Update

A quick update on a couple of recent posts...

With the FA WSL season reaching an exciting finish Chelsea Ladies remain in with a chance of winning the title and to encourage a big crowd against Everton Ladies on Sunday (2pm kick-off at Staines Town FC) it will be free entry for under-13's with adults priced at £5.

The Tynecastle home of Hearts has been chosen as the venue for Scotland Women's World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against the Netherlands, ticket details to be announced shortly.

There's 'football for a fiver' at the Ricoh Arena next week when Coventry host Exeter City in the JPT but before that it's free entry to the Sky Blues Under-21 match against Crystal Palace at the same venue, this Wednesday 2pm.

Exeter City, meanwhile, reduced matchday prices recently in response to some poor crowds and an increase of around 300 home supporters from the two previous home games came through the gate against Bury on Saturday to watch a first victory of the season at St James' Park (although the Grecians had won their previous two games on the road which would have helped 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.

Family Ticket Offer as Crawley Aim to Boost Crowds

Starting with Saturday's home game against Yeovil a family ticket offer has been launched by Crawley Town FC that will allow 2 adults and 2 under-16's to attend for £44, saving £12 on normal match day prices.

It comes after a dip in crowds so far this season. Fewer than 2,000 came through the gate for the recent League One clash with Fleetwood leading to CEO Michael Dunford issuing a rallying cry to the people of the town to come out and support them.

Having come so far, so fast, Crawley's low levels of support have to be put into context.

Like Wigan Athletic they are trying to build from a low base and Dunford identified one of the key problems when he said: "Lots of families have historical links with other clubs,especially clubs in London."

But, like Wigan, who is to say that the other Red Devils cannot reach the Championship or even the top-flight?

Premiership cash may have created an 'us and them' scenario but there is space left by the casualties of the race to grab it for 'smaller' well-run clubs to move in. If that means marketing the club as a 'second team' almost for local supporters of Spurs, Arsenal, Brighton or whoever then so be it.

As Mr Dunford also said: "Maybe in another ten years’ time on a Saturday, we will have convinced them to come along and watch their local club, feel part of it, that’s our biggest challenge."

October’s Affordable Football

Some of the things that have caught our eye for the month ahead

It is a big month in the Women’s game with the The FA WSL season reaching its climax and lots of big games at the top and bottom of Division One (where the season ends on Sunday 12) and in the race for promotion from Division 2 (Sunday 26 is the final day). Prices rarely rise above £6 for some high quality football and a full fixture list with prices can be found at the official FA WSL website.

Arsenal and Manchester City battle it out in the Continental Cup Final, to be held at Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park ground on 16 October at 7:45pm with tickets priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 for children and a £10 family ticket (2 adults and 2 children) on offer.

Liverpool Ladies are at home to Linkopings of Sweden in the Champions League on Wednesday 8 (kick-off at Widnes 6:30pm) with tickets priced at £5 adults and £2.50 for concessions.

And Scotland will host the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final on either 25/26 of this month (details not yet confirmed at time of writing).

And elsewhere…

Monday 6: The Premier League Under-21 Cup offers fans a chance to watch a competitive game played (usually) at their club’s home ground for just a few pounds. For instance Leeds United host Doncaster Rovers on this night. Kick-off is at 7pm and tickets are £3/£1.

Tuesday 7: Coventry City repeat their ‘Football for a Fiver’ initiative for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy home game against Exeter City. Lots of other clubs have cut prices for their JPT fixtures including Scunthorpe United with standing tickets £8 (£4 for students, under-21's and seniors, £1 for under-16's) for the visit of Notts County.

Friday 10: England Under-21’s play their European Championship play-off against Croatia at Wolves’ Molineux home (kick off 5:45pm) with tickets £10 and £5 and group deals available.

Saturday 18: Sheffield Wednesday have a number of family tickets available for their home game against Watford at Hillsborough with two adults and two children under 17 able to save £28 on the usual prices.

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.

Football for a Fiver at Coventry City

It was Coventry City's £5 ticket offer for their home games in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy two seasons ago that gave me the idea for this blog. The atmosphere that was created for each of the three matches, as crowds progressively increased to the point where 30,000 attended the area final against Crewe Alexandra, created a buzz around the city's football club that hadn't been seen for quite some time.

A lot has happened since then, of course, but the recent return to the Ricoh Arena created a similar feelgood occasion and the club have decided to offer £5 tickets to everyone for the JPT tie against Exeter City on Tuesday 7th October.

Chief executive Steve Waggott told the official club website: "We will look at anything we can do for supporters to make football more affordable and hopefully this will help that."

