A Good Friday And Saturday Night's Alright

Two clubs looking for a big finish to the season have reduced prices for upcoming matches to help get some more supporters through the turnstiles and give their team a lift.

On Good Friday at Brunton Park, Carlisle United host Tranmere Rovers and the Cumbrians are looking to get 10,000 inside and create a rocking atmosphere in their promotion push.

Ticket prices have been reduced to £10 adults and £5 for under 18's (under 7's free) with no increase on the day of the game.

And on Saturday 15 April at Ewood Park there is an evening kick-off for Blackburn Rovers against Hull City.

Adult tickets in all areas are £15, seniors and 18-23's £10, 12-17's £5 and £1 for those 11 and under.

Non-League Day 2023 Update

Following on from the offers highlighted in the article below, here is a quick rundown of ten more I've seen advertised in the past few days, head to the twitter page for more details.

£5 admission for Premier League and EFL season ticket holders at Guiseley AFC.

Pay what you like at Frickley Athletic where Hallam FC are the visitors.

Reduced prices at Nantwich Town, £6/£4 and under 16's go free.

Pay what you want for an early kick-off (12:30) at West Essex FC against Southend Manor.

Free pie and a pint with your admission (£6, £3, £1) at Darwen FC.

Reduced prices, £10/£5 and under 11's free at Welling United for the visit of Bath City.

Bring a donation for the local Community Food Bank and watch Hassocks FC for £4/£2.

Admission just £1 at Golcar United where Knaresborough Town are the opposition.

Football for a fiver at Sevenoaks Town (£2 concessions, under 18's free).

Family ticket at Basford United (to include one under 16) just £10 for this Saturday's game.

Non-League Day 2023 - Starting XI

Just over a week to go until this year's Non-League Day, the first international break of the calendar year meaning no Premier League or Championship football on Saturday 25 March and the chance to sample the fare at your local club.

Some great offers out there already, here are eleven that I have seen so far...

Free entry at Sutton Coldfield Town for the Northern Premier League - Midlands Division - clash with Daventry Town.

If you're a fan of Reading, Wycombe Wanderers, QPR, Brentford, Fulham, Chelsea or Watford and you wear your club shirt to Windsor FC you will get free admission to the home game with Broadfields United.

Continuing the shirt theme, wear a football shirt of your choice and you will get admission for a fiver at Hendon FC when they host Hartley Wintney. That price also applies if you have a ticket for the England v Ukraine game at Wembley the following day.

There is football for a fiver at Worcester City FC when you buy tickets in advance for the visit of Studley. Adults and concessions are £5, 12-16's £2 and under-12's free.

It's also a fiver for adults at the Giant Axe, home of Lancaster City FC where Hyde United are the opposition. Adults £5, concessions, students and young adults £3 and under-14's free with a paying adult, and at Rushall Olympic against St. Ives Town. Adults and concessions £5, under-12's £1.

Radford FC are raising funds to replace their floodlights and are offering students in Nottingham admission to the game against Rainworth Miners' Welfare, a bottle of beer and a cob if they pledge a fiver towards it.

Get your admission, a pint and a pie for £10 at Silsden AFC for the visit of Goole AFC while it is £1 entry for all at Merstham FC with loads going on both before and after the game against Binfield.

And finally there are 'two for one offers' in place at both Leek Town FC (buy a ticket online for the league clash with Witton Albion and get one free for the Staffordshire Senior Cup tie with Kidsgrove Athletic on Tuesday 4 April) and Boreham Wood where your Non-League day visit for the Eastleigh game can be followed up with the Torquay United match the following Tuesday (adults £20, 65+ £18, under 16's £12 and under 12's £6).

Stick To The Script

A new series of 'Welcome to Wrexham' would perhaps be an anti-climax if this season's National League title had been won at a canter.

Every good sporting script needs a rival and Notts County are playing their part well although a defeat and a draw in their last two games have allowed Wrexham to open up a four-point gap at the time of writing.

Very much a club on the up themselves, Notts have completely re-engaged with their fanbase since being brought by Christoffer and Alexander Reedtz in 2019, initiatives such as 'football for a fiver' being a part of that and leading to some huge crowds at Meadow Lane.

The upcoming visit of Scunthorpe United on Saturday 25 March has been designated as Community Day, the Notts County Foundation having donated 1,000 tickets to local football teams and schools, and all ticket prices have been reduced, to £10 for adults, £5 for 65 and over and under 22's and £1 for under 16's.

Talking of Wrexham, the Racecourse Ground will host Wrexham AFC Women on Sunday 26 March (2pm) as they mark their title victory with a home game against Connah's Quay Nomads for which tickets are priced at just £1. 

On The Up

On the up both on and off the pitch, Hallam FC consolidated their position in the top six of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division with a 2-0 win against Bottesford Town on Saturday, three points that were ultimately comfortable despite a committed display from the struggling visitors.

With admission priced at £5 for adults and £3 for concessions, an afternoon at Sandygate is a pleasant experience on many levels, from the warm welcome offered by the volunteers on the gate to a drink from the bar.

Over 500 were in attendance, a healthy crowd despite a big game for Sheffield Wednesday not too far away.

Next home matches are on Tuesday 14th against Emley AFC and the following Saturday when Hemsworth Miners Welfare are the visitors.

A Fan With A Pen

 

During the lockdown months off work between 2020 to 2022, Rob A. Clark, a committee member and the club historian of Grantown-on-Spey based football club Strathspey Thistle (in the Highlands of Scotland) kept himself busy by digging out his paperwork as Club match day reporter from the clubs first nine seasons of 1993-94 to 2001-02 and beginning detailed research into the history of football in his hometown.

What he discovered is an amazing few stories dating back to the late 1800’s and how Grantown-on-Spey individuals and teams played a role in the development of football.

