Watch A Match For Free - By Helping Men United

A quick plug for Men United - the team recently launched by Prostate Cancer UK.

Comedian Bill Bailey has been named as team manager in a bid to 'get the message out about one of the UK’s biggest man killers, support men affected by it, and intensify the search for more reliable tests and treatments for the future.'

The link with Affordable Football? Men United are using the language of sport to engage men with an issue they may sometimes shy away from and if you register to shake a bucket for Men United at one of a host of upcoming Football League games you will be able to watch the match for free.

 

http://prostatecanceruk.org/get-involved/do-an-event/football-league/news/men-united-match-days-announced

 

 

Promotion For Derby County? Cashback!

It's that time of year again when season tickets begin to go on sale for next season and if your club has had a shocker that means decision time as to whether you sign up for another nine months of frustration.

Not a description that applies to Derby County supporters. Not only have the Rams gone from strength to strength since the appointment of Steve McClaren, meaning that the future is looking bright and the decision to renew a season ticket should (personal circumstances permitting) be a straightforward one.

Especially as the Rams offering 50% money-back to those who buy before the March 16 early-bird deadline if Derby start the 2014/15 season in the Premier League!

“If we are successful we believe the support ought to be rewarded,” chief executive Sam Rush told the Derby Telegraph earlier this week and it's a smart PR move given that the money received from those season tickets purchased before the deadline will be dwarfed by the kind of money coming from television contracts should McClaren guide the Rams into the top-flight.

With renewals starting at £285 that could mean a season of Premier League football for £142.50

http://www.dcfc.co.uk/news/article/derby-announce-1415-st-details-1317930.aspx

Quick February Update

Just to add to the previous post... Preston North End's FA Cup replay against Nottingham Forest has been scheduled for Wednesday 5 February and adult tickets have been priced at £10 (£9 for PNE ambassadors) with concessions at £5 (£4).

In the 5th Round, Sunderland's never-ending sequence of home cup ties continues with a game against Southampton and adult tickets have again been reduced to £15. Prices also start at £15 for adults when Brighton & Hove Albion take on Hull City.

Also there are Kids for a Quid games this Saturday at West Ham, Gillingham and Salisbury City.

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.

February’s Affordable Football

A round-up of the offers noted so far…

Feb 1: Grimsby Town take on Tamworth in the FA Trophy with the game designated as a Kids for a Quid match by the Mariners.

Feb 4: Fulham’s FA Cup replay against Sheffield United will kick off at 8pm at Craven Cottage with adult tickets priced at £15 and concessions available for £10 (over-65’s and 16-20 year-olds) and £5 (under-16’s). A date for Preston’s replay against Nottingham Forest has not been finalised at the time of writing but some kind of ticket offer is likely given that over 26,000 watched the first game at the City Ground when prices were cut to £10 for adults.

The draw for the 5th Round of the competition has thrown up a couple of crackers with Manchester City playing Chelsea and Arsenal against Liverpool but it will be interesting to see if Sunderland reduce prices once more after yet another home cup draw (25,000 at the Stadium of Light on Saturday for the Kidderminster game).

Feb 5: Peterborough United host Swindon Town in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy area final and it is £10 for adults and £5 for under-16's if tickets are purchased before the day of the game.

Feb 16/23: Scotland's dominant Women's team, Glasgow City, host English Super League sides Everton and Manchester City in pre-season friendlies. A special ticket offer is available priced at £8 adults and £5 for kids which covers both games. I hope to take a more in-depth look at the Women’s Super League season during February.

Throughout February: For all three of their league games during February (versus Hyde on the 1st, Aldershot on the 15th and Gateshead on the 22nd), Alfreton Town are offering entry to under-16's for £1 and to 17-21-year-olds for £5 after weighing up the results of earlier ticket price initiatives during the season.

Ongoing offers: Under-12's can watch Airdrie FC's remaining home games this season for free thanks to funding from the club's Supporters Trust which was agreed recently.

Workington AFC have a family ticket available for the rest of the season costing £20 which covers two adults and two children for any home game (in addition to an ongoing Kids for a Quid offer).

Details available on all of the relevant club’s official websites.

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 Kids Are Alright!

