FA Youth Cup

A handful of ties to watch out for, chosen as they are being played at the main ground of a Premier League or Championship club which is something I feel the Youth Cup deserves, being the flagship competition for this age group, and the youngsters themselves deserve.

Watford host Sunderland at Vicarage Road on Sunday 10 December, at 1pm, with tickets priced at £3 for Adults and Over 65's and £1 for those aged 18 and under.

Villa Park under the lights is still one of the great sights of English football and there is a Midlands derby between the hosts and Coventry City on December 13th, kick-off 7pm. Tickets are priced at £4 Adults and £1 Concessions.

Just down the road, West Bromwich Albion meet Leyton Orient at the Hawthorns on Tuesday 5th, 7pm. Tickets are £5 Adults, £1 Concessions.

On the same evening it is Bristol City against Birmingham City at Ashton Gate. Entry prices are £3 Adults and £1 Concessions.

And Newcastle United visit the Amex to face Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday 7th (6pm kick-off). Tickets are priced at £5 and £2.

A Positive Premier League Piece

I don't feature the top-flight too often on Affordable Football but there is some good stuff going on there, as evidenced by this interesting blog post from the Football Supporters' Federation which details initiatives that are in place on top of the £30 cap on away ticket prices.

Beaconsfield Town FC

There is free football on offer in Buckinghamshire this coming Saturday, 2 December, as Beaconsfield Town host Northwood in the Evo-Stik League South, East.

The Rams are offering free entry to anyone who brings a new or unused gift to donate to the Children's Ward at Wexham Park Hospital.

Manager Gary Meakin told the club website: "We felt it would be a nice gesture from the club to do something nice at Christmas for those who are maybe a little less fortunate than most or are having a bad time. 

"I have a child of my own and work in a primary school and, at this time of year, we see a lot of children go without and its heartbreaking. The size or cost of the present is not important, it is the gesture of giving that will make that one child a little happier."

Your Day At The Match For £10 In The NCEL

The Northern Counties East League, formed in 1982 from a merger of the Yorkshire and Midland Leagues, currently has 44 teams in its two divisions and is always an affordable place to watch your football with plenty of clubs offering admission for a fiver or less.

Two teams who have taken things a step further and come up with match day packages are Barton Town and AFC Emley.

At Barton's Easy Buy Stadium in North Lincolnshire, 'The Perfect Ten' covers admission to the game, a programme and food and bar vouchers worth £3 each.

It's available on the gate with the next home fixture scheduled for Tuesday 28th November against Staveley Miners Welfare.

At AFC Emley, in West Yorkshire (look for the mast and you won't be far away) an online ticket is available to buy in advance for £10 which gets you admission, programme, a raffle ticket, hot food menu item and a hot drink.

They take on Retford United on Saturday 2 December. 

Football for a Fiver at Reading FC

Affordable football at the Madejski Stadium has been a theme since I started writing this blog in the summer of 2013.

Not just the occasional reduction in ticket prices but a consistent package, £10 tickets (or less) for cup matches, free admission to Under-23 games at the ground and a ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ initiative that covers both home and away supporters.

It points to a level of stability behind the scenes (regardless of ownership) and an engagement with the fan base that many other clubs pay lip service to but still do not have.

This coming weekend, for example, supporters have been given the chance to buy tickets for the double-header against Sheffield Wednesday (on Saturday) and Barnsley (on Tuesday) at two for the price of one.

A record crowd also watched Reading FC Ladies at the Madejski recently.

And, for what the club have calculated will be their 500th match at the stadium, against Burton Albion on 23 December all tickets will cost £5 (or 500p) which is applicable to travelling Brewers as well.

From The Archive: Inverness Caledonian Thistle

On this day in 2014 in 2014 I wrote about Caley Thistle and their 'Pay What You Want' offer for their upcoming Scottish Premiership game against St Johnstone as well as a number of other ticket initiatives.

There is free football on offer at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this coming Sunday, at 1pm, for the Scottish FA Youth Cup match against Hibernian.

