Five for the Weekend

A selection of matches that may be of interest over the weekend.

The FA Cup is at the Second Round stage with the prize of a place in the draw for round three at stake.

Chesterfield host Wycombe Wanderers in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday and ticket prices have been reduced to £10 Adults and £5 Concessions (aged 16 & under/17-20/65+).

It is also First Round weekend in the SSE Women’s FA Cup and both Sheffield United Ladies and Crystal Palace Ladies will be looking forward to playing at the main stadiums of their respective mens’ teams.

Selhurst Park is the venue for the tie between Crystal Palace FC Ladies and Charlton Ladies on Sunday 4th December at 1pm with tickets purchased in advance costing £5 and Under-12’s able to go in for free with a paying adult.

The Blades will take on Leicester City Women Development on the same day, again a 1pm kick-off, at Bramall Lane with admission costing £2 Adults, £1 Under-16’s and free for SUFC season ticket holders.

With local action at something of a premium in West Yorkshire, Bradford Park Avenue are offering admission to season ticket holders from any club for just £5 when they entertain Kidderminster Harriers in the National League North. As always, Under-18 admission at the Horsfall Stadium is just £2.

And, in the FA Vase, which has reached the Third Round stage, season ticket holders of any club can watch the tie between Newhaven FC and Chichester City for half-price, meaning admission of £3 for Adults and £1.50 for Concessions.

Women's FA Cup Final 2017

Following on from yesterday's article on Non League Finals Day, another Wembley date for the diary is the final of the SSE Women's FA Cup which takes place at the National Stadium on Saturday 13 May 2017.

For the second successive season the sponsorship deal with SSE will allow children to watch the final for free with Adult tickets priced at £15.

Arsenal defeated Chelsea in the 2016 final, watched by more than 33,000 spectators. 

The competition itself has reached the First Round stage with ties taking place this coming Sunday, 4th December, at 1pm.

Both Sheffield United Ladies and Crystal Palace Ladies will be looking forward to playing at the main stadiums of their respective mens’ teams.

Selhurst Park is the venue for the tie between Crystal Palace FC Ladies and Charlton Ladies with tickets purchased in advance costing £5 and Under-12’s able to go in for free with a paying adult.

The Blades will take on Leicester City Women Development at Bramall Lane, meanwhile, with admission costing £2 Adults, £1 Under-16’s and free for SUFC season ticket holders.

Non League Finals Day 2017

A date for the diary as the Football Association has confirmed details for the second Non League Finals Day which will take place on Sunday 21 May 2017.

This follows last season's successful staging of both the FA Vase and FA Trophy finals on the same day for the first ever time, with one tickets allowing entrance to both matches.

Boosted by the appearance of Hereford FC in the Vase final, a crowd of nearly 50,000 attended in 2016.

That might be difficult to top this time around but, with the FA on much sounder financial footing as Wembley begins to pay its way and a new FA Cup TV deal kicks in, Non League Finals Day looks set to become a regular part of the calendar.

Tickets for this season have been kept at £25 for adults and £10 for concessions, with The FA also confirming that children will be able to enjoy the day out at Wembley for just £1. 

The FA Trophy is currently at the Third Qualifying Round stage, although the weather affected some of Saturday's matches while the Vase moves onto the Third Round Proper stage this coming weekend.

Christmas Eve Football at Montrose FC

With Christmas Eve falling on a Saturday this year there are plenty of fixtures taking place in Scotland, from the Premiership where both Celtic and Rangers are in action to League Two where one of the games sees Montrose host Stirling Albion at Links Park.

The Gable Endies of Montrose FC came close to losing their Scottish League status in 2015 but won a play-off against Highland League champions Brora Rangers.

For the Stirling match, which kicks-off at 1pm, usual admission prices have been scrapped and entrance will be 'Pay What You Want' for spectators.

Coming Up

November 26: Wolverhampton Wanderers have made tickets half-price in all areas of Molineux for the visit of Sheffield Wednesday, an offer that has attracted near-30,000 crowds in recent seasons.

It is the Third Round of the Scottish Cup and reduced prices are in operation at Stirling Albion for their tie at home to Wick. Adults £10, Seniors, Students & Under-16's £5 and free for U-12's.

November 29: Chelsea U23's take on Feyenoord in the Premier League International Cup. The game takes place at Aldershot FC with a 7:05pm kick-off and free admission. Chelsea's matches against Dinamo Zagreb on Friday 16 December and Swansea City on Thursday 22 December at the same venue are also free to enter.

