The Big Kick Off

They're underway in Scotland already, of course, but in England the big kick-off is coming this Saturday in many leagues up and down the land and also in the FA Cup, more of which later.

It's a season that ends with the World Cup and although few will want to talk up England's chances at this stage, it has at least been a summer of success for the age group teams that represent the Three Lions with the Under-20's crowned world champions.

Some of the players from that squad are likely to make the step up to the Under 21's this year and there are two matches scheduled before the end of 2017, against Latvia at AFC Bournemouth on Tuesday 5 September and against Scotland at Middlesbrough on Friday 6 October.

Tickets for both games are priced at £10 Adults, £5 Children, Students and OAPS with a family ticket (2+2) available for £20 and discounts for group bookings.

England Women are preparing for their Euro 2017 quarter-final at the time of writing. They open their World Cup 2019 qualifying programme at Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday 19 September when Russia provide the opposition.

Early-bird tickets purchased by 7 August are priced at £7.50 (£10 afterwards) with Children and Concessions priced at £1. 

The Championship, Leagues One and Two start this coming Saturday with the Premier League taking the spotlight from the following weekend onwards, international breaks excluded which will hopefully mean a successful Non-League Day 2017 on Saturday 7 October when social media will be alive with special offers, Pay What You Want deals and even more unusual admission arrangements.

While the top-flight doesn't feature too heavily on Affordable Football, the Premier League has managed to draw quite a bit of the sting out of criticism of its ticket prices over the past year or so and the danger for clubs in the EFL is that they begin to look poor value for money in comparison.

Specific examples don't always tell the whole story but, for instance, general sale tickets for West Brom's league opener against AFC Bournemouth are £25 for Adults, the same amount I would be paying at the turnstiles if I turned up on the day for Coventry City against Notts County this Saturday.

That's not to tar all EFL clubs with the same brush as many are very pro-active on ticket prices, Reading being a good example and advance prices for their League Cup tie at home to Gillingham on Tuesday 8 August are £7, £5 and £1 for those aged 17 and under.

The Royals also play a number of their Premier League 2 games at the Madejski Stadium with free admission for all, keep an eye out for these and other similar offers at the likes of Norwich City and Manchester United (at Leigh Sports Village).

And finally for now, 185 extra preliminary round ties will be played in the FA Cup this coming weekend. Wembley may seem a long way away but the £1,500 prize money for winning at this stage can make a huge difference to clubs as they prepare to offer another year of football in their local community.

Try and get along to a match if you can, many will be priced at £5/£6 for Adults and offer a taste of what the famous old competition still means at this level.