— West Bridgford FC (@wb_fc) October 31, 2019
Thursday 31 October 2019
Sunday 27 October 2019
No Pitch Inspection Needed In The Highland Sun!
A second visit of the season to a Scottish Highland League and another sunny afternoon (inevitably slightly colder than August in Rothes), in contrast to the deluge that put paid to a large number of fixtures in England.
Kynoch Park, home of Keith FC, is a well-kept stadium in the centre of the Moray town, one where the tradition of a club that was founded in 1910 can truly be felt.
A warm welcome was extended to all, except visitors Strathspey Thistle who were on the wrong end of a 7-1 scoreline and could have easily been in Southampton territory if not for some missed chances and brave goalkeeping.
Saturday 26 October 2019
Derby Days Head Women's Football Weekend
The first ever Women's Football Weekend is scheduled for 16/17 November and the showpiece events will be two FA WSL local derby fixtures set to be played in front of big crowds.
Spurs meet Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 17th at 3pm and tickets are now on general sale, priced at £6.50 for Adults, £3.50 for Concessions and £15 for a family of four.
And Anfield will be the venue for Liverpool against Everton at the same time with tickets £5 for Adults and free for up to 3 accompanied Under 16's.
It's great to see the full weight of the respective home clubs' ticketing and marketing teams being thrown into these fixtures and I'm sure they will be well attended.
Such games, unavoidably perhaps, have the feel of 'one-offs' with many of those watching maybe unaware of the context in terms of league position.
But the bigger picture will be the many thousands enjoying the occasion and hopefully seeking out opportunities to play and watch elsewhere.
And the Women's Football Weekend will be about much more than matches in the WSL as hopefully clubs up and down the country will be able to attract some new faces along.
I'll highlight as many games as I can on Twitter.
Spurs meet Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday 17th at 3pm and tickets are now on general sale, priced at £6.50 for Adults, £3.50 for Concessions and £15 for a family of four.
And Anfield will be the venue for Liverpool against Everton at the same time with tickets £5 for Adults and free for up to 3 accompanied Under 16's.
It's great to see the full weight of the respective home clubs' ticketing and marketing teams being thrown into these fixtures and I'm sure they will be well attended.
Such games, unavoidably perhaps, have the feel of 'one-offs' with many of those watching maybe unaware of the context in terms of league position.
But the bigger picture will be the many thousands enjoying the occasion and hopefully seeking out opportunities to play and watch elsewhere.
And the Women's Football Weekend will be about much more than matches in the WSL as hopefully clubs up and down the country will be able to attract some new faces along.
I'll highlight as many games as I can on Twitter.
Wednesday 23 October 2019
A Tweet For The Weekend
CONFIRMED: Town’s upcoming East Anglian Derby against @NorwichCityWFC in @TheWomensFACup will take place this Sunday at @Felixseasiders
— Ipswich Town FC Women (@ITFCWomen) October 22, 2019
Ticket info:
FREE ENTRY for @IpswichTown season ticket holders!
£3 Adults
£1 Concessions
U16’s FREE
See you there, Blue Army! 🔵⚪️#ITFC pic.twitter.com/GMQGzQj5KS
Tuesday 22 October 2019
Students Of The Game
This week's Non-League Paper had a nice piece on watching football as a student, Alex Thrower taking in a game at Ramsbottom United for £6 and enjoying the informal nature of the Non-League experience.
If you are at university then there are plenty of opportunities to catch a match and most clubs, from the Premier League downwards do offer a discount on admission.
Beyond that there are often special offers in those towns and cities where the university plays a huge part in local life.
Nick Hornby fell for the charms of Cambridge United in his university days in the city and with 34,000 students arriving back or for the first time in September there are some potential new supporters out there.
United were active at the various freshers fairs and also offered free tickets for tonight's game against Grimsby Town, an offer that over 500 people had taken advantage as of Monday afternoon.
And I have often seen clubs such as Bath City and Aberystwyth Town offer free tickets or vastly reduced admission to games (Bath recently held their Student Day, to coincide with Non-League Day, with £2 entry to a National League South fixture).
If you are at university then there are plenty of opportunities to catch a match and most clubs, from the Premier League downwards do offer a discount on admission.
Beyond that there are often special offers in those towns and cities where the university plays a huge part in local life.
Nick Hornby fell for the charms of Cambridge United in his university days in the city and with 34,000 students arriving back or for the first time in September there are some potential new supporters out there.