November 30: The FA Youth Cup is at the third round stage with Stevenage and Tottenham Hotspur meeting at the Lamex Stadium (Spurs are classed as the home side). Admission is £5/£2 for the 7pm kick-off.

December 3: FA Cup Second Round weekend and there are reduced prices in operation at Chesterfield FC for their home tie against Wycombe Wanderers. Tickets are £10 Adults and £5 Concessions.

December 4: Selhurst Park hosts Crystal Palace Ladies in an SSE Women's FA Cup tie against neighbours Charlton Athletic. Admission to the 1pm kick-off is £5 if purchased in advance with accompanied Under-12's going free.

December 13: Wrexham are the scheduled visitors to mark the opening of the new 3G surface at The Rock, home of Cefn Druids. Admission to the friendly, kick-off 7:30pm, will be £4 Adults and £1 Children.

December 15: Manchester United U23's take on Sparta Prague in the Premier League International Cup. There is free admission at Leigh Sports Village to both this game and the following week's meeting with Middlesbrough in the same competition.

December 24: There is Christmas Eve action in Scotland and Montrose, who host Stirling Albion in a 1pm kick-off in League Two, are offering 'Pay What You Want' admission to the game.

Five For The Weekend

A selection of matches that may be of interest over the weekend.

It is the Third Round of the Scottish Cup and reduced prices are in operation at Stirling Albion for their tie at home to Wick. Adults £10, Seniors, Students & Under-16's £5 and free for U-12's.

Looking ahead, Stirling are the visitors to Montrose in a Scottish League Two fixture scheduled for 1pm on Christmas Eve and the hosts are offering 'Pay What You Want' admission to that game.

A half-price ticket offer at Wolverhampton Wanderers has proved very successful over the past couple of seasons and it is back for the visit of Sheffield Wednesday to Molineux this coming Saturday with 50% off all tickets in all home areas of the ground.

The game also marks 30 years since Steve Bull and Andy Thompson joined a club that had fallen down the divisions and played in a stadium that barely merited the name, sparking an upturn in fortunes that I well remember from the Central TV and Midlands Today sports bulletins of my youth that showed ‘Bully’ charging through opposition defences to score.

The weekend ends with Huddersfield Town hosting Wigan Athletic, live in front of the Sky cameras on Monday evening.

Having been so proactive with their season tickets in the summer, the John Smith’s Stadium has been a positive place to be throughout the campaign to date and the Terriers have reduced individual prices for the Latics game to £10 Adults, £5 Over-60’s and unaccompanied U-18’s and £1 for accompanied U-18’s (must be pre-purchased).

Darlington FC are tantalisingly close to returning to their home town as the development of the Blackwell Meadows site they are to share with Darlington RFC enters its final stages. For the moment they remain at Heritage Park in Bishop Auckland where Marine are the visitors on Sunday for an FA Trophy tie that kicks off at 3pm.

Adult admission prices have been reduced to £10 for the game, Concessions are £8 and Children £2.

In the same competition, only a little further south, Truro City take on Frome Town at 3pm on Saturday and reduced prices also apply to this match at £10 Adults, £7 Over-65's, £3 Under-18's and Students and free for accompanied Under-12's.

Alfreton FC

The Impact Arena, home of Alfreton FC of the Conference North, ahead of Saturday's game against Altrincham which the hosts won 3-2 thanks to two goals in the final four minutes.

Slightly ramshackle (which I mean as a compliment), the stadium offers plenty of different vantage points from which to watch a match and get very close to the action and also some very tasty looking chips which were extremely popular among the crowd.

The next scheduled home league game is against FC Halifax Town on Saturday 13 December but before then you can watch Nottingham Forest Under-23's in action against Mansfield Town (Tuesday 22 November, 2pm) and Crewe Alexandra (Tuesday 29 November, 7pm). Admission to those matches is priced at £4 Adults and £2 Concessions.

BBC Price of Football Survey

The BBC have released details of their comprehensive survey of ticket prices and other costs associated with attending matches, both in the UK and abroad, and as usual it is generating plenty of interest and follow-up stories.

Some of the issues have been touched upon here at Affordable Football and it is no surprise to see some of the focus now fall upon the fact that watching a game in the Championship, certainly as an away supporter, can often be more expensive than in the top-flight.

I’ve got limited sympathy for Championship clubs, many of whom are spending big amounts in the transfer market in a bid to reach the Premier League and who also seem increasingly dominant within the ‘EFL’ itself, as the Football League Trophy fiasco illustrates.

