Football For A Fiver In The Johnstone's Paint Trophy

One of the inspirations for starting the Affordable Football blog came from Coventry City's run in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy last season and the momentum that was generated by the club's 'Football For A Fiver' offer.

It started with the game against Sheffield United where a crowd akin to a League One fixture turned up and, because they were all seated together in one stand, created an excellent atmosphere as the Sky Blues triumphed on penalties.

The offer was repeated for the televised game against Preston North End where the last-gasp drama of two home goals in stoppage time ensured scenes never seen before at the Ricoh Arena.

To their credit the club once again priced adult tickets at £5 for the area final against Crewe Alexandra and the offer took on a life of its own as over 30,000 packed into the stadium.

Virtually since the final whistle blew at that game then the fortunes of Coventry City nosedived dramatically (although the two things were not really connected) so it is very difficult to judge what effect the JPT run and the £5 tickets would have had on long-term support. It may have been that there was no impact at all in terms of numbers but the goodwill generated was substantial.

Peterborough United and Preston North End will be looking to do something similar with their offers for this season's 2nd Round stage which takes place in the week commencing 7th October.

All tickets for Posh's game against Brentford are £5 while PNE's local derby with Oldham is priced at £5 for over 16's and £1 for under-16's.

http://www.pnefc.net/tickets/ticket-prices/Index.aspx

http://www.theposh.com/news/article/ticket-info-posh-v-brentford-081013-1047411.aspx