A couple of offers well worth highlighting this week, starting with Airdrie FC who will admit children aged 12 and under free to their reminaining eight home games this season (starting on Saturday 25th against Stranraer) thanks to the support of the club's Supporters Trust. The offer is open to all visiting supporters as well.

http://www.airdriefc.com/news/2014/01/kidsgofree.html

Workington AFC, meanwhile, have introduced (in addition to their ongoing Kids for a Quid promotion) a Family Ticket for all of their remaining home games this season which will allow 2 adults and 2 children entry for £20.

http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/workingtonafc/news/family-tickets-now-available-1137562.html

These are just a couple of offers to have caught the eye this week. Up and down the country people are working very hard to get children and families through the gates (Forest Green Rovers for instance are offering free entry to under-16's for Saturday's game against Chester) so have a look at your local club and see what's on offer.

Affordable Football - FC Barcelona Style!

Most of the ticket offers that we highlight here on Affordable Football are found through searching the web and something that caught the eye this week was a deal that, clearly, most people won't be able to take up.

The official FC Barcelona website on Monday morning had a news story about next Wednesday's game at the Camp Nou (29th January) when Levante are the visitors in the second leg of a Spanish Cup quarter-final tie.

Tickets have been reduced for both club members and the general public with the latter available from between 9 and 46 Euros.

A quick look at the ticketing section of the website on Wednesday evening showed just a handful of 9 Euro tickets remaining but there were plenty of 13 Euro seats available.

So, if you are in the area next week...although there may be plenty of changes to the usual Barca line-up a strong squad has been named for tonight's (Wed 22nd) first leg tie and Lionel Messi is poised to make his 400th appearance for the club as he continues his comeback from a hamstring injury.

http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/detail/article/tickets-for-barca-llevant-cup-game-from-5-euros-each

'We Are Wimbledon' Night Next Tuesday

Battling the twin demands of being a Football League club (with all the attendant rules and requirements) while remaining a genuinely supporter-led and fan-friendly organisation has certainly proved to be within AFC Wimbledon's grasp and the Dons aim to celebrate that with their latest 'We Are Wimbledon' game when Hartlepool United visit on Tuesday 28 January.

Entry to all areas of the ground has been reduced to £10 for adults, £5 for concessions (over-65's and full-time students) and £2 for under-18's but supporters can make a donation on top of their ticket price (either when buying online or at the turnstiles) of which 100% will go directly to the We Are Wimbledon fund which was set up last season and raises money which forms part of manager Neal Ardley's transfer kitty.

On the same evening, Bristol Rovers have reduced prices for their game against Accrington Stanley to £10 in terraced areas and the South Stand with kids for a quid in these areas as well.

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.

A (Very Quick) Cup Update

Just to follow up the previous post about this weekend's FA Cup 4th Round matches...

Huddersfield Town have also priced adult tickets at £10 with concessions (under-18's and seniors) at £5 for their game against the winners of Tuesday night's replay between Oxford United and Charlton Athletic.

http://www.htafc.com/news/article/home-tickets-fa-cup-round-5-h-1306643.aspx

Up For The Cup - 4th Round Affordable Football

The 4th Round of the FA Cup takes place next weekend, the action starting on Friday 24 January when Nottingham Forest entertain Preston North End. Having seen the game moved to this time and with three home league fixtures before and after it, Forest have sensibly priced the cup tie at £10 for adults which should ensure a healthy visiting contingent and a decent atmosphere.

A day later and Sunderland continue their policy of reducing prices significantly for cup games (six games to date in both the League and FA Cups have seen over 127,000 come through the Stadium of Light turnstiles) with adult tickets priced at £10 for the visit of Conference side Kidderminster Harriers.

A similar adult ticket price of £10 applies when holders Wigan Athletic take on Crystal Palace at the DW Stadium.

Birmingham City host Swansea City and the two clubs have agreed prices of £12 for adult season ticket holders and £15 for non-season ticket holders.

Goals are normally guaranteed when Manchester City are at home and tickets are available for their game against Watford starting from £1 for children and £15 for adults.

On Sunday 26th, Sheffield United welcome both Fulham and the television cameras to Bramall Lane and have reduced prices in home areas of the stadium to £10 for adult season ticket holders and £15 otherwise. These increase by £3 on matchday.

Full details are on the official websites of the relevant clubs.

Alfreton Switch Focus To Younger Fans

Skrill Conference Premier side Alfreton Town are offering under-16s admission to all three of their home games in February at just £1 per game and young adults (17-21) at just £5 each per home game as they switch focus slightly from three previous reduced price offers which the club say had 'mixed results'.

When we highlighted the first of these offers, for the game against Braintree in November, we highlighted the refreshing honesty of the club in explaining why they introduced the offer and what they hoped to achieve by it.