But it is becoming increasingly difficult for League One and Two clubs to compete on price given the rising costs that they face and with the income distribution model weighted against them. Maintaining full-time football, in modern, well-kept stadiums in towns throughout England will get harder and harder for these clubs.

Elsewhere, FA WSL receives positive praise for its ticket prices, the average in WSL1 being less than £5, but does face a challenge now, with the transition to a winter season, to maintain interest and ensure a competitive top-flight that is not increasingly dominated by one team.

The Welsh Premier League is also cited as a value for money outlet to watch your football, with 2015 prices held and matchday tickets costing £10 or less per game, and I know from writing this blog for the past three-and-a-half years how hard many of the clubs there work to attract new supporters.

Speaking of which, in addition to Aberystwyth Town’s annual student night for the game against Cefn Druids on Friday, Llandudno FC are offering half-price admission when Bala Town are the visitors on Saturday. This means entrance will cost £4 Adults, £2.50 and 50p.

And, one club who earn nothing but praise in the ‘Price of Football’ survey are Huddersfield Town and the the club have reduced individual prices for the televised Wigan Athletic home game on Monday 28 November to £10 Adults, £5 Over-60’s and unaccompanied U-18’s and £1 for accompanied U-18’s (must be pre-purchased).

Five for the Weekend

A selection of matches that may be of interest over the weekend.

Friday evening sees Aberystwyth Town host Cefn Druids in the Welsh Premier League, kick-off 7:45pm.

With the local university playing such a key role in the town itself, the club are always pro-active in trying to attract new supporters to Park Avenue and Friday is the annual student night with university-goers entitled to admission for £2 and a free hot dog

There is FA Youth Cup action at the County Ground on Saturday at 1pm. Swindon Town fans can watch their Under-18’s in action against AFC Sudbury for just £2 Adults, £1 Concessions.

Round Three of the competition, with Championship and Premier League clubs entering, will begin almost immediately so keep an eye on the FA website for fixtures and the chance to watch a match in one of the big stadiums for just a few pounds.

Dulwich Hamlet host Worthing in the Ryman League Premier Division and a bumper crowd should be in attendance, attracted by the chance to ‘Pay What You Want’ on the turnstiles. Surplus money raised above the usual matchday costs will be donated to Football Beyond Borders and Dog Kennel Hill Adventure Playground.

Hamlet’s Ryman League Cup tie against Faversham Town on Tuesday 13th December, kick-off 7:45pm will be half-price admission on the night.

Saturday’s game between Gosport Borough and Concord Rangers in the National League South is also the Aerial Direct Community Day and is free to watch as long as you obtain a ticket before 5pm on Friday afternoon.

Collections on the gate will be made for the ‘Rays of Sunshine’ charity.

Liverpool Under-23’s take on Reading at Tranmere’s Prenton Park on Sunday, kick-off 1pm and with admission priced at £4 Adults and £1 Children/Concessions.

LFC members and season tickets holders can gain free entry on production of their cards at the turnstiles.

Gillingham FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers

Another ticket initiative in League One, following on from a five-match trial of reduced prices at Oldham Athletic which began with Saturday’s visit of AFC Wimbledon to Boundary Park, a crowd of 3,856 watching a 0-0 draw.

Saturday’s visit of Northampton Town to Priestfield also marked the start of Gillingham’s £25 Family Ticket, covering admission for two Adults and two Under-18’s for all this season’s remaining matches with the exception of the game against Millwall in April.

Tickets are in the uncovered Brian Moore Stand (so a dry day is preferable) and, reflecting that location, individual tickets for the same stand have been reduced to £10 Adults, £5 Under-18’s and Concessions.

Like the Oldham offer, the family ticket and reduced prices apply to away supporters as well.

In the Championship, Wolves have designated the home game against Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday 26 November to offer half-price tickets in all home areas of the ground, an initiative that has seen big attendances at Molineux when tried in recent season.

UEFA Women’s Euro 2017

The tournament, the first 16-team European Championship, takes place in the Netherlands from 16 July to 6 August next year and from a British point of view the standout game of the group stage will be the meeting of England and first-time qualifiers Scotland in Utrecht on Wednesday 19 July.

Matches are also being played in Rotterdam, Breda, Doetinchem and Tilburg and a quick look at the UEFA website indicates that this should be a fairly accessible and affordable tournament for anyone wishing to travel across.

