'Pay Per Point' Season Tickets In Holland

A summer snippet from The Netherlands where second-tier club FC Den Bosch have introduced a season ticket that will cost a flat-rate of just 25 Euros with further payments of 10 Euros for win and 5 for a draw, up to a maximum further figure of 140 Euros.

An interesting idea and one that would have ensured a relatively cheap season for a few English clubs in the campaign just ended!

Sholing FC Raise A Glass To The FA Cup

Southampton-based Sholing FC enjoyed the perfect post-season boost when they were chosen as the recipients of a £100,000 grant from Budweiser, FA Cup partners of the Football Association, towards improving the football facilities at the Universal Stadium.

The Boatmen can trace their history back to 1884 in one guise or another and in 2014 won the FA Vase at Wembley, a rare triumph for the South in a competition increasingly dominated by Northern League clubs.

For 2017/18, season tickets are available as follows...

Watch 21 Sholing home games for the cost of watching 1 Premier League game. Keeping football affordable #uptheboatmen pic.twitter.com/I7wrpHnMy2

— Sholing FC (@sholingfc) 24 May 2017

Wembley Showdown For Reading & Huddersfield Town

The build-up to Bank Holiday Monday’s Championship Play-Off final between Reading & Huddersfield Town will inevitably focus on the potential financial windfall that is coming the way of the Wembley winners.

Various price-tags will be placed on the ‘richest game in the world’ (I've seen £170m in one report) and that will be the main thrust of the coverage, ahead of what promises to be quite an intriguing battle between the two teams and their respective managers, Jaap Stam at Reading and David Wagner of Huddersfield.

In terms of this blog and its focus, this is a meeting of two clubs who have featured heavily here and on our Twitter page.

With the Royals there has been a general theme of significantly reduced prices for home cup ties over the past few seasons and regular free admission to Under 23 games played at the Madejski Stadium.

Add into that their ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ pledge last summer, which saw away tickets capped at £20 and matching prices for home supporters in the Eamon Dolan Stand (with a £2 membership card) and some worthwhile extra touches on travel to and from the stadium.

Huddersfield, were the main story of last summer in terms of pricing after their decision to offer season tickets for £179 sparked a huge response from supporters.

Home matches this season have been played out in front of increased crowds and in a positive atmosphere helped, of course, by the success that Wagner has had in transforming his squad.

It's impossible to quantify whether the better attendances and upbeat vibe has won the Terriers any extra points on the pitch but the shrewdness of chairman Dean Hoyle in making the offer was that he could clearly see behind the scenes that Wagner was capable of doing something special and looked to add to the feel-good factor by subsidising season tickets from television revenues.

And many Huddersfield fans travelling to Wembley over the Bank Holiday Weekend will be doing so having snapped up £199 season tickets for 2017/18 when they could be watching Premier League football in West Yorkshire.

An International Double Bill

Two interesting matches taking place at the end of May are linked by the presence of the England ‘C’ team which brings together a selection of the best Non-League players in the country.

Under the auspices of the experienced Paul Fairclough, a host of players now plying their trade in the top four divisions of the game have pulled on the England shirt and a new generation will get their opportunity to impress in two upcoming friendlies.

Fairclough has named an experimental squad for the matches against the Panjab FA (more of whom in a second) and the Jersey FA, which take place on 28 and 30 May respectively, with clubs from Blyth Spartans to Boston United represented.

The Panjab football team is a representative side that is formed from the Punjabi community in the UK and who played their first fixture in 2014.

Solihull Moors play host to their game with England and admission is free for the 3pm kick-off although tickets must be obtained in advance.

Founder and chairman of the Panjab FA, Harpreet Singh, told the Solihull Moors website: "To make it an admission free game was something that was on my mind from the moment the game was agreed with The FA back in January. 

"It is more important to me that all people from different backgrounds, the young, the elderly, people who may never have watched a football match previously, come to the game and enjoy this unique fixture, the first of its kind."

Two days later, under the banner of an FA XI, Fairclough’s side will play at the Springfield Stadium in Jersey. Admission to the 7:30pm kick-off is priced at £5 with Under 11’s free.

Here Comes The Summer!

The quietest few weeks of the year, Affordable Football-wise, are upon us and that is especially so this year as the Women’s Super League makes the transition to a winter calendar.

Action in the Spring Series winds up on Saturday 3 June in preparation for this summer’s European Championships in the Netherlands (tickets for which are very reasonably priced if you fancy experiencing a big tournament without some of the logistical and financial drawbacks that come with a men's World Cup or Euros.

