Friday 27 October 2017

November's Affordable Football

November 3: The FA Cup First Round takes place across three days. Can Truro City cause an upset at The Valley? Tickets for the Cornish club's trip to face Charlton Athletic on Sunday 5th are priced at £10 Adults, £5 Over 65's and Under 21's and £11 for an Adult + Under 18.

November 8: The first leg of Chelsea Ladies Champions League tie against Rosengard takes place at Kingsmeadow. Tickets are priced at £6 Adults, £3 Concessions. The home leg of Manchester City's clash with LSK Kvinner of Norway will be played on 15/16 November.

November 10: Bangor City play host to Wales Under-21's as they take on Bosnia & Herzegovina in European Championship qualifying. Tickets are priced at £5 Adults and £2 for Senior Citizens and Juniors.

November 11: Burton Albion host England Under-17's against Russia in a 1pm kick-off. Tickets are priced at £3 for Adults and £1.50 for Concessions and Students.

November 14: England Under-17's take on Germany at the New York Stadium, home of Rotherham United. Tickets for the 7pm kick-off are priced at £3 for Adults and £1.50 for Concessions and Students. The Millers also have a Kids for a Quid offer in place for their League One game against Wigan Athletic on Saturday 25th.

November 15: Reading FC Women take on London Bees at the Madejski Stadium with general admission priced at £5 Adults, £2 Concessions and £12 for a Family.

November 18: The U23 derby between Manchester United and Manchester City takes place at Leigh Sports Village, kick-off 1pm, with free admission via the LSV website.

November 24: England Women take on Bosnia & Herzegovina at the Banks's Stadium, Walsall, in World Cup qualifying. Tickets are available, priced at £10 for Adults and just £1 for children and concessions.

November 28: Colchester United is the venue for England Women v Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier. Tickets are available, priced at £10 for Adults and just £1 for children and concessions.

There are also three Under 23 fixtures scheduled for Pride Park, where Derby County usually offer free admission (please check). The Rams youngsters are due to take on Wolfsburg on Wednesday 1st, Nottingham Forest on Monday 6th and Leicester City on Friday 24th.

And the FA Youth Cup reaches the First Round stage with a number of matches scheduled for League One and Two grounds, such as Oldham Athletic v Bury on Wednesday 1st at 7pm. Admission to that one is priced at £4 Adults and £2 Concessions.


Monday 23 October 2017

Winchester City FC

Following on from the Hampshire theme of this recent article, Winchester City FC are offering £5 admission to Southampton, Pompey, Bournemouth (and Reading) season ticket holders for the big Friday evening clash against Salisbury in the Southern League this week.

The offer also extends to Eastleigh season ticket holders (the Spitfires are offering free admission to their game against Solihull Moors tomorrow night, Tuesday 24th) and anyone who holds a ticket from either of Winchester's recent games against Bristol Manor Farm or Paulton Rovers.

Add in a local derby, a big following from Salisbury and free entry for Under 16's and it should be a lively evening in the beautiful cathedral city.

Update - Wednesday 25th October: And the Hampshire offers keep on coming as there is free admission this coming Saturday for Sholing FC against Fareham Town, kick-off 3pm.

Sunday 22 October 2017

Northwood FC

I get more annoyed than perhaps I should when I miss out on the chance to publicise a 'Pay What You Want' game and that's what happened on Saturday as I read about Northwood FC's 'Pete Barry Day' in memory of their late committee member and father of chairman Ian Barry.

To mark a year since his passing, Woods' offered PWYW admission for the fixture against Aylesbury United and those who did come to Chestnut Avenue saw a 3-0 victory for the hosts in the Evo-Stik League South, East Division (the league names at this level of the pyramid never cease to confuse).

Northwood have featured on these pages before with their season ticket offers (just £40 for the current campaign) and they are clearly a club rooted at the heart of their local community.

Wednesday 18 October 2017

Bath City FC Community Day

Having completed their transition to being a community owned club in the summer, these are positive times for Bath City FC with a proposed redevelopment of their historic Twerton Park home being another important milestone to come.

The stadium hosts this Saturday's (21 October) Community Day with 'Pay What You Want' admission to the National League South fixture against Braintree Town, kick-off 3pm.

10% of gate receipts go to club charity, Age UK, and there will also be plenty of other things going on, including live music and half-time youth games.

As the club themselves say, 'Invite friends, bring along the kids, bring back people who used to come to City, and make this a great day.'

Monday 16 October 2017

AFC Wimbledon

Download the voucher for reduced price League One football on Tuesday evening...


Thursday 12 October 2017

Eastleigh & The Saints: South Coast Special

Some matches that may be of interest in the Southampton area over the next few weeks.

Starting at Eastleigh, where there is free entry on Tuesday 24 October to the National League game against Solihull Moors at the Silverlake Stadium.

The Spitfires have come in for quite a bit of criticism recently over the very late postponement of a home match against Chester, the letters page of last week’s Non-League Paper containing quite a few unhappy missives.

But the offer of free football is one that has been made regularly in recent seasons as Eastleigh look to build up their supporter base.

Many of those supporters will also be regulars at St Mary’s and anyone buying a ticket for Southampton’s televised home clash with Burnley on Saturday 21 October (kick-off 5.30pm) will get 50% off a brief for the West Bromwich Albion fixture on Saturday 4 November.

And Premier League 2 matches that are played at the Saints stadium will continue to be free entry for all spectators, although a ticket will be required.

Next up for the Under-23’s is the visit of Newcastle United on Monday 16 October for a 7pm kick-off.