Tickets for all of the group games and quarter-finals are priced at either 10 or 20 Euros, for the semi-finals it is 15 and 30 and for the final, tickets are priced at 20 and 40 Euros.

For those players currently plying their trade in the FA Women’s Super League, preparations for Euro 2017 will be by way of the Spring Series, a transitional campaign that runs from February to May and which is designed to fill the gap as WSL moves to a winter campaign.

Teams will play either four of five home matches and Durham Women FC have been quick off the mark to say that anyone who held a 2016 season ticket will be able to use it to gain entry to their games.

FA Vase: Hallam FC versus Morpeth Town FC

Something slightly different this week, a match preview, rather than a review, of a game local to me which is also an intriguing FA Vase Second Round tie.

Sheffield's Hallam FC are currently riding high in Division One of the Northern Counties East Football League with a big midweek home game against Grimsby Borough that pits third against second.

I've been an occasional visitor to Sandygate since moving to Sheffield in 2001 and, from a distance, the club seem to be in a very good place at the moment.

They have always had the history, being formed in 1860 and playing at the world's oldest football ground but now, with a smart clubhouse that showcases that history, a very active social media presence and continuity on the pitch under the management of Ryan Hindley, it isn't all about the past.

After the Grimsby Borough game comes Saturday's visit of Morpeth Town, the defending FA Vase holders after their Wembley triumph in the face of huge support for opponents Hereford on the first ever Non-League Finals Day.

With the Northern League clubs being traditionally strong in the competition and Morpeth currently placed 3rd in the table, it will be a huge test for Hallam but one that will hopefully attract a good crowd with Sheffield Wednesday not in action and Sheffield United's game at Chesterfield having been moved to Sunday.

Admission at Sandygate for Saturday's 3pm kick-off is priced at £5 Adults, £2.50 Students and Concessions.

Price Reductions at Oldham Athletic

‘We have got it wrong’ is the message from interim chief executive Mark Moisley as Oldham Athletic start a five-game trial of reduced prices which they say will make them the cheapest club to watch in League One.

Starting with the AFC Wimbledon match on Saturday 12th November, tickets purchased in advance will cost £15 Adults, £10 Concessions and £5 Under-16’s (on the day prices will be £20/£12 and £5).

The Oldham Evening Chronicle quotes Mr Moisley as saying: "The supporters' survey we produced provided us with the feedback that fans have not been happy with the pricing we have put in place this season.

 

"So we have looked back at it and said that we have got it wrong.

 

"I don't necessarily think our communication with fans has been brilliant in the past and it's something we are keen to rectify.”

The often-quoted threat to attendances at Oldham, and their League One rivals Bury and Rochdale, is from the two big Manchester clubs but there is also pressure from below with a thriving local scene at Non-League level.

I called League One a ‘limbo land’ in an article earlier in the season and many of its clubs are trying to square a difficult circle of investing for a tilt at promotion while dealing with rising costs and the apparent loosening of the bonds between all of the members of the Football League which is seeing the Championship take the majority of the revenue and publicity generated.

Equally, I don’t want to dismiss the comments of Oldham supporters about the poor quality of the fare on the pitch and the ‘death by a thousand cuts’ approach which made them favourites for relegation at the start of the season, a billing that they are currently living up to.

But, the offer that has been made is a fair one, it applies to away supporters as well, and hopefully it can make a difference and offer some hope of a brighter future.

Tickets for this Saturday’s FA Cup home tie against Doncaster Rovers at Boundary Park are priced at £10 Adults, £5 Concessions and £1 for Under-12’s and can be purchased on the turnstile for the 3pm kick-off.

FA Youth Cup at Bramall Lane

A trip to Bramall Lane on Tuesday evening for the FA Youth Cup tie between Sheffield United and Crewe Alexandra.

There used to be periodic talk of using the Don Valley Stadium site to build a shared, bigger ground for United and Wednesday but DVS has now gone and those ideas with it.

And, while I don’t go too often to matches at either the Lane or Hillsborough, living in Sheffield it's good to have both stadiums at their traditional sites, easily accessible by public transport and with a wealth of pubs and eating places within walking distance.

The FA Youth Cup itself offers a good chance to watch a competitive game, under the floodlights, usually for less than a Fiver (admission on Tuesday was £3 Adults and £1 Concessions) and with family-friendly 7pm kick-offs.

The celebrations from the Blades youngsters when they scored a deserved late winner showed how much it meant to them to progress to the next round.

There are still some First Round ties to be played over the next few days. As with the FA Cup, Premier League and Championship clubs enter the competition in Round Three.