 

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.

New Students, Potential New Supporters

The tell-tale signs of car boots being unloaded up and down the country mean that the university year is starting and over the next few weeks, amidst the late nights and new friendships, some life-long bonds of a different sort will be being formed as students get to know their new local football club.

Some of course will be already in the habit of watching matches but for others the move to a bigger town or city may offer the first opportunity to do so.

The majority of clubs include students amongst their concession prices but going a step further can reap some benefits. Lincoln City for instance are taking stands at the freshers' fayres of both Lincoln University and Bishop Grosseteste to raise awareness of the club and hand out some free tickets for the game against Gateshead on Tuesday 30 September.

And if you are off to Uni in the next few weeks, as well as buying through the club themselves check with your Student Union to see if they have any deals in place for discounted tickets.

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.

Keep an Eye Out for the Under-21's

Reserve team (or Under-21) football seemed for a while to be drifting towards being merely an extension of training for the bigger clubs with games being played in the afternoon, often at the training ground and with little encouragement for spectators to attend.

That has changed over the past season or so. I blogged last season on the introduction of the Under-21 Premier League Cup which takes place again this year while Sky Sports, with a new channel added to their roster, have been screening live games from the Under-21 Premier League.

A number of clubs (both Arsenal and Spurs for instance) have already played games at their home stadiums with 7pm kick-offs allowing families to attend for an affordable price.

This week sees Manchester United in action at Old Trafford, Newcastle at St James' Park and Leicester at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes made a big push last season to make Under-21 games a fan-friendly event and it is an easy PR win for clubs in the Premier League to keep doing so.

The official FA Premier League website has a comprehensive list of fixtures.

Affordable Football Update

An update on three of the stories we have featured here on Affordable Football over the past few weeks.

The 5th annual Non League Day took place this weekend and generated lots of positive publicity for clubs up and down the country as they took full advantage of the international break and the absence of Premier League and Championship games.

Bungay Town's free mushrooms for fans made national headlines and 'bumper' crowds were reported, none more so than an astonishing 2,856 as Dulwich Hamlet played host to Hampton & Richmond, enticed by a 'pay what you want' offer.

Lower down the pyramid, 717 attended Burgess Hill Town against East Grinstead Town and exactly 100 saw Haringey Borough against Newham, both fixtures offering free entry.

The numbers may not seem much but if only a small percentage of those people come back through the gates two or three more times this season then it can make a massive difference to the clubs concerned.

Coventry City cut adult prices to £10 for their homecoming game at the Ricoh Arena. 27,306 enjoyed an emotional night and although the price of tickets probably had little to do with whether people attended this particular game it was still a smart piece of PR from the club. Prices are back to normal for the visit of Yeovil this weekend but the usual matchday increase has been scrapped for the fixture.

Gillingham Ladies celebrated their strengthened partnership with Gillingham FC by allowing free entry to their first game at Priestfield. A record attendance of 351 watched the over Keynsham Ladies in the Premier League on Sunday.

Low Crowds Force Exeter City to Cut Matchday Prices

Disappointing crowds in recent weeks and a poor start to the League Two season saw Exeter City this week announce a reduction in ticket prices for all areas of St James' Park as they aim to get gates back above the 3,000 mark.

"We hope that these amendments to the pricing of matchday tickets will help to encourage more of our supporters to return to St James Park and that those fans who have stayed away in recent months will start to return at this challenging time," read a club statement.

Aside from a small reduction in student/under-18 tickets for two parts of the ground the price cut mainly concerns the prices paid on matchday. These are now generally just £1 more than the advance ticket price whereas the difference before had been as much as £5.

Comments underneath various articles about the subject this week have been aimed mainly at the price of tickets (regardless of whether purchased in advance or on the day). Without wishing to get into that debate it is clear that, outside the Premier League people still want to decide on the day of a game whether they are going, for it to be relatively easy to buy a ticket and for that ticket to be comparable to the prices paid in advance.

That may be especially true in a city such as Exeter where there are a lot of supporters of other clubs and a big student population and where supply of tickets is greater than demand.

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.

Would £10 Tickets See a San Marino Sell-Out?

Tickets are currently on general sale for England's second Euro 2016 qualifier, the home tie against San Marino which takes place at Wembley on 09 October, and the FA face a heck of a task to drum up interest in it given the Thursday night slot the game has been allocated by UEFA and the (lack of) quality of the opposition.

The attendance for the recent friendly against Norway attracted plenty of talk and most match reports mentioned a 'half-empty' stadium but a crowd of over 40,000 was still an incredible figure which would have generated a great atmosphere at Villa Park or Anfield.

