It's Manchester City's Day In Sunny Sheffield

Saturday’s Continental Cup Final at Bramall Lane was contested between the current top two in the FA Women’s Super League, Manchester City and Arsenal, and was a predictably tight affair which was settled on penalties in City’s favour after a goalless 120 minutes.

The victory was deserved as they created the vast majority of what chances there were and had far more attacking intent than an Arsenal side missing some key players and who even managed Joe Montemurro admitted played in a far more reserved manner than he would have liked because of the absences.

Prices of £10 for Adults (£7.50 during the early-bird phase) and £1 for Concessions were in place for the game and so a crowd of 2,424 was disappointing and for the foreseeable future it looks as though the FA Cup Final will be the only domestic fixture that goes beyond this core audience.

Tickets for the Wembley showpiece, which takes place on May, are priced at £15 Adults and free for children.

And many of the players on show in Sheffield today will be in the England squad that builds-up to this summer’s World Cup with four home friendly fixtures against Canada (at Manchester City Academy Stadium on Friday 5 April at 7pm), Spain (at Swindon Town, Tuesday 9 April, 7pm), Denmark (Walsall FC, Saturday 25 May, 3pm) and New Zealand (Brighton & Hove Albion, Saturday 1 June, 1pm).

Tickets for each game are priced at £10 Adults, £1 Concessions (£7.50 early-bird offer for adults if bought before 28 February for the April matches and 10 March for the other games.

Coming Up

A selection of matches over the next few weeks that may be of interest...

This coming weekend sees the FA Vase reach the quarter-final stage and Wembley is now so close for the teams involved that the nerves will be building throughout the week.

It also means some long journeys and Chertsey Town will be travelling from Surrey up to West Auckland FC for their last eight tie.

Admission prices (pay on the gate) are £6 Adults, £4 and £1.

Another competition where quarter-finals are is the FA Youth Cup and for Bury it is a first appearance at this stage for 53 years with the visit of Liverpool on Wednesday 6 March at 7pm sure to attract a big crowd to Gigg Lane.

Prices for the game are £5 Adults and £3 Concessions.

There are two free Manchester United Under-23 matches within a week at Leigh Sports Village as the Reds take on Reading in the Premier League International Cup on Monday 25 February at 7pm and Norwich City in Premier League 2 on Friday 1 March at the same time.

And there's a double bill of Spurs Under-23 action at Stevenage with an International Cup tie against Dinamo Zagreb (slightly more exotic than Reading) on Tuesday 26 February and a Premier League 2 clash with Chelsea on Friday 1 March.

Both matches kick-off at 7pm with admission prices of £5 Adults, £2 Concessions.

World Cup Preparations Gather Pace For England Women

England Women will play four World Cup warm up matches on home soil over the next few months as Phil Neville finalises his plans for France 2019 where his side have been drawn in a group alongside Scotland, Argentina and Japan.

The structure of the Women's game in this country means the national team is very much at the apex of the pyramid so Neville has already been able to take a squad to a training camp in Qatar this year, during a break in FA WSL action and will benefit from more time with his players when they travel to the USA for the SheBelieves Cup at the end of the month.

Competitive friendlies have then been arranged against Canada, at Manchester City Academy Stadium on Friday 5 April and Spain at Swindon Town on Tuesday 9 April.

Preparations will then be fine-tuned with matches against Denmark, at Walsall, on Saturday 25 May and New Zealand at the Amex Stadium on Saturday 1 June.

Early-bird tickets for each fixture are available from the respective host clubs priced at £7.50 for Adults (until 28 February for the two April fixtures and 10 March for the Denmark and New Zealand games).

Concession tickets are just £1.

A number of Neville's potential squad picks will be in action in a big FA Cup tie between Chelsea and Arsenal this coming Sunday, 17 February.

The game kicks off at 2pm at Kingsmeadow and all categories of tickets are priced at just £3 if purchased in advance. Adult tickets will cost £6 on the day.

#8kforMK

Is the hashtag being used by Carlisle United as they look to get 8,000 through the Brunton Park turnstiles for the visit of League Two promotion contenders MK Dons on Saturday 16th February.

Ticket prices for the game have been reduced to £10 Adults, £5 Seniors (65+) and Young Persons (18 to 22) and £2 for Juniors (8 to 17).

Other snippets for this month include a special offer from Sheffield United for anyone purchasing a ticket for the Continental Cup Final at Bramall Lane on Saturday 23rd (Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United are the potential finalists) which are currently on sale at the early-bird price of £7.50 Adults (reduced from £10) and £1 Concessions.

Doing so will allow you to buy a ticket for the FA Women's Championship game between Sheffield United and Manchester United on Wednesday 20th at the Olympic Legacy Park in Sheffield for just £2 Adults, £1 Concessions.

And, staying in South Yorkshire, a special mention to Doncaster Rovers both reaching the FA Cup Fifth Round for the first time in over 60 years and for pricing their tie against Premier League Crystal Palace on Sunday 17th at just £10 Adults, £5 Seniors and Young Adults and £1 for Under 17's.

It's a great reward for season ticket holders and members. If any tickets are left for general sale this will begin on Monday 11th.

Under-23 Update

Although Under-23 football is not to everyone’s taste, perceived as it often is as lacking a competitive edge, it can provide an affordable way to catch a match at a big stadium and with the occasional big-name player taking part.

The main competition at Under-23 level is Premier League 2 which is split into two divisions of 12 teams each.

One of the rules of the competition is that 'each club must host at least three league matches at their main stadium during the course of the season, which helps to enhance the matchday experience for the players and fans.'

And Swansea City have a trio of games scheduled for the Liberty Stadium between now and the end of the season which will all be free admission with donations very welcome to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The fixtures are against Everton this coming Monday (4th February), against West Ham United on Monday 11th March and Tottenham Hotspur on Monday 15th April.

Leigh Sports Village offers free admission to Manchester United Under-23 matches and there are games scheduled against Norwich City on Friday 1st March and Wolverhampton Wanderers on Friday 26th April.

United's remaining home fixture, against West Bromwich Albion on Friday 5th April is currently due to be played at Old Trafford where these games are usually free admission on the night.

At present there are also matches scheduled for the King Power Stadium, Anfield, the Amex, Stamford Bridge and the Emirates among others between now and the end of the campaign.

The official Premier League website has a good fixture guide but keep an eye on the websites and social media pages of the home clubs as fixtures can be changed at short notice.