Get Ready For The January Sales!

A round-up of the offers we have spotted so far for the opening month of 2014.

1 January: Bolton play Middlesbrough in the Championship with adult tickets reduced to £15 and concessions to £5. The same prices apply three days later when Bolton host Blackpool in the FA Cup. Sunderland are offering £1 tickets to under-16's with a full paying adult as they host Aston Villa.

Also on New Year's Day, Warrington Town have designated their derby clash with Northwich Victoria as a 'pay what you want' fixture with the added bonus that fans will be helping to raise money to send local teenager Georgia Rankin, a sufferer of rare condition, Skeletal Dysplasia, on the holiday of a lifetime to Florida.
 
4/5 January: It's 3rd Round weekend in the FA Cup and adult tickets are priced at £10 for the games at AFC Bournemouth, Charlton Athletic, Sunderland,
Doncaster Rovers (with the chance to win England tickets as well) and Birmingham City.

Birmingham are scheduled to play their 3rd Round tie on Tuesday 7th January as they await the winners of the postponed 2nd Round replay between Crawley Town and Bristol Rovers. Tickets for the rescheduled game at Crawley on 4th Jan have been reduced to £5 and £3.

Adult tickets are priced at £15 for the games at Barnsley, Brighton & Hove Albion (£10 in certain parts of the ground) Fulham, Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough (£10 for season card holders until 5pm Jan 3rd)

7 January: Sunderland host Manchester United in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg with adult tickets £20 and concessions £5.

11 January: Albion Rovers home game against Montrose has been designated as a 'Pay What You Can' fixture with a minimum of £1 to be handed over at the turnstiles. The initiative will also be open to visiting supporters.

24 January: As Brentford's game against Gillingham has been selected for live TV coverage and moved to a Friday night, the Bees have reduced prices to £15 (adult seating), £10 (adult standing), £10 for seniors and £1 for juniors if purchased in advance.

Throughout January: Barnet are running a promotion whereby fans can see all three of their home games during the month for £30 (adults) and just £5 for under-14's.

Details of all offers can be found on the official club websites of the relevant home teams.

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

See Posh For Less Dosh And A Festive Update

Peterborough United entertain Swindon Town in the Southern Area Final first leg of the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Wednesday 5 February and with the game being screened live on TV, Posh have opted to keep ticket prices affordable in order to attract a big crowd to London Road with Wembley on the horizon.

At £10 for adults and £5 for concessions when purchased in advance and with a 7:15pm kick-off, a good family night out looks to be on the cards.

A reminder that tomorrow (Saturday 28th December) is free entry at Berwick Rangers as they host Peterhead, thanks to the club's Supporters' Trust with donations more than welcome on the day.

With only a handful of Premier League games as competition, meanwhile, why not try and get to a non-league game in England on Saturday?

Swindon Supermarine have reduced admission prices for their home game against Paulton Rovers at the Webbswood Stadium to £5 and £3 as Swindon Town are not in action.

Vauxhall Motors FC are at home to Harrogate Town on Saturday and this game has been designated as a 'Pay What You Want' fixture with a minimum of £1 to be passed over at the turnstiles.

Alfreton Town have reduced ticket prices for their match against Southport and Under-16's can gain admission for free while, also in the Conference, Hereford United have two upcoming offers. Under-15's will pay just £1 for Saturday evening's game against Forest Green while adult tickets brought at the same time for both that match and the New Year's Day clash with Kidderminster are available for £20.

Full details can be found on the official club websites of all the sides named.

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

Sunderland’s Ticket Stance Is Just Capital!

The draw for the Capital One Cup semi-finals may have set up a ‘dream’ final between the two Manchester clubs but Sunderland’s stance on making the competition an affordable one for their supporters should ensure a great atmosphere at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday 7th January when they play the first leg of their tie against Manchester United.

It will be the fifth consecutive home game in the competition for the Black Cats and ticket prices of £15 and less to date have been rewarded with combined attendances of 73,815 coming through the turnstiles (the tie against Southampton was re-scheduled at short notice as Newcastle were also at home in the competition at that stage).

