Senior Cup on Tuesday (7.45pm) and tickets are available for free online. 

In the Women's League Cup there is a local derby between Southampton and Portsmouth on Wednesday at 7pm. Tickets for the game at the Silverlake Stadium in Eastleigh are priced at £5 and £2.

Keep up to date on our X page and to support Affordable Football, now into our 13th year, click here.

Joy of the Rovers

The 5th of November this year marks the day, in 1875, when John Lewis and Arthur Constantine met at a hotel in Blackburn to discuss the possibility of forming a football club.

150 years on, through the ups and downs that mark the history of any organisation that lasts so long, and Blackburn Rovers FC are making plans to celebrate their anniversary.

The visit of Derby County on Saturday 8th November is fitting, not just because of its closeness to the date of that meeting but because it brings together two founder members of the Football League.

A 12:30pm kick-off also gives time afterwards for a match between a Rovers Legends side and the Old Etonians, featuring Kevin Gallacher among others, one of my favourite former Coventry City players.

In a nice touch, adult ticket prices have been set at £18.75 with reductions for the various concessions.