In the next few months, the book of over 180 A5 pages entitled “A fan with a pen!” will be published by Thomson Partnership of Inverurie and Rob is inviting people to pre order a copy of the book retailing at £12.50 UK Sterling plus additional postage and packing costs depending on where the book – when it is available around late July to early August - is heading.

A donation from each copy of the book sold will be donated by Rob to the UK Charity “Teenage Cancer Trust” in memory of his cousins son who died aged just 15 years old of blood cancer.

Please contact Rob directly to order a copy or for more information by e-mail to; afanwithapen@gmail.com or by post to; 34 Cairngorm Avenue, Grantown-on-Spey, PH26-3EX, Highland, Scotland.

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Strathspey Thistle have upcoming home games against Huntly on Wednesday 8 March and Keith the following Saturday.

Admission prices at Seafield Park are £10 adults, £5 concessions and free for accompanied under-12's.

As at all grounds across the Highland League you'll find a warm welcome, hard-working volunteers, competitive football and some stunning backdrops.

Order Of The Bath

Community Day has come around again at Bath City FC with the club offering 'Pay What You Want' admission for the National League South game at home to Tonbridge Angels next Saturday (25th February).

There's lots going on around the match itself, with face painting, beat-the-goalie and more

Another date for the diary is the League Two match between Bradford City and Colchester United on Saturday 4 March, the Bantams still with hopes of a charge into the automatic promotion spots as I write this.

Supporters from both clubs can buy tickets for £5 up to midnight on the day of the game.

Deepdale hosts the FA Youth Cup quarter-final between Preston North End and Southampton at 7pm on Thursday 2 March.

Tickets will be available on the night of the game, priced at £5 for adults and £1 for all concessions with season card holders from both clubs able to get in for free.

Update: Two more 'Pay What You Want' games this coming Saturday (Feb 25th), at Steyning Town FC (against AFC Varndeanians) and Glapwell FC (against Retford United).

International Window

Good to see the England C team, representing the best players from outside of the Football League, back in action shortly as they take on their Welsh counterparts at Altrincham FC on Tuesday 21st March.

Tickets are priced at £7 for adults and £2 for under-18's with club Co-Chair, Bill Waterson telling the official website: “Altrincham FC is delighted to be hosting this fixture as our connections with the England C team go back to its inception in 1979, when club legends John Davison, Jeff Johnson & John Rogers regularly represented their country."

Some other opportunities to watch England teams in action coming up, include:

Monday 20 February: Women's Under 23's versus Belgium at Prenton Park, 7pm. Tickets £5 adults, £2.50 children.

Wednesday 22 March: Men's Under 19's versus Hungary at the Bescot Stadium, Walsall, 7.30pm. Tickets £5 adults, £2.50 children.

Saturday 25 March: Men's Under 19's versus Iceland at the New York Stadium, Rotherham, 2pm. Tickets £5 adults, £2.50 children.

Tuesday 28 March: Men's Under 19's versus Turkey at the Technique Stadium, Chesterfield, 7.30pm. Tickets £5 adults, £2.50 children.

Ticket info for all the above can be found by the FA ticket page. 

And England Under 18 Schoolboys take on Northern Ireland in the Centenary Shield on Friday 14 April. Tickets for the 7pm kick-off, to be held at Billericay Town FC, are available priced £7 adults and £3 for concessions and under 18's.

Into The Woods

Thanks to Lordswood FC for following on twitter.

Currently playing in the Southern Counties East Football League Premier Division, the club have introduced a family ticket offer for their remaining home matches this season, with Whitstable Town the next visitors on Saturday 11th February.

Two adults and up to three children (15 and under) can come to the game for just £10.

Also coming up this week there are eight scheduled ties as the FA Vase reaches the 5th Round stage and six scheduled FA Youth Cup ties as follows;

Monday 6th - Luton Town versus Preston North End (tickets to be purchased before 3pm on the day of the game, priced £5/£3) and Watford versus Arsenal (tickets for non-season ticket holders are priced at £5/£3 and £1).

Tuesday 7th - Southampton versus Fulham (tickets £3/£1) and Manchester City versus Fleetwood (tickets £3/£1, game to be held at the Academy Stadium).

Wednesday 8th - Oxford United versus Leeds United (tickets £6/£3) and Cambridge United versus Sheffield Wednesday (tickets £5/£2 for non-season ticket holders).

Further details of kick-off times can be found on the various club websites.

England Back In Town

 

Some pictures from England Under-17's match against Armenia in March last year.

International football is back at the New York Stadium on Saturday 25th March, kick-off 2pm, when England face Iceland in the UEFA U19 EURO elite round.

Tickets are on sale, priced £5 adults and £2.50 for those over 60 and under 22.

Well Worth A Click

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.

Football in Berkshire is an excellent not for profit site that doesn't leave a stone unturned when reporting on football at all levels in the county.

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

The official FA 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.

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.

The Only Way Is Up

For Gillingham FC after the recent takeover at Priestfield, a number of new signings and Saturday's win in a crucial game against Hartlepool United that closed the gap on their opponents at the foot of League Two.

I've got a pretty bad track record on this blog of offering praise to new owners for their initial burst of communication with supporters, often involving reduced prices or special offers admission-wise.

That reflects, perhaps, certainly at League Two level, how the success or otherwise of a new regime is so often a shot in the dark, for every club, but the general feeling at Gillingham seems positive about the arrival of US-based businessman Bradley Galinson - Haydn Parry reflecting that in a piece for the new issue of When Saturday Comes.

A good atmosphere at last weekend's FA Cup tie against Leicester City certainly came across on the television and the offer of 'pay what you want' tickets for the crucial clash with Crawley Town (talking of the above) in early February were very quickly snapped up this week.