Faced now with a big game against the champions, Sunderland have resisted the temptation to hike up prices at this stage and instead will charge £20 for adults and £5 for supporters aged under 16 and over 65.

Merry Christmas to everyone reading the blog and enjoy your football over the festive period. Tweet us @affordablefooty, especially if you are going to Carlisle United on Boxing Day dressed as Santa for free entry, heading to Berwick Rangers on Saturday 28th where the game is free entry thanks to the Supporters Trust (donations welcome) or paying what you want at Vauxhall Motors on the same day!

Look To Non League For Some Affordable Christmas Football

Saturday 28 December provides a good opportunity for non-league clubs to pull in some healthy attendances as there is a full programme of games without competition from the Premier League and Football League where the majority of fixtures this year are taking place a day later.

So keep an eye on your local club if you fancy watching a game on this day.

We'll try and put any offers we see on to our twitter page but Alfreton Town have reduced prices for their home matches on both December 21st and 28th, Swindon Supermarine have cut tickets to £5 and £3 on the 28th with Swindon Town not in action and Corby Town have a 3-for-2 offer for their trio of home matches over the festive period (21st, 28th and 1st Jan).

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

The Forecast For Affordable Football Is...

Wednesday night's torrential downpours put paid to two matches that were into the second half as Sheffield Wednesday against Wigan Athletic and Crawley Town against Bristol Rovers were abandoned.

The Owls fixture was the subject of a ticket promotion from the home club with adults able to attend for £10 and, although their customer charter allows them to levy a 50% charge for the rescheduled game, Wednesday will honour all tickets held as a'gesture of goodwill'.

Reasonably enough, the £10 offer is unlikely to be repeated when the match is replayed as that was done specifically to tie in with Christmas and the fact that Wednesday have another home game this weekend.

Crawley and Bristol Rovers will replay their FA Cup tie on 3rd round day and have reduced prices to £5 for adults and £3 for concessions. The club say this is due to FA guidelines as 75 minutes of the original fixture had been played. Anyone with a ticket stub from the game can also get £2 off food or drink in the ground.

Birmingham City's home game with the winner of the Crawley tie has now been put back to Tuesday 7 January and ticket prices for that game have been reduced to £10 for adults, £5 for students, over-65's and 13-18 year-olds with under-13's paying £1.

Leave The Christmas Shopping Until Sunday!

A recap of the reduced price ticket offers available this Saturday (21st December), usually one that sees crowds drop off slightly across the country as games are close enough to Christmas that people are out preparing without attracting the families that attend a Boxing Day game together.

Starting at 12:15 and Queens Park Rangers season ticket holders and members can purchase up to six additional tickets for the game against Leicester City for just £10 each. The tickets must be assigned to a fan at point of purchase and must be brought prior to matchday.

Birmingham City's Championship clash with Nottingham Forest is priced at just £10 for adults with the offer extended to visiting fans and ensuring a sell-out from Forest supporters.

Notts County's 'Christmas Cracker' against Bristol City is priced at £12 for adults and £2 for concessions while a special family ticket is available for Plymouth Argyle against Bury in League Two.

In the Conference, Alfreton Town have reduced prices for both of their Christmas fixtures, on Saturday and also one week later. Halifax Town have cut the admission fee for children for their game against Forest Green to £3 for under-16's and free for under-12's.

Ending with the 5:30 kick-off between Millwall and Middlesbrough. This has been designated as a 'Back To The Eighties' game for which all tickets are priced at £5. Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

Big Turnouts North & South At Harrogate & Chelmsford City

Two successful initiatives that ran at the weekend in the Skrill North and South divisions respectively drew good crowds to the homes of Harrogate Town and Chelmsford City.