Looking ahead, Northern Ireland welcomes the European Women’s Under-19 Championship in August and tickets are already on sale for the hosts three group games, the semi-finals and final at Windsor Park, all priced at just £4 Adults and £2 for U16's.

It won’t be too long, of course, before pre-season friendlies are upon us and there are some good ways to keep up to date with the matches that are taking place.

The Pitchero site has a comprehensive list of matches involving Non-League clubs while Scottish Football Fixtures does a similar job for football north of the border.

Tranmere Rovers v Forest Green Rovers

Tranmere Rovers supporters prior to Sunday's National League play-off final at Wembley which, despite the greater numbers in attendance from Merseyside, was won by Forest Green Rovers and means the Gloucestershire club will be playing in the Football League next season for the first time in their history.

I went to the game having enjoyed last season's clash between Forest Green and Grimsby and took advantage of the early bird ticket offer which meant Level 2 tickets at Wembley were available for £20 Adults and £10 Concessions.

That positive, meant to attract neutral spectators, was more than counterbalanced, perhaps, by the fact that walk-up tickets were £36 and £41 with no concessions on the dearer Level 1 seats and a price of £18 for Under 16's on the Level 2 seats, meaning an expensive day out if you wanted your children to sample the Wembley atmosphere.

As has been pointed out, the match was organised by the National League hiring the stadium rather than the FA so those costs have to be taken into account but, as much as I thought the game provided a positive image for the top-tier of the Non-League pyramid, a second successive attendance of under 20,000 may prompt a rethink for next year's venue.

Sticking with Wembley and this Sunday's Non-League Finals Day has both the FA Vase and FA Trophy Finals taking place and tickets priced at £25 Adults, £10 Concessions and £1 Under 16's and lots of activity taking place in between the two games.

Woking FC & Ross County Revisited

A season of National League football is available for £99 at Woking FC with an early-bird offer on season tickets having now been extended to the end of May after the sale of more than 1,000 to date.

Students aged 20 and over can watch for £75 and those aged 19 and under will pay just £20.

The Cards recently preserved their status in the top-flight of Non-League football but are heading down a slightly path for next season with the departure of experienced manager Garry Hill and the appointment of Anthony Limbrick, untested as a manager but very highly-rated as a coach at youth level in the Premier League.

Add to that the recent announcement of impending investment in the club and it is changing times at the although the legendary figure of Geoff Chapple remains very much involved.

I mentioned Ross County recently in connection with the free admission fixture against Hamilton Accies, which takes place this coming Tuesday (16th May), and the Dingwall club are also looking towards next season with a move on season ticket prices.

A brief in the Jail End (South Stand) has been reduced from £300 to £200 for the 2017/18 campaign (over 65’s reduced by £65 to £100) with new season tickets introduced for Young Adults (18-21) in the same stand which will cost £100.

Ross County Chairman, Roy MacGregor said:

“We have been holding regular Supporters Meetings this season and it became apparent from those that football in general has become too expensive. We’ve not raised the price of season tickets for five years but we wanted to go further than that and try to make football more affordable and get more people along on a Saturday afternoon."

Bramall Lane, Wednesday 10 May

My third Sheffield United versus Coventry City match of the season, after watching the Under 23 game at the Blades’ training ground and the first team match at Bramall Lane, was Wednesday evening’s Under 18 play-off final between the two teams.

There was free admission and a relaxed atmosphere on a warm evening with the hosts having the better of the skirmishes and lifting the trophy with a 1-0 victory.

But there is still more football to be played in S2 as the Northern Counties East League (NCEL) League Cup Final between Penistone Church and Bridlington Town takes place on Wednesday 17th May at 7:30pm with admission priced at £5 and £3.

Under 23 Action At The Emirates

Another Twitter follower has kindly sent me a picture of their evening at an Under 23 fixture, this time it was Monday's clash between Arsenal and Manchester United.

@AffordableFooty exellent evening down at the emirates pic.twitter.com/EmsCFft4Pr

— T°B¥ K£MPT*π (@tobykempton) 8 May 2017

Those in attendance saw an exciting 2-2 draw and an excellent personal display from Arsenal's signing from Non-League earlier in the year, Cohen Bramall.

Time For A Championship Price Cap?

An exciting final day in the Championship, needing little in the way of persuading people to attend the matches that mattered, but I do feel it is time that the competition moved to address the situation whereby away supporters are paying more for some matches than they would in the top-flight.

