Well Worth A Visit

The following sites have been invaluable to me in writing this blog and are well worth a visit.

The London Football Guide - James Doe is the man behind Non-League Day and set up TLFG to provide a comprehensive guide to football (at all levels) in the capital and its suburbs. On a weekly basis he runs through all of the fixtures of note and is also happy to answer queries from anyone coming to London and looking to catch a match.

With its focus on a similar patch geographically, The Cold End combines news and match previews with reports, highlights and some great photographs of Non-League football in London, Hertfordshire & Beyond.

If there is anything you need to know about football in Oxfordshire then the Oxon Football blog covers everything from Oxford United downwards while Football in Bracknell is an excellent not for profit site that doesn't leave a stone unturned when reporting on football at all levels in the Berkshire town.

Women’s football features regularly on these pages and the excellent She Kicks website has features, stats and regular fixture updates covering all levels of the game in the UK with Scottish Women's Football performing a similar function in its area.

The official FA WSL site also has an easy-to-navigate fixture list with ticket info and links.

Non-League Matters is a good resource for fixtures, tables and stats from all levels of the game below the Football League and the Forum part of the site has a section where special ticket offers, free and reduced admission and ‘Pay What You Want’ fixtures can be publicised.

The Northern Counties East Football League is my local Step 5 league and the home of Hallam FC who have featured regularly on the site. The NCEFL website is an excellent resource for results and fixtures while many of the clubs in the league feature on the Non League Yorkshire website which has a wealth of news, match reports and opinion from across the county.

North of the border, Scottish Football Fixtures does exactly what it says in the title with day-by-day fixtures from all levels of the Scottish game and regular Twitter updates.

I've always enjoyed Neil Jensen's writings in the Non-League Paper (the print edition of which is a great source for upcoming fixtures) but they are just the tip of the iceberg of his wonderful Game of the People website which has features and views on football in all corners of the globe.

And a quick word for Partizan Bristle and it's cracking tales of groundhopping in the West County and beyond.

Rhyl FC, Prestatyn Town FC

The two resort towns in North Wales are often bracketed together and coincidentally I'd just retweeted news of Prestatyn Town and their pre-season plans when Rhyl FC announced details of their season tickets for 2018/19.

Prestatyn first up where five home pre-season friendlies are scheduled, starting with the visit of AFC Bridgnorth on 7 July.

Admission to each is priced at £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for Under 18's.

Over at Belle Vue, Rhyl have reduced season ticket prices for a limited time with an Adult early bird costing just £44.99 (£3 per match), Concessions £39.99 and Under 16's £9.99.

Managing Director Mike Jones told the club weekend: "There is a confidence amongst Club Supporters about the new signings made by the new Director of Football Eddie Maurice Jones over the last week, with good experienced players joining the club. 

"We hope that the new price structures will encourage more people to look at the value of buying a season ticket for Rhyl and take advantage of this limited offer."

West Didsbury & Chorlton FC

Hardy perennials on Affordable Football since we started, nearly five years ago, and why not when matchday admission prices for the 2018/19 season in the North West Counties Football League season have been frozen for the sixth successive year?

Entrance to Brookburn Road will cost £5 Adults, £3 Concessions (Over 60, 13-16 year olds) and free for accompanied Under 12's.

Chairman Glyn Meacher told the club website: “We’re delighted that we can continue to make watching our football club as affordable as possible for as many people as possible.

"We're very fortunate as a football club that the continuing increase in the number of people coming to watch us and the unprecedented crowds we saw at Brookburn Road last season has allowed us to keep as many of the prices the same despite the increasing costs of running a football club."

22 Pre-Season Friendlies for a Fiver or Less

Just to kick-off things off for the summer...keep following us on Twitter for daily updates

Bracknell Town have five scheduled matches starting against Wealdstone on 30 June followed by Harrow Borough (7 Jul), Knaphill FC (17 Jul), Banbury United (21 Jul) and Windsor FC 24 July.