£10 Tickets At Notts County On Saturday

Notts County have featured many times on the Affordable Football pages in the past but, a little like Hartlepool United who I wrote about last week, it has mainly been in adversity as the Magpies have attempted to drum up support for a big relegation clash.

Different times at Meadow Lane at the moment, of course, under the stewardship of owner Alan Hardy and manager Kevin Nolan.

The Magpies stayed on top of the League Two table with Saturday's 3-1 victory against Cheltenham and they will be looking to maintain their excellent home form when Colchester United are the visitors this coming Saturday (November 25).

Ticket prices have been reduced to £10 Adults, Under-18's £5, Under-12's £1 and Under-7's free while season ticket holders can bring a friend for free.

Before then a Notts County XI visit Radford FC on Wednesday evening (22nd, 7.45pm) to celebrate the opening of a new clubhouse.

Admission to the game is priced at £5/£3 and free for accompanied Under-16's.

FA Youth Cup Third Round

Premier League and Championship academy teams enter the competition at this stage and it offers a good opportunity to watch a match at one of the major grounds for a fiver or less.

A full list of fixtures is available on the FA website and must be played by Saturday 16 December and, amongst the details confirmed so far are matches at Ewood Park (Blackburn v Stoke on 13 December, £4/£2), Loftus Road (QPR v Charlton on 12 December, £3/£1) and Turf Moor (Burnley v Leeds on 27 November, £4/£2 and £1 for season ticket holders of both clubs)

Everton have also confirmed that their tie against Ipswich will be played at Goodison Park on Friday 8 December (no ticket details as yet) and Middlesbrough will take on Bolton Wanderers at the Riverside on Tuesday 12 December.

Non-League Finals Day 2018

The third FA Non-League Finals Day will take place at Wembley Stadium on Sunday 20th May 2018 and tickets are now on sale.

Featuring a double-header of both the FA Vase and FA Trophy finals, the main driver behind a day showcasing Non-League football was to keep alive the tradition of both competitions ending at the national stadium.

When they were being staged separately it seemed to be becoming harder to justify that, especially in a crowded football calendar, but the move has been a success.

The presence of Hereford in the 2016 FA Vase final may have skewed the attendance figures slightly but more than 38,000 brought tickets in 2017 to see South Shields and York City win the honours.

Prices are £25 for Adults, £10 for Concessions and £1 for Under-16's.

The FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying will take place on Saturday 25th November, York beginning their defence of the cup at home to Coalville and the Third Round Proper of the FA Vase will be on Saturday 2 December.

Hartlepool United FC

Pools have featured on the Affordable Football pages before with reduced prices for games at Victoria Park but it has usually been as a rallying cry ahead of a big six-pointer at the foot of League Two.

They may be a division lower these days but there is plenty of optimism in place as Craig Harrison's side slowly put together a promotion bid in the National League.

Fans seem to be enjoying the opportunity of seeing some new grounds as away supporters have been travelling in good numbers and the club want to recreate the positive atmosphere at home this weekend.

Tickets for the match against Aldershot on Saturday have been reduced to £10 Adults, £5 Concessions and £1 Under-16's and if you buy in advance you will get the same prices for the visit of Halifax Town on Tuesday 21 November.

And, they may hope it is their only season in Non-League football but that won't stop Hartlepool hoping to lift the FA Trophy at Wembley on Sunday 20 May.

Tickets are on sale for the third Non-League Finals Day, which combines both the Trophy and FA Vase showpieces, priced at £25 for Adults, £10 Concessions and just £1 for Under-16's.

Hallam FC Versus Dronfield Town

A bright, late Autumn afternoon at Hallam FC where it was free admission for all veterans and members of the armed forces for the local derby against Dronfield Town in the Northern Counties East League Division One.

A very healthy crowd of 384 (with usual admission prices of £5/£2.50) were in attendance as the visitors plundered three early goals to set themselves on the way to a 4-1 victory.

A special programme was produced for Remembrance Day and the teams were led out onto the field by members of the local British Legion.

The 'Last Post' was also played as the crowd fell silent before kick-off, scenes I'm sure were replicated up and down the country today.