After a gate of 547 against Altrincham in their previous home game, Harrogate's offer of £1 entry for over-18's (free for anyone under that age) saw 1,428 through the turnstiles. A big promotional push from the club around the town and lots of family-friendly activities on the day made it a successful weekend on an off the pitch as Harrogate defeated Gloucester City 4-2.

Harrogate's game at Vauxhall Motors on December 28, meanwhile, has been designated as a 'Pay What You Want' fixture by the home side with a minimum admission fee of £1.

Chelmsford City increased their attendance of 561 against Basingstoke the week before to 718 against Hayes & Yeading on Saturday by having their own 'Pay What You Want' game and praised a 'fantastic turnout' on their official website.

Staying with non-league and Alfreton Town have reduced prices for their two Christmas home games, on 21 and 28 December while Halifax Town have cut children's prices for this Saturday's game against Forest Green to £3 for under-16's and free for under-12's.

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

Back To Back Sheffield Wednesday Deals

From the end of the road where I write the Affordable Football blog I can see the Hillsborough home of Sheffield Wednesday FC and with a workplace dominated by Owls fans it is a club whose fortunes I always keep an eye on.

A number of those workmates are occasional rather than regular visitors to the S6 home of their team so hopefully a couple of pre-Christmas offers will tempt a few of them along. Wednesday's home gates are consistently good, of course, given the struggles they have had over the past decade but with a cavernous stadium to fill it does take some imagination to ensure fewer empty spaces.

Handed a rescheduled home game seven days before Christmas by Wigan's earlier participation in the Europa League, the Owls have done exactly the right thing by reducing all ticket prices to £10 for adults and £5 concessions especially as there is another home fixture against Bournemouth just a few days later.

That has been designated as a 'Kids For A Quid' game while Season Ticket Holders can bring a friend for £10.

http://www.swfc.co.uk/news/article/ticket-office-christmas-news-1229487.aspx

In the interests of fairness, Sheffield United also have a deal on over Christmas whereby a ticket purchased for the Boxing Day clash against Oldham Athletic means one can be brought for the game against Tranmere Rovers on Sunday 29 December for £10.

http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/20131108-christmas-ticket-offer-548854.aspx

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

FA Cup: £10 Tickets At Brighton, Blues & Sunderland, Praise For Derby

FA Cup 3rd Round ties will be played on the weekend of 4/5 January and for those home clubs without a plum draw they have proved to be difficult sellers in the past few seasons. To try and combat that there have already been a number of offers announced.

Brighton & Hove Albion continue to go from strength to strength as a club, the opening of the Amex Stadium the obvious catalyst for bringing together a large potential fanbase.

Last season's average gate of 26,236 was the highest in the Championship and the Seagulls are again leading the way with 26,767 this year. Despite not always featuring among the cheapest teams to watch, the club have argued that they offer an all-round experience to supporters at the public transport-friendly Amex, opening bars early and late and offering entertainment after the match.

For the upcoming FA Cup game against Reading, adult tickets start at £10 in the north and south stands, chief executive Paul Barber hoping that 'potential first-time visitors' are attracted to Falmer.

Birmingham City have an attractive ticket offer for their Championship game game against Nottingham Forest next weekend and have also cut prices for their 3rd Round tie against either Bristol Rovers or Crawley. Adult tickets will cost £10, concessions £5 and under-13's £1.
Sunderland have cut prices for all of their home cup ties this season, including, to their credit, the upcoming League Cup quarter-final with Chelsea at the Stadium of Light. Adult tickets will cost £10 in all areas of the ground for the FA Cup game against Carlisle on Sunday 5 January.

Just as Sunderland have tried to keep prices realistic for an attractive cup game against Chelsea, so Derby County have also drawn praise for doing the same for their season ticket holders, who will pay a maximum of £19, when they entertain Jose Mourinho's side in the FA Cup.

Middlesbrough season ticket holders can also pay £10 for an adult ticket for their game against Premier League Hull City.

All details are on the official websites of the various clubs, more on our twitter page @affordablefooty

Update: Tickets for Charlton Athletic's home game against Oxford United are also priced at £10 for adults, and £5 for concessions.