Admission to each fixture is priced at £3 Adults, £1 Concessions and free for Under 16’s.

Chorley FC are in action against Blackburn Rovers Under 23’s on 14 July, Tranmere Rovers on 24 July and Fleetwood Town on 30 July.

Each game has a flat admission charge of £5 with Under 12’s free.

Hall Road Rangers welcome Bridlington Town on 4 July and North Ferriby United the following week.

Under 16’s go free, Adults are priced at £5 and Concessions £2.50.

Runcorn Linnets have home fixtures scheduled for 17 July against Ashton United, 28 July against Widnes in the NWCFL Champions Cup and 4 August against Witton Albion.

Pre-season games priced at £5 Adults and £3 Concessions with accompanied 16’s and under going free.

Sevenoaks Town kick-off a packed pre-season with the visit of Margate on 10 July. Four more home matches are scheduled (Dartford 14 Jul, Tonbridge Angels 17 Jul, Maidstone 24 Jul and Tunbridge Wells 28 Jul) with each game priced at £5 Adults, £1 Under 16’s and a ticket for all five available at £18.

Swindon Supermarine host their first pre-season tournament with two matches on 28 July and two the following day and Bradford Town, Banbury United and Hungerford Town invited along.

Admission per day is priced at just £5 Adults and £3 Concessions.

As always in pre-season please check with the clubs involved on their websites and social media pages for changes to the scheduled games.

Affordable Football on Twitter

Our Twitter page will be updated throughout the summer with details of pre-season friendlies and any other matches that catch the eye, such as these at Hall Road Rangers...

💥KIDS GO FREE💥
Children under 16 will be allowed FREE ENTRY for both of our home pre season friendlies with @BridTownAFC (July 4), and @northferribyutd (July 11).
Adults (£5) and senior citizens (£2.50) prices will also apply for the two fixtures.@KCFM998 @HumbersideSport pic.twitter.com/wdUBb6O4CU

— Hall Road Rangers (@HRRFC) 24 May 2018

Swindon Supermarine FC

The Marine have featured before on these pages with their imaginative use of sponsorship deals to offer reduced price admission to supporters not just as a one-off but through an entire season.

That was the case in 2017/18 and what a campaign it proved to be, culminating in a penalty shoot-out victory against Wimborne Town that secured promotion to Step 3 of the Non-League pyramid.

The club will host their first ever summer tournament on the weekend of 28/29 July and have invited Hungerford Town, Banbury United and Bradford Town along with two matches on Saturday, two on Sunday and admission prices per day of just £5 Adults and £3 Concessions.

Pre-Season & In Praise Of Neil Warnock (Part 2)

Last summer there was praise for Neil Warnock on these pages after he took a full-strength Cardiff City side to Taff's Well FC for a friendly that came about because of the Bluebirds boss' belief that professional clubs should always try and maintain strong roots with their local community.

And promotion to the Premier League has not changed Mr Warnock at all as not only will Cardiff repeat their trip to Taff's Well on 13 July but they will also not be swayed by the prospect of a Far East tour but will instead return to Devon and Cornwall for a full week of friendlies involving both the senior and Under 23 teams, all of which I am sure will be of huge benefit to the host clubs.

"Last year was a success," said Warnock "and I'm expecting even more of our fans to come down for a holiday and what will be a great, family-oriented week!"

Other pre-season snippets that I have come across so far include Friendlies for a Fiver at Runcorn Linnets and also Sevenoaks Town where a ticket covering all five pre-season home games can be obtained for £18.

Admission to Chorley home friendlies will be £5 with Under 12's free with Tranmere Rovers the first confirmed visitors on July 24 and Ashford United have a six-game ticket for their pre-season matches at Homelands which will cost £25.

A number of the sites on our links page are good places for finding out about pre-season matches and I'll update as much as possible on Twitter throughout the summer.