Hampden Road and the Road to Hampden

Hampden Road - the venue, in Mexborough, South Yorkshire, for the Montagu Cup final, the oldest football final still played at its original venue.

It's an 11am start on Easter Monday, 21 April, for AFP Pewter Pot and Westville with admission £3 and free for under-11's.

The Road to Hampden - the Women's Scottish Cup is at the semi-final stage with a Hampden Park double-header on Saturday 26 April (Glasgow City v Motherwell) and Sunday 27th (Rangers v Aberdeen).

Tickets for each game are priced at £10/£5.

Cottage Industry

Two good chances to catch a match at Craven Cottage before the season ends...the under-21 Premier League International Cup is at the semi-final stage with Lyon coming to London on Tuesday 22 April at 7pm. Tickets are priced at £3 adults and £1 for concessions.

And Fulham FC Women take on Sport London e Benfica on Sunday 4 May at 2:30pm with tickets priced at £5 adults and £1 for juniors. 

This time of year is a good one for under-21 matches being played at main club grounds as the weather improves. The official Premier League website has a good fixtures page that covers both Premier League 2 and the Professional Development League.

World's Oldest to New York

Just a few days after I watched Stocksbridge Park Steels recently they made the short journey to Sandygate for a Sheffield Senior Cup semi-final against Hallam FC.

An incredible attendance of 1,255 watched Hallam win and book a place in this season's final where they will play Worksop Town at Rotherham United's New York Stadium.

That game will take place on Thursday 8 May, kick-off 7.30pm, with admission priced at £10 adults, £5 concessions.

The same prices apply at the same venue the previous evening for the Women's Senior Cup final (finalists to be confirmed).

I've got good memories of VS Rugby having success in the Birmingham Senior Cup as a youngster and the county cups remain sought after, whether by smaller clubs enjoying an evening at a Premier League or EFL ground or even the under-21 sides of those bigger clubs who have made their way through the rounds.

Shot at Glory

Relegation out of the Football League isn't something that any club would willingly choose, especially those with proud records of service in the competition, but it can offer the chance of a reset and also of Wembley glory with a run in the FA Trophy.

York City, Wrexham and Cambridge United are amongst those clubs to have lifted the trophy in recent years and Rochdale will be hoping to emulate those feats by getting past Spennymoor Town at Spotland on Saturday 5th April.

Tickets for the game have been reduced to £12 for adults, as agreed by the two clubs, £8, £5 and £3 for under-14's.

On Top of the World

 

Take the steep walk up from the main street in Stocksbridge, or let the car or the Stocksbridge Flyer bus from Sheffield take the strain for you, pay your money on the turnstiles at Stocksbridge Park Steels (with change from a tenner for adults) and you are rewarded with a fantastic view as you walk in.

Smartly upgraded since I last came, with the accessible ramp you can see in the picture, Bracken Moor offers a number of different spots to watch a game from, higher up, on ground level or in the main stand.

On Saturday it hosted Carlton Town in a hard-fought clash of two teams in good form in the Northern Premier League East Division, the visitors scoring a goal in each half to earn the three points.

Steels, who have a big County Cup semi-final at Hallam FC on Tuesday evening, play their next home league match on Saturday 29 March.

A Long and Winding Road

Saturday's Championship fixtures were the reverse games from the opening weekend, giving an opportunity to reflect on how much can change in the space of a season, in football but also in life when you stop and think about it.

I followed Coventry City's opening day defeat at Stoke, not worrying too much about it given that Mark Robins' side had started the previous two seasons in a similar vein before reaching the play-offs in one and the FA Cup semi-finals in another.

Yet this Saturday, Robins was in the away dugout at the CBS Arena watching his Stoke side fail to move away from the relegation zone while Frank Lampard celebrated another late victory for the Sky Blues to keep them in the top six.

And on the Sunday of the opening weekend, as supporters of Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle enjoyed some beers in the Sheffield sunshine, I saw Wayne Rooney and his players leave their hotel to head for Hillsborough...

There is all to play for still at the top, in the play-off race and at the bottom and clubs are looking for home fans to make a difference.

Sheffield United host Coventry on Friday 28th and, with the game moved for live television coverage, have reduced prices to a maximum price of £20 while Hull City host Luton Town at lunchtime the next day and have cut ticket prices to a maximum of £15.

Way Out West (London)

Two good opportunities to visit Premier League grounds coming up later this month with Brentford FC Women back at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday 23rd, kick-off 3pm for their game against Bromley.

Tickets are priced at just £2 adults and are free for under-18's.

On Monday 17th, Fulham's under-21s will play their Premier League International Cup tie against Sporting Lisbon at Craven Cottage. Ticket details to be announced in due course for a 7pm kick-off but hopefully an inexpensive chance to be at the famous old ground.

Both of these games are sure to feature in what will be a bumper London Football Guide that week as Non-League Day founder James Doe highlights what will be a packed schedule.

Keep up to date using the Coming Up tab at the top of the home page as well.

Update: Tickets for the Fulham game are priced at £3 adults, £1 concessions.

Villa Park Double

Big games are coming thick and fast at Villa Park and the famous old ground was in good voice during Saturday's victory against Chelsea.

Those upcoming matches include two March cup ties for Villa's youngsters, against Barcelona in the UEFA Youth League round of 16, at 3pm on Tuesday 4th and in the FA Youth Cup on Friday 14th March when Plymouth Argyle are the visitors in the quarter-finals.

Tickets for the games are priced at £5 each, more info over on the Villa website.