Back To The Eighties With Millwall!

Having seen their home game against Middlesbrough on the final Saturday before Christmas (21 December) moved to a 5:30pm kick-off time for live television coverage, Millwall have come up with a great offer to persuade fans to watch the game in person.

The Lions have rolled back prices to 1988/89 levels with admission pegged at £5 for all including travelling Middlesbrough fans.

Traditionally gates on the last Saturday before the Christmas have been lower as last-minute shopping takes precedence but Millwall are one of a number of clubs who are making an effort to change that.

Tranmere Rovers are also charging just £5 for their game on Friday 20 December at home to Gillingham (7:45pm) while the following Saturday there are also offers at Birmingham City and Notts County.

Blues are charging £10 for all areas of the ground against Nottingham Forest and by extending the offer to away fans have seen Forest already ask for more tickets on top of their 2,007 allocation.

Notts County's 'Christmas Cracker' against Bristol City has seen them reduce prices to £12 for adults and £2 for under-16's in home areas of the ground.

http://www.millwallfc.co.uk/tickets/Next-Home-Game/

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

Will Bolton Extend The Spirit Of Christmas To Boro?

On Affordable Football previously we looked at Middlesbrough's special ticket offer for Aitor Karanka's first game in charge as manager of the club and the fact that reduced prices were not available to visiting fans from Bolton Wanderers.

A Middlesbrough club statement at the time read: ' Away supporters will be charged at our standard matchday rate. This also reflects the expected ticketing price level that will be set for our supporters when they visit the Reebok Stadium on New Year’s Day.'

Now, Wanderers have announced reduced prices for the return fixture on New Year's Day with adult tickets available for £15 and concessions (under 23's and over 65's) at £5. As of Monday there are no details about whether this will be extended to away fans.

Will Bolton extend the spirit of Christmas into 2014 and offer reduced prices to visiting fans?

Update: The Bolton News reports that the reduced ticket prices are available to all, home and away so a decent gesture from Wanderers.

http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/sport/wanderers/wanderersnews/10865546._/

50 Up For Affordable Football!

Our half-century of posts on Affordable Football has come quicker than expected since starting the blog at the end of July, a few weeks after we began tweeting @affordablefooty about the various ticket offers and deals that can make watching the beautiful game a more affordable experience.

The 50 mark has been reached so quickly because of the sheer depth and reach that football has across the UK and the hard work of so many people in keeping clubs alive and vibrant at all levels.

So, while we have highlighted affordable deals at Sunderland and an interesting loyalty scheme at Aston Villa, we've also found free football at Berwick Rangers thanks to sponsorship from the supporters trust, free entry to Carlisle United on Boxing Day for anyone dressed in full Santa outfit and a non-league club in Suffolk paying all spectators 5p each for coming to the match!

Here's to many more posts!

Latest offers we have seen this week include two reduced price Football League games on the Saturday before Christmas, traditionally a tough time for crowds as the nation indulges in one of its other favourite pastimes, shopping.  

Tickets for Birmingham City against Nottingham Forest are priced at a maximum of £10 for adults while Notts County host Bristol City on the same day with prices reduced to £12 for adults and £2 for under-16's.

Swindon Supermarine have reduced admission prices to £5 for their home game on 28 December against Paulton Rovers with Swindon Town not in action that day and Chelsea's youngsters play Dartford in the FA Youth Cup at Aldershot FC on Thursday 12 December at 7:35pm with admission free for all.

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

Santa, Enjoy Boxing Day With A Free Carlisle United Ticket!

An offer from Carlisle United to bring a bit of fun to the festive season means that anyone attending the game at Brunton Park against Preston North End on Boxing Day in full Santa costume can obtain a voucher from the club which will allow free entry to either that day's game or a match later in the season.

The key condition is that the FULL Santa outfit must be worn, no half-measures with just a hat, beard or santa sack thrown over the shoulder!