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Maine Road FC, West Didsbury & Chorlton FC

Maine Road FC v Padiham, North West Counties League

The teams come out at Maine Road FC on Monday evening for a North West Counties League clash with Padiham which the visitors won 3-1.

Both Maine Road and their local rivals West Didsbury & Chorlton offer Football for a Fiver and a warm welcome to their respective parts of South Manchester.

The two sides are scheduled to meet in the league on Boxing Day and Easter Monday and both should be enjoyable occasions.

I'm also pleased to say that this blog will be sponsoring a player at West for the remainder of the campaign to go with our sponsorship of a player at Sholing FC.

Friday 6 October 2017

Yeovil Town Ladies FC

In one sense it is an ordinary matchday for Yeovil Town Ladies FC, when Sunderland the visitors to Huish Park this Sunday for a 2pm kick-off in FA WSL1.

Advance admission is priced at £5 for Adults (£7 on the day) and £2.50 (£3) for Concessions, with Family Tickets £12 (£16) and a host of activities going on before the action begins.

But the club are taking the next step in what become a fight to preserve their hard-won status in the top-tier of the Women’s game being lost, to yet another off-field reorganisation of the WSL, and are hoping to 'Pack the Park' for the game but also for a Forum event immediately afterwards.

I've been writing this blog for a little over four years and have probably been through as many WSL reshuffles during that time.

Most recently came the move to a winter schedule, a positive move I felt, but barely had Yeovil finished their pre-season preparations then came the news that the FA wanted to move to a full-time, fully professional WSL1 for the 2018-19 season with anything from 8 to 14 clubs included.

All clubs currently in the division will have to re-apply for entry and the criteria that will need to be met will cost Yeovil in the region of £350,000 according to a recent BBC article, with Yeovil Town FC unable to provide anything other than their support, with matches played at Huish Park for example.

It is not the principle of a fully professional league that Yeovil object to, rather the speed of the proposed changes and the short time-frame given to meet them.

As the author Carrie Dunn argues on the She Kicks website, constant changing of the league set-up is not helping to establish it in the minds of the football public and from my perspective that is a shame when so much hard is done at each club to try and attract supporters through the turnstiles.


Wednesday 4 October 2017

Eastbourne Town FC

A great picture and a nice gesture from supporters group Pier Pressure who are meeting all of the costs of this Saturday's game between Eastbourne Town FC and Loxwood in the Southern Combination Football League.

That has allowed the club to offer free entry to all on Non-League Day with a collection also being held by local charity Demelza.

Sunday 1 October 2017

Non-League Day 2017

Non-League Day 2017, the eighth staging of the event, takes place this year on Saturday 7 October to coincide with the next break in the action in the Premier League and Championship.

This is far from a definitive list so please check out the official NLD Twitter page and also your local club to see if there is anything happening.

Announcing their plans very early were Dulwich Hamlet FC where it will be 'Pay What You Want' for the visit of Needham Market. Last season more than £3,000 was given to charity and all profit after the usual match costs will this year benefit two more local causes.

At Top Field where Hitchin Town host Stratford Town in the Southern League Premier Division it will also be 'Pay What You Want' admission. Hitchin have used PWYW on a number of occasions over the past couple of seasons and secretary Roy Izzard wrote in his weekly update recently that they had always 'produced more income than was budgeted for full price admission.'

An attendance of 1,000 is the aim at Hitchin while Paget Rangers of the Midland Football League are looking to get 200+ through the gate when they entertain Uttoxeter Town on Non-League Day. Again, this game is 'Pay What You Want' at the turnstiles.

Newmarket Town are offering admission of just £2 for Adults and free for Under 16's when purchased via the club website for the visit of Histon in the Eastern Counties League, Jockeys hosting their annual Youth Day, and entry to Chesham United against Royston Town in the Southern League Premier Division is on a 'Pay What You Want' basis with the club also distributing plenty of free tickets to Under 18's.

Half-price admission for mentioning Non-League Day is available at Croydon FC (free entry if you download a particular app) and it's half-price for Premier League and EFL season ticket holders at Buxton FC for the game against Marine.

Another Eastern Counties League club staging a Youth Day on NLD are Felixstowe & Walton United. It is 'Pay What You Want' admission to their game at home to Ely City while there is Football for a Fiver at Tonbridge Angels for the Bostik Premier visit of Wingate & Finchley.

Barrow have reduced prices, for their National League game against Leyton Orient, to £10 Adults, £7 Concessions & Students and free for Under-17's while Senior Citizens (60+) can gain free entry to Peterborough Northern Star at home to Rothwell.

It is 'Pay What You Want' at Newton Aycliffe FC as they host Ryhope CW and season ticket holders from any club can watch Hallam FC for free against Brigg Town. If you're a season ticket holder at Aston Villa, Birmingham City or West Bromwich Albion you can catch Sutton Coldfield Town versus Lancaster City for half-price.

Watch AFC Blackpool for free against Abbey Hulton United and Redhill FC at home to Bedfont Sports where there are free chips and a drink for every child attending.

Barton Town of the Northern Counties East League have reduced prices of £3 & £1.50 as they take on Pontefract Collieries while season ticket holders from any club, in any sport, can watch Bradford Park Avenue for a fiver.

There also offers in place at both Altrincham FC and Buxton FC where season ticket holders from Premier League and EFL clubs can gain admission to their respective home matches for £5.

The Scottish Lowland Football League will also be an active part of this year’s Non-League Day with a full programme of 8 matches taking place.