An article from The Mag, a Newcastle United fanzine, highlights that Magpies fans will spend less on tickets for games at Wembley (Spurs), the Emirates, Old Trafford and the rest in 2017/18 than they have done this season at a number of Championship grounds.

I’ve written in the past about how money from television rights can and will distort the price that people pay to watch football, which is why I’m wary of headlines that simply contrast two figures without going into the detail of how important gate money is to clubs outside of the top divisions.

But that doesn’t mean that the Championship, which is a league that increasingly stand apart from Leagues One and Two and which the EFL constantly market as one of the most successful in the world in terms of attendance figures, shouldn’t then use its increasing financial clout to make moves on capping ticket prices.

The Premier League clubs have been extremely shrewd with their £30 limit for away supporters, coupled with individual initiatives from clubs which sometimes reduce that figure for certain matches or which subsidise travel. It means that the competition continues to play in front of full houses with vibrant atmospheres, which is attractive to television audiences (I write as someone with little love for what the top division of English football has become but also someone who is probably not the target audience for it).

With Championship matches subject to as much disruption for live television than games in the top-flight (there have been a number of Friday night fixtures this season for example) then it is surely in the interests of the EFL to avoid the unflattering comparisons that there have been with prices for away supporters in the top-flight.

Under 23 Action At Pride Park

Thanks to @deany75 on Twitter for sending me this picture of Friday night's U23 match at Pride Park between Derby County and Chelsea.

@AffordableFooty You Rams! pic.twitter.com/x6lbRp6jh7

— Kevin Dean (@deany75) 5 May 2017

It has been another season of twists and turns for Derby supporters but those who took advantage of free admission to this game saw a 2-1 victory for the home side that guaranteed their place in the top-flight of Under 23 football.

Two Free Matches In One Week At Goodison Park

Everton are throwing open the doors of the grand old ground on Monday 8th May at 7pm for the Under-23 Merseyside derby against Liverpool and also for Everton Ladies WSL2 Spring Series fixture against Watford on Sunday 14th May at 2pm.

Both games will offer the opportunity for supporters to donate to the club's 'Home Is Where The Heart Is' campaign.

Scottish Survival Special!

Some crucial matches at the bottom end of the various Scottish divisions this weekend and some reduced prices as well.

Raith Rovers currently occupy the relegation play-off place in the Championship but a win at home to bottom club Ayr United, coupled with defeat for St Mirren against champions Hibs could see them move above the dotted line.

Ticket prices have been reduced to £5 at Stark's Park with accompanied Under 16's £2. 

In League One, Peterhead are bottom of the table heading into the final day of action but could earn themselves a second chance at staying up by going above Stenhousemuir and into the play-offs.

The Blue Toon are repeating their recent 'Fitba for a Fiver' offer for the visit of Alloa Athletic which means entry for £5 (home and away fans), Under 12's free and a complimentary ticket for season ticket holders.

And, at the foot of League Two a point is the requirement for Berwick Rangers to avoid a play-off with the winner of the promotion showdown between the winners of the Highland and Lowland Leagues.

Berwick host Edinburgh City (promoted through the play-off last season) on Saturday and have knocked £2 off the usual matchday prices meaning it will be £10 Adults, £5 Concessions.

Lyon and Paris St Germain Set For Cardiff Showpiece

The 2017 Women's Champions League Final will take place at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday 1st June at 7:45pm and, after this weekend's semi-final second legs, it will be an all-French occasion in the Principality just two days before the Champions League Final itself.

Manchester City's 1-0 victory away to Lyon, the goal scored by USA star Carli Lloyd, was not enough to see the Women's Super League champions through to the final as Lyon had brought a 3-1 lead back from the Academy Stadium in the first leg.

PSG gained a measure of revenge for their men's side by completing a 5-1 aggregate victory against Barcelona to set up the final, tickets for which have been priced at just £6 for Adults and £3 for Juniors and Seniors..

Manchester City will try again in next season's Champions League after winning the FA WSL last time around and also have the Women's FA Cup Final at Wembley to look forward to against Birmingham City on Saturday May 13.

Tickets are priced at £15 for Adults, £5 for Concessions (OAP's and Students) and free for Children.

Meanwhile, the domestic Spring Series has a busy schedule between now and early June alhough there is no doubt that the demise of Notts County Ladies just days before the start of the season is a huge blow to the credibility of the Women's game and raises questions about the viability of teams unless they are financially underpinned by their parent clubs.

In WSL 2, Everton Ladies will be in action at Goodison Park on Sunday 14 May with admission free for the 2pm kick-off against Watford.