These are difficult times for United who attracted their lowest crowd for a decade at the recent FA Cup replay against Boreham Wood and have experienced a general drop in attendances amid a worsening financial situation.

An excellent recent column by Jon Colman in the Carlisle News & Star sheds some more light on the current predicament of the club and doubtless fans have had their concerns about decisions made in the past.

On this specific issue then, it is fair play to Carlisle for putting a bit of fun back into football on a day when clubs generally experience a boost in attendance anyway.

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/carlisle-united/jon-colman/these-numbers-only-add-up-to-one-thing-1.1102052

http://www.carlisleunited.co.uk/news/article/boxingdaysantaoffer26dec13-1215577.aspx?

Scottish Special

Our look at upcoming matches in Scotland starts with February's League Cup semi-final fixtures for which tickets have been pegged at a very reasonable price of £20 for adults, £10 for under-16's and £5 for under-12's.

The competition is wide open with all four teams (Aberdeen play St Johnstone and Hearts take on Inverness Caledonian Thistle) in with a great chance of lifting some silverware after Celtic's surprise defeat at the hands of Greenock Morton earlier in the season.

SPFL Chief Executive Neil Doncaster told his organisation's official website: "The SPFL believes that this is very competitive pricing for national cup semi-finals and takes into account the time of year and the economic challenges facing many supporters.

"In addition, the initial allocations announced today have taken on board supporter feedback from previous seasons and they also follow consultation with all four clubs.

"Last year's Scottish League Cup semi-finals produced two memorable ties and, with upwards of 37,000 tickets available, we look forward to more of the same in February in front of two big crowds and the fantastic atmospheres they will help generate."

A positive move with only one (quite big) negative attached and that is the timing of the second semi-final, when Hearts play Inverness at Easter Road, the home of Hibernian in Edinburgh, at 12:15pm on Sunday February 2. For Caley Thistle fans that means a very early start for a long and potentially treacherous journey to the capital.

Speaking of Caley Thistle they have introduced a £60 ticket for their three home fixtures over the festive period, a trio of games that their supporters probably look forward to more than any others as it takes in the matches against Aberdeen (21 Dec), Celtic (29 Dec) and Ross County 1 Jan).

And staying in Scotland, Berwick Rangers game against Peterhead on 28 December has free admission for all supporters thanks to the Berwick Rangers Supporters Trust while Albion Rovers first home game of 2014 against Montrose is a ‘pay what you can’ fixture.

http://spfl.co.uk/news/article/league-cup-semi-final-prices-announced

http://ictfc.com/news/club-news/1087-big-ticket-offers

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.

Building Bridges Continues At Leeds United

One of our very first posts here at Affordable Football came at the beginning of the current Football League season as we looked at the efforts being made by the new owners of Leeds United to build bridges with supporters after the Ken Bates era had left many supporters of the Whites feeling disenfranchised with their club.

A simpler pricing structure with more games classed in the lowest-priced tier in addition to ticket offers has produced an average attendance to date this season of 25,721, below only Brighton & Hove Albion’s in the Championship and compared to last season’s figure of 21,572.

Leeds will be hoping to boost that average gate figure even further when Wigan Athletic come to Elland Road on Wednesday night with all 12,500 season ticket holders entitled to bring a friend for free.

Billed as an 'early Christmas present' the offer comes on the back of Saturday's game at Blackburn, where a huge Leeds following made the journey to Ewood Park, and amid talk of significant investment being made in the club.

Managing director David Haigh said: "Our motto this season is that the past is the past, and here is our present for Season Ticket Holders. We hope our loyal Season Ticket Holders will take advantage of this offer.

"Our Season Ticket Holders are the lifeblood of the club, and it’s important we recognise that. This is our way of saying thank-you, and hopefully we will see another good crowd at Elland Road. The 30,000 plus for the games against Brighton and Middlesbrough created a fantastic atmosphere, and there’s no doubt that it helps the team.

"This is also an opportunity for some new faces to come to Elland Road to see what we are trying to create here."

Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.