United were active at the various freshers fairs and also offered free tickets for tonight's game against Grimsby Town, an offer that over 500 people had taken advantage as of Monday afternoon.
And I have often seen clubs such as Bath City and Aberystwyth Town offer free tickets or vastly reduced admission to games (Bath recently held their Student Day, to coincide with Non-League Day, with £2 entry to a National League South fixture).
Saturday 19 October 2019
Autumn Days At Sandygate
A beautiful autumn day at the world's oldest football ground, Sandygate, as Hallam FC and Swallownest met in the Northern Counties East League Division One on Saturday afternoon.
With no game for either Wednesday or United a crowd of 439 was in attendance, including a group from Germany keen to take in a piece of football history.
Admission was just a fiver for a hard-fought game of few clear-cut chances which the visitors edged by a solitary second-half goal.
Wednesday 16 October 2019
A Tweet For The Weekend
⚪️🔵JD Welsh Cup🔵⚪️
— Chepstow Town A.F.C (@ChepstowTownAFC) October 14, 2019
⚽️⚽️ 1st XI ⚽️⚽️
📅 Saturday 19th October
⏰ 14:30
🆚 @Taffswellfc
🏆 FAW JD Welsh Cup R1
🏟 Larkfield Park
Admission
Adults - £4
Members - £3
OAP’s - £2
Under 16 - Free
Match Day Programme £1#UTT #FAW #UppaChep pic.twitter.com/XxpuAetSdB
Tuesday 15 October 2019
A Stirling Scottish Cup Double
The Road to Hampden continues this weekend with sixteen second round ties and the entry of the ten League Two clubs into the Scottish Cup.
A double-bill of action at the Forthbank Stadium in Stirling catches the eye with Stirling Albion hosting Highland League Strathspey Thistle at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
Strathspey's first round victory was their first ever in the competition and they will travel down with hopes of an upset against the side currently sitting bottom of League Two.
Admission prices are £12 Adults, £8 Seniors & Students, £5 Under 16's and free for Under 12's.
An interesting development in the game over the past few years has been the emergence of university football teams such as Cardiff Met in the Welsh Premier League and both University of Stirling and Edinburgh University in the Scottish Lowland League (the Highland League equivalent and with a route into League Two via a play-off system).
With excellent facilities and the prospect of an academic education to run alongside a football one it is surely a route that more young players will take in the future.
University of Stirling take on Linlithgow Rose at Forthbank on Sunday at 3pm with tickets priced at £6/£3.
A double-bill of action at the Forthbank Stadium in Stirling catches the eye with Stirling Albion hosting Highland League Strathspey Thistle at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.
Strathspey's first round victory was their first ever in the competition and they will travel down with hopes of an upset against the side currently sitting bottom of League Two.
Admission prices are £12 Adults, £8 Seniors & Students, £5 Under 16's and free for Under 12's.
An interesting development in the game over the past few years has been the emergence of university football teams such as Cardiff Met in the Welsh Premier League and both University of Stirling and Edinburgh University in the Scottish Lowland League (the Highland League equivalent and with a route into League Two via a play-off system).
With excellent facilities and the prospect of an academic education to run alongside a football one it is surely a route that more young players will take in the future.
University of Stirling take on Linlithgow Rose at Forthbank on Sunday at 3pm with tickets priced at £6/£3.
Monday 14 October 2019
A Pitfall Of Pay What You Want!
Well publicised for a long period before the game took place, the offer of 'pay what you want' admission at Aldershot Town on Non-League Day drew an attendance of 2,786 to the EBB Stadium.
With the offer ending at midnight on the day of the Hartlepool game the club's last update on Friday reported the sale of 1,465 tickets on a pay what you want basis.
A £2 minimum was put in place and at the level that Aldershot play at I think that's fair enough as there is an administrative cost involved while online sales also give an indication of what sort of crowd to expect and what to put in place in terms of catering, stewarding etc.
As a rough comparison, the September Saturday fixture against a Barrow, whose supporters would also have had to travel a long distance, drew a gate of 1,163 so the initiative certainly looks to have been successful on that front.
Fans forum ShotsWeb had an excellent thread on the pay what you want offer with season ticket holders, in the main, pleased to see the club looking to attract new and lapsed supporters and those intending to buy tickets either promising to pay the going rate or make a purchase at the ground to make up the difference.
Fast forward to the end of the game and the one variable that cannot be controlled by those off the pitch, the result!
A 3-0 defeat continued a difficult start to the season for the Shots and left many on ShotsWeb lamenting a bad result in front of a big crowd.