International Break Weekend Action

A third international break of the season will see some familiar grumbles about the lack of Premier League and Championship fixtures but there are a host of attractive matches taking place up and down the land this weekend.

Three different roads to Wembley are at their next step with matches in the FA Trophy Second Round Qualifying, FA Vase Second Round Proper and the Women's FA Cup First Round Proper.

The official FA website has full fixtures for all three competitions. 

Plenty of FA Vase ties will be £5 admission, such as the local derby between Sporting Khalsa and Bromsgrove Sporting.

Kids go free to this season's Women's FA Cup Final at Wembley on Saturday 5 May 2018 with Adult tickets £15 and Concessions just £5.

A new group of England Under-17's will hope to match up to the recent achievements of the World Cup winners and they face Russia at Burton Albion on Saturday (1pm) with tickets priced at £3 Adults and £1.50 Concessions.

Four matches take place in the Essex Senior League Groundhop, starting at Barkingside on Friday evening when admission for the visit of Clapton is £5 including a commemorative progamme. 

Keep an eye out for clubs, such as Padiham FC, of the North West Counties Football League, where your season ticket for a Premier League or EFL club could get you reduced admission this weekend.

And Padiham are joined by a number of clubs, including Hallam FC and Mickleover Sports, in offering free admission to current and former military personnel to mark Remembrance Weekend.

Ramsbottom United FC

Players warming up at the Harry Williams Riverside Stadium ahead of the re-arranged Integro League Cup tie between Ramsbottom United and Stalybridge Celtic on Tuesday evening.

With the floodlights having failed during the original match, free admission was offered to all for tonight's game.

It's a while now until the next scheduled home fixture, against South Shields on Saturday 2 December, but this market town is always well worth a visit.

Cup Football Around The Counties

I was weighing up an article on the various County Cup competitions that form part of the fabric of the game across the country when I saw an excellent piece in today's Non-League Paper from Nige Tassell, author of the excellent 'The Bottom Corner' book about the game outside of the Football League.

He sings the praise of such competitions (and the various League Cup knockouts that each of the various Non-Leagues have) and rightly sees them as a great opportunity for players of all levels to experience both the thrill of lifting silverware and potentially playing against league opposition and/or at a major ground, especially if they reach the final.

This week's calendar is packed full of County Cup matches across England and there's plenty of affordable football in there too, including Football for a Fiver at Hendon and Colchester United and £3 Adult admission at Barnet.

Check out your local club (or local FA) website to see if there's a match near you this week.

Squires Gate FC

A very nice evening in Blackpool on Thursday was a good reminder to write about a local club in the town who work hard to attract new spectators and play a part in their local community.

Squires Gate FC, of the North West Counties Football League, charge £6 and £3 admission to the Brian Addison Stadium with Under 12's free. During the summer they hosted a number of 'Pay What You Want' friendlies as well.

The next scheduled home fixture is on 14 November when Irlam FC are the visitors. If you're by the seaside, try and pay them a visit.

Chesterfield FC

There were a few tears, some disagreements and a couple of injuries at the Proact Stadium on Wednesday, but that was mainly because I was in the soft play area that is located within the ground!

Home to the Spireites since 2010, on one side the stadium looks to be the perfect example of a soulless modern ground, hidden as it is by a busy road and a huge supermarket. On the other side, however, there are shops, cafes and life and it remains walkable (albeit a decent distance) from the town centre.

It looked for a while as though the move from Saltergate was going to be the catalyst for Chesterfield being able to emulate the likes of Barnsley and Rotherham and spend at least a couple of seasons in the Championship but the club currently occupy bottom spot in League Two.

There have been a couple of small, positive steps in recent weeks, however, with fans favourites Jack Lester coming back to the club as manager and owner Dave Allen, who seemed keen to sell the club not so long ago, set to back the new man in the January transfer window.

The Proact Stadium hosts England Under-17's against Portgual on Wednesday 8th November, part of a four-team tournament that will act as a warm-up to the UEFA Under-17 European Championships in 2018 for which Chesterfield will stage the opening match.

Tickets are priced at £3 Adults and £1.50 Concessions.