Moving the fixtures around is impossible for the foreseeable future as the FA look to pay off their debt on the national stadium and the governing body do work hard to make England games as affordable as possible. The lowest price general adult tickets for the San Marino game are £25 and in the family enclosure it is £20 for adults and £10 for under 16's but time and transport also count against people wishing to attend from other parts of the country.

But, with a feel-good (or feel better) factor having been generated by Monday night's excellent 2-0 victory in Switzerland how about making this game, as a one-off, £10 for adults and £1 for under-16's in line with the England Women's international versus Germany which takes place on Sunday 23rd November at Wembley?

Getting 60,000 into the stadium would help the atmosphere no end and provide a positive piece of PR while still covering costs and more.

20,000 Crowd is Derby's Capital One Cup Aim

The third round of the Capital One Cup takes place in the week commencing 22 September and having attracted 16,000 to the iPro Stadium for their tie against Charlton Athletic with a maximum adult price of £7, Derby County are aiming to get 20,000 through the gate when they host Reading in another all-Championship clash.

Prices have been kept at the same level and are £5 for season ticket holders, £7 for non-season ticket holders and £1 for all aged under 16.

Chief Operating Officer John Vicars told the official Rams website: “Clearly we are not going to be able to do this for every cup game but our ticket pricing for the Charlton tie proved to be very popular so we’re pleased to announce that it will be the same again for the Reading tie.

"We saw a 16,000 crowd against Charlton, which was a tremendous effort, and with a place in the last sixteen up for grabs for the winners of the Third Round tie next month, I would like to think that even more people will buy into what we are trying to achieve so an attendance of 20,000 should be possible."

A number of other clubs have reduced prices for their ties. Fulham versus Doncaster at Craven Cottage for instance is priced at £10 for adults, £5 for over-65's and 16 to 20-year-olds and £1 for under-16's if purchased before matchday while West Brom versus Hull is £10 for adults and £5 for under-17's, again if purchased before matchday.

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.

Buy in September to Watch England Women at Wembley for £10

England's Senior Women will make their first appearance at the new Wembley Stadium on Sunday 23 November at 3pm when they take on Germany in a friendly that marks the beginning of their build-up to the 2015 World Cup in Canada.

"To get another chance to play at Wembley after the Olympics will be an amazing experience for all the players," midfielder Jill Scott said this week.

The FA have announced that adult tickets purchased during the 'early-bird' period, which lasts for the whole of September, will cost just £10 with children's tickets only £1. This really does represent a great chance to take a family to the stadium to watch a high-quality fixture for an affordable price.

Adult tickets go up to £15 from the start of October.

In the domestic game, this Sunday sees the semi-finals of the Continental Cup with Manchester City Women hosting Chelsea at the home of Hyde FC. Tickets for the 2pm kick-off are priced at just £4 for adults, £3 for over-65's and 16-21 year-olds and £2 for under-16's.

And at Gillingham there is free football on offer to mark the strengthened partnership between the Gills Ladies and Gillingham FC. The FA Premier League game at Priestfield against Keynsham kicks off at 2pm.

 

Last Call for Non League Day

The 5th annual Non League Day takes place this Saturday, 6th September, and once again clubs up and down the country have embraced the spirit of the occasion as they look to boost numbers through the gate and generate positive publicity in their local community.

Many clubs are offering reducing price admission across the board, 'pay what you want' matches and offers for season ticket holders of local Premier League or Football League clubs.

Further to our previous updates there have been plenty more initiatives announced in the past week or so.

Fisher FC are offering £2 off admission for their FA Vase clash with Woodstock Sports (Sunday 1pm) if a donation is made to the Southwark Foodbank at the gate.

Bungay Town of the Anglian Combination host Martham at 2:30 on Saturday and not only can supporters pay what they want to get in but they will also be given a free punnet of mushrooms!

Wherever you're going and whatever your club are doing, enjoy Non League Day.

Free Football as Gillingham Ladies Mark Priestfield Move

As part of strengthened links between the two clubs, Gillingham Ladies FC will be playing home games at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium in the FA Women's Premier League this season.

And to celebrate the partnership, Sunday's opener against Keynsham (kick off 2pm) will see all fans admitted free to the ground. It marks the start of a new era in the club's history with former Gillingham player Simon Ratcliffe appointed as manager and a number of new signings on show to fans.

Thanks to the excellent She Kicks website for this story. As well as news and features, the site has comprehensive fixture lists covering the women's game at all levels for anyone interested in catching a match.