As with so many of us who don't support the big clubs it seems Aldershot fans share the common belief that their club always freeze on such an occasion (on a par, perhaps, with the theory that your club always offers a return to form for an opposition team on a long losing run).
But let's hope some of those who came along on Saturday will have enjoyed the occasion and get back to the Recreation Ground some time soon.
With the offer ending at midnight on the day of the Hartlepool game the club's last update on Friday reported the sale of 1,465 tickets on a pay what you want basis.
A £2 minimum was put in place and at the level that Aldershot play at I think that's fair enough as there is an administrative cost involved while online sales also give an indication of what sort of crowd to expect and what to put in place in terms of catering, stewarding etc.
As a rough comparison, the September Saturday fixture against a Barrow, whose supporters would also have had to travel a long distance, drew a gate of 1,163 so the initiative certainly looks to have been successful on that front.
Fans forum ShotsWeb had an excellent thread on the pay what you want offer with season ticket holders, in the main, pleased to see the club looking to attract new and lapsed supporters and those intending to buy tickets either promising to pay the going rate or make a purchase at the ground to make up the difference.
Fast forward to the end of the game and the one variable that cannot be controlled by those off the pitch, the result!
A 3-0 defeat continued a difficult start to the season for the Shots and left many on ShotsWeb lamenting a bad result in front of a big crowd.
As with so many of us who don't support the big clubs it seems Aldershot fans share the common belief that their club always freeze on such an occasion (on a par, perhaps, with the theory that your club always offers a return to form for an opposition team on a long losing run).
But let's hope some of those who came along on Saturday will have enjoyed the occasion and get back to the Recreation Ground some time soon.
Saturday 12 October 2019
Half Term Hull
A nice idea from Hull City to put together a week of different activities for supporters at the upcoming half-term school break.
Stadium tours of the KCOM have proved very popular and are now sold out but there is also an open training session and a halloween signing session planned as well as other events.
Most importantly, tickets for the home game against Derby County on Saturday 26th October are all half-price in all areas of the ground if purchased before the day of the match.
Not too far away it is good to see the reformed North Ferriby FC establishing themselves in the Northern Counties East League where I am hoping to see them in action at Hallam FC just after Christmas.
This Tuesday (15th) there will be free admission to the Dransfield Stadium for the East Riding Senior Cup tie against South Cave United, kick-off 7.45pm.
Stadium tours of the KCOM have proved very popular and are now sold out but there is also an open training session and a halloween signing session planned as well as other events.
Most importantly, tickets for the home game against Derby County on Saturday 26th October are all half-price in all areas of the ground if purchased before the day of the match.
Not too far away it is good to see the reformed North Ferriby FC establishing themselves in the Northern Counties East League where I am hoping to see them in action at Hallam FC just after Christmas.
This Tuesday (15th) there will be free admission to the Dransfield Stadium for the East Riding Senior Cup tie against South Cave United, kick-off 7.45pm.
Friday 11 October 2019
Home Thoughts From New York
A first trip to the New York Stadium last Saturday was also my first glimpse of Coventry City in action this season and I clearly put a hex on the previously unbeaten Sky Blues as they not only lost their first game of the campaign but did so in some style as Rotherham ran out 4-0 winners and could, in truth, have added to that tally.
But the ground itself was well worth a visit, smart and modern of course but a physical part of the town itself and not isolated on the outskirts with only a retail park for company.
That means good public transport links and a sense that Rotherham are playing a part in the local community beyond the usual work that all clubs undertake, something more tangible in the benefits the stadium and the supporters going to it hopefully bring to the town centre itself.
Price-wise, I paid £23 for an adult ticket which in an ideal world would perhaps be lower but the Millers (rightly) have ambitions to establish themselves in the Championship and the financial clout needed to do that grows bigger every year.
In the absence of a fairer distribution of revenue and with the club locally owned and run that means money from ticket sales is crucial.
The New York will host matches at the 2021 Women's Euros.
Rotherham's upcoming League One game against Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday 26th October is a 'Kids for a Quid' fixture while season ticket holders can bring a friend for a fiver when Accrington Stanley visit on Saturday 16th November.
Wednesday 9 October 2019
A Tweet For The Weekend
Non-League Day 2019 will take place on Saturday 12 October. It will be our 10th event and we'll be working once again with our charity partners @ProstateUK.