That theme is continued by the statement from director John Glasby on the official club website in which he is clear about the pluses and minuses of the ticket offers trialled to date and how Alfreton, after rising rapidly in recent years, are trying to ascertain whether they can move successfully into the Football League without getting into financial problems.

"Miracles 'on the field' have only taken the club three seasons in the Conference Premier, miracles 'off the field' may take a little longer!" said Glasby.

http://www.alfretontownfc.com/news/KIDS-FOR-A-QUID-THROUGHOUT-FEBRUARY-2269.htm?

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.

Bradford Park Avenue Try 'Pay What You Want'

The Skrill Conference North club have said that fans attending this coming Monday (20 January at 19:45) for the game against Leamington at the Horsfall Stadium can decide on their own admission fee.

Kevin Hainsworth, director at the Club told the official club website: 'The board felt that under John Deacey and Mark Hume, we play fantastic attacking football and this was an opportunity for all football fans to see for themselves. We feel that our normal prices offer great value for money but the message has not reached the Bradford public, so we will let everyone decide to pay whatever they want.'

Hopefully the lack of competing games on a Monday night can draw in plenty of floating fans or supporters of other clubs and these ideas simply have to be tried out to see if they can be successful. Perhaps the timing, however, may not appeal to families who may otherwise attend?

http://tc1.bpafc.com/avenue-admission-initiative/

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.

Exeter City The Surprise Package in Under-21 Cup

One of the earliest posts on Affordable Football concerned the inaugural Premier League Under-21 Cup which the league hoped would be played mainly at a club's main ground and at night in order to provide a taster of competitive action for those players in Under-21 and Development squads who over the past few years have found themselves trying to impress on training pitches and non-league grounds as clubs keep their home turf sacrosanct for the first team.

Our hope was that it would prove a family friendly way for youngsters to experience matches under lights and with some big clubs involved.

As with any competition in its first year there has been some teething troubles. Not all Premier League clubs entered and some games have been moved at short notice but some clubs have embraced it fully and been rewarded.

Exeter City have proved to be the surprise package so far, beating Blackburn Rovers in front of 630 supporters at St James' park in the last round. They are at home again in the quarter-finals against Burnley.

The final line-up will be confirmed after Reading play Watford this week (the winners then take on Wolves) but there also clashes between Arsenal and Chelsea and Newcastle and Manchester City to look forward to as well.

A Great Gesture From Barnsley After Charlton Athletic Farce

Saturday's Championship fixture between Charlton Athletic and Barnsley fell victim to a waterlogged pitch after an inspection by referee Iain Williamson deemed the surface 'dangerous' with the full agreement of both managers.

It meant a third postponement in a row at the Valley after the FA Cup tie against Oxford United was called off twice and there has clearly been some exceptionally bad weather across many parts of the country recently.

However, Barnsley were notified at only 12:20 on Saturday afternoon according to their chief executive Ben Mansford that a pitch inspection was due for 1pm, obviously far too late for the 500 or so Tykes supporters making the journey from South Yorkshire. No earlier inspection had been planned as, according to Charlton's official website the club's ground staff 'did not deem it necessary'.

were confident the surface was in a better condition than at a comparative stage before the recent matches against Brighton & Hove Albion and Sheffield Wednesday.
Read more at http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/20140111-club-statement-1288017.aspx#PxUUeaDxUSw3HqsU.99

An 'absolutely raging' Mansford has contacted the Football League regarding compensation for both club and fans while the home side's own supporters' trust issued a statement on Sunday calling for much greater clarity about when a fixture is threatened with postponement and regular updates via social media. After all, as the CAS Trust states, many Charlton fans come from great distances to support their team at home.

Full marks to Barnsley FC, however, as despite the postponement being out of their hands, they have offered anyone with a ticket for the Charlton game (which remain valid or are eligible for a refund) an equivalent free ticket for this Saturday's home fixture against Blackpool as a goodwill gesture.

http://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk//news/article/club-statement-charlton-postponement-13012014-1291053.aspx

A Good Day All Around For Albion Rovers

An update from the 'Pay What You Can' initiative offered by Albion Rovers for their game against Montrose in the Scottish League.

The game attracted plenty of media interest north of the border and even filtered through to the south thanks to Sky Sports News.

Over 700 people came through the turnstiles and although the event was staged primarily to improve on (already good) links to the local community, chairman John Devlin has tweeted the hard facts that show what a success it was.

'FYI Crowd increase of 125%. Gate receipt increase of 160%. Cafe/shop/add-ons increase of 165%.'

Well done to everyone involved (and Albion won the game to secure a welcome three points as well).

January Update

Tuesday 14: The rescheduled FA Cup ties at Charlton (v Oxford) and Birmingham City (v Bristol Rovers) are set to finally take place. Tickets for both games and the 3rd Round replay between Sheffield Wednesday and Macclesfield (after a slight spat between the two sides) are priced at £10 for adults and £5 for concessions.

Saturday 18: As part of the partnership between Rochdale’s Football in the Community Trust and Link4Life, women (supporters aged 17 and over) can watch Dale’s Sky Bet League Two game against Plymouth Argyle for just £10.

Friday 24: Live TV coverage of Brentford's league game against Gillingham has seen the Bees reduce prices to £10 for adult standing and £15 for adult seating, £10 for seniors and £1 for juniors.

The same night, adult tickets are priced at £10 for Nottingham Forest's FA Cup tie against either Preston North End or Ipswich Town.

Saturday 25: Sunderland continue their policy of making cup football affordable this season with adult tickets priced at £10 and concessions £5 for their FA Cup 4th Round tie against either Peterborough United or Kidderminster Harriers.

Tuesday 28: Bristol Rovers have cut prices for their league game against Accrington Stanley with adult tickets available for £10 in terraced areas and the South Stand, £15 elsewhere.

Thursday 30: An unusual night for league football and Nottingham Forest have cut prices by £10 for members for their home game against Watford.

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.

Price Cuts As Hammers React To A Hammering

My post on Thursday, about the chairman of Conference South side Concord Rangers offering free entry to West Ham United season ticket holders on Saturday, ended by saying that the Hammers were still trying to gamely sell tickets for the second leg of their Capital One Cup semi-final against Manchester City despite the handicap of a six-goal deficit.

The game, however, has now been designated as a 'Kids for a Quid' fixture meaning that Under-16's can gain entry for £1 if accompanied by an adult although the fact that general sale adult tickets are still priced at £42 has generated some negative headlines

In addition, with travelling supporters having seen their side hit for five at Nottingham Forest then six at Manchester City, West Ham have also offered a £10 discount on tickets for their upcoming trips to Chelsea, Stoke City and Sunderland in the Premier League.

Hopefully, in addition to Saturday's win at Cardiff, that will contribute to some slightly happier Hammers around.

http://www.whufc.com/articles/20140109/ticket-discounts-announced_2236884_3613609

Fed Up West Ham Fan? Free Football This Saturday!

It's been a bad week for West Ham United supporters. On Sunday the Hammers were beaten 5-0 by Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup 3rd Round fixture shown live on ITV. Manager Sam Allardyce's plan of keeping his more senior players back for their League Cup semi-final at Manchester City on Wednesday working to the extent that title contenders City managed to score only more goal than the Championship side.

Antony Smith is one of those of a Claret and Blue persuasion who has not enjoyed the last few days and as chairman of Concord Rangers in the Skrill Conference South he is able to do something about it, namely offer West Ham United season ticket holders free entry to the scheduled home game against Hayes & Yeading this Saturday.

“It’s been a bad week for us Hammers fans and I think a lot of us are just fed up of seeing over-paid players who don’t care about the club, letting us down,” he told his club's official website.

“So if there are West Ham fans who live locally who want to spare themselves another long day out at Cardiff on Saturday then you are more than welcome to watch Concord – for free.”

West Ham fans who do want to come and see the game for free just need to show their season ticket at the gate and are also welcome to make a donation into a bucket for Concord’s chosen charity, the Indee Rose Trust.

Concord Rangers’ ground is the Aspect Arena, and is based at Thames Road on Canvey Island, SS8 0HH.

The Hammers, meanwhile, are still gamely plugging the second leg against Manchester City on the front page of their website with tickets starting from £32 for adult season ticket holders. To be fair they have reduced prices for other cup games this season and also run a number of 'kids for a quid' deals.

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.

'Pay What You Can' This Saturday At Albion Rovers

A quick reminder of a 'Pay What You Can' initiative taking place this weekend when Albion Rovers host Montrose in Scottish League Two, chairman John Devlin hoping that the move will lead to a healthy crowd at Cliftonhill but, more importantly, help cement good relations with the local community.

A £1 minimum charge applies with the offer also open to visiting supporters.

Albion have already hit the headlines once this season with their shock Scottish Cup win against Premier League Motherwell and Affordable Football wishes them all the best for this weekend.

A Brief Storm But It Is £10 At Sheffield Wednesday Next Week!

Shortly after the 1-1 draw between Macclesfield and Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup 3rd Round on Saturday, the Owls announced that ticket prices for the replay would be £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, a move that has appeared to upset the Conference side on two counts according to a story that appeared on the Telegraph website on Monday morning.

"It actually devalues the competition,” said Andy Scott, Macclesfield's associate director, quoted in Ian Ridley's article.

“It should be £18 and £10. We will speak to Wednesday on Monday and try to persuade them to put the prices up. There’s got to be agreement between the clubs. We had to agree our prices with them. We wanted to go £25 for sitting and £20 standing and we could have sold out twice over but Wednesday said it was too much. So we settled at £20 and £16, with concessions at £16 and £10.”

As Owls fans were quick to point out, however, the prices had already appeared in the matchday programme for the game on Saturday! A communication breakdown it seems and tickets are now on sale for the game priced at £10 and £5.

 With 40% of the gate revenue at stake, Macclesfield are obviously keen to protect their corner but being able to sell out at the Moss Rose is a different scenario from trying to attract home fans to Hillsborough for the replay (Macclesfield presumably will bring a roughly similar amount of visiting fans regardless of which price is adopted) and hopefully £10 adult tickets will generate more overall income and a win-win situation.

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.

Some Thoughts On The FA Cup

If you're a glass half-empty kind of person then the focus of FA Cup Third Round weekend will always be on the empty seats that you can see but at Affordable Football I like to be positive (especially about The Cup) and it's worth reflecting that these are games that people have to actively purchase a ticket for which hundreds of thousands of supporters did, just a short time after Christmas and when a number of clubs had had two home games in the space of a few days.

Comparisons with Premier League attendances are almost always going to be unflattering but Norwich City, for instance, had a second meeting in ten days against Fulham, hardly a fixture to get the pulse racing and yet almost 22,000 went along to watch it.

Brighton marketed their game against Reading, an all-Championship affair, from almost the time the draw was made, reduced prices and drew a crowd of 20,696 to the Amex.

Replays at Watford (against Bristol City) and Fulham (against Norwich City) have been priced at £15 for adults while Sheffield Wednesday have pegged tickets at £10 for the match against Macclesfield.

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.

Affordable Football From Edinburgh's 'Other' Team

Over 20,000 crammed into Easter Road on Thursday night to watch an exciting Edinburgh derby between Hibernian and Hearts which went the way of the home side.

Elsewhere in the Scottish capital, Spartans FC are making their mark in the newly-formed Scottish Lowland Football League which came into being this season with the aim of eventually offering a potential route into the Scottish League via a play-off system which will also involve the winner of the long-established Highland Football League.

Spartans, who also have a number of other men's and women's side competing under their name, are currently top of the table but it is a couple of affordable football offers that have caught the eye of this blog.

In a twist on some of the 'Pay What You Want' offers we have seen this season, the last home game before Christmas was deemed 'Donate At The Gate' with free entry to the fixture against Stirling University in exchange for a donation of items that would be distributed amongst those less fortunate during the festive period.

A superb gesture and on top of that, the club's official Twitter feed (@spartansfc) has tweeted the following in the past couple of days: 'We've decided 2014 is the year of affordable football so half price season tickets are £20/£10 & for rest of season all u15s get in free!'

http://www.spartansfc.com/

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.

Congested Calendar Means Cup Creeps Up!

FA Cup Third Round weekend is just over two days away at the time of writing but with a full round of fixtures having taken place on Wednesday it leaves little time to build up the romance of the cup.

Although there are some tasty ties and none more so than Arsenal versus Tottenham, team changes aplenty are surely likely after three games in less than a week over Christmas.

The game at the Emirates is an easy sell as is, at the other end of the scale, a potential upset such as Macclesfield versus Sheffield Wednesday. But it is for the games in between that clubs will have to work hard to boost interest.

In one of the first posts on Affordable Football, marking the start of this season’s FA Cup, I wrote the following:

‘It is the third round, so often one of the most important days in the football calendar, that has created negative headines in recent years with much-changed sides and low crowds. Fresh from negotiating a new television deal for the competition with the BBC and BT Sport, maybe the FA could try a radical move and subsidise ticket prices on a January weekend when they have the national stage to themselves football-wise and very little competition from other sports.’

Now a number of clubs have reduced ticket prices as follows.

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 and Middlesbrough (£10 for season card holders until 5pm Jan 3rd).

But a uniform offer of, for instance, free entry for all under-16’s if accompanied by a paying adult, could allow the cup to be marketed as a family weekend of football.