— Non-League Day (@nonleaguedayuk) July 24, 2019
Check out what's on as we prepare for this year's celebration of the clubs, players and volunteers: https://t.co/oByWR6xjke pic.twitter.com/uv72zBwNZa
Sunday 6 October 2019
Nine Free Scotland Matches This Month
Scotland hosts three separate UEFA qualifying tournaments in October and there are nine separate opportunities to watch the national team in action at various age groups.
The men's Under-19 team are looking to qualify for the 2020 European Championships in Northern Ireland and come up against Belarus (at Morton on the 9th, 7pm), Andorra (12pm on the 12th at Dumbarton) and Germany (7.05pm on the 15th at Partick Thistle).
For the men's Under-17 team the goal is to make Estonia 2020 and standing in their way are Armenia, Iceland and Croatia.
All three Scotland fixtures will be played at Stirling Albion on the 22nd, 25th (both 7pm) and 28th (8.05pm).
And for the Women's Under-17's, in their bid to be at next year's finals in Sweden, there are games against Northern Ireland on the 14th and Montenegro on the 17th (both 5.30pm kick-offs at the Oriam centre in Edinburgh) and Italy on the 20th, 12.30pm, at Spartans FC.
Admission to all the games is free and more details are on the Scotland National Team page on Twitter.
The men's Under-19 team are looking to qualify for the 2020 European Championships in Northern Ireland and come up against Belarus (at Morton on the 9th, 7pm), Andorra (12pm on the 12th at Dumbarton) and Germany (7.05pm on the 15th at Partick Thistle).
For the men's Under-17 team the goal is to make Estonia 2020 and standing in their way are Armenia, Iceland and Croatia.
All three Scotland fixtures will be played at Stirling Albion on the 22nd, 25th (both 7pm) and 28th (8.05pm).
And for the Women's Under-17's, in their bid to be at next year's finals in Sweden, there are games against Northern Ireland on the 14th and Montenegro on the 17th (both 5.30pm kick-offs at the Oriam centre in Edinburgh) and Italy on the 20th, 12.30pm, at Spartans FC.
Admission to all the games is free and more details are on the Scotland National Team page on Twitter.
Saturday 5 October 2019
From Barrow To Bavaria: Non-League Day Offers
Some of the best for next Saturday's Non-League Day, follow NLD on Twitter for updates through the week...
Barrow AFC have reduced admission prices to £9 for Adults and given away thousands of free tickets to local schools for the National League game at home to Dover.
The Giant Axe is the venue for Lancaster City against Ashton United in the Northern Premier League and the Dolly Blues have reduced prices by 50% for the fixture.
Not only is there free admission at Campion AFC for the visit of Retford FC in the Northern Counties East League but there are free season tickets on offer too.
Pay What You Want at Poole Town in the Southern League Premier Division South with Beaconsfield providing the opposition, at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds for Goole AFC against Maltby Main and at Armthorpe Welfare where Skegness Town are the visitors.
It's Town for £2 at Ollerton against Rossington Main and a special mention for AFC Rushden & Diamonds who have an Oktoberfest event later on Saturday evening and will admit anyone arriving in Bavarian fancy dress a few hours earlier free entry for the game against Coalville Town.
Barrow AFC have reduced admission prices to £9 for Adults and given away thousands of free tickets to local schools for the National League game at home to Dover.
The Giant Axe is the venue for Lancaster City against Ashton United in the Northern Premier League and the Dolly Blues have reduced prices by 50% for the fixture.
Not only is there free admission at Campion AFC for the visit of Retford FC in the Northern Counties East League but there are free season tickets on offer too.
Pay What You Want at Poole Town in the Southern League Premier Division South with Beaconsfield providing the opposition, at the Victoria Pleasure Grounds for Goole AFC against Maltby Main and at Armthorpe Welfare where Skegness Town are the visitors.
It's Town for £2 at Ollerton against Rossington Main and a special mention for AFC Rushden & Diamonds who have an Oktoberfest event later on Saturday evening and will admit anyone arriving in Bavarian fancy dress a few hours earlier free entry for the game against Coalville Town.
Wednesday 2 October 2019
A Tweet For The Weekend
Don’t forget this coming Sat - watch Town host @HRRFC in the @NCEL
— Dronfield Town FC (@DronfieldTownFC) October 2, 2019
Did we mention ... it’s FREE ENTRY FOR ALL pic.twitter.com/nt2mxwTBEy
Tuesday 1 October 2019
Loyalty Pays At May & Baker
We all probably have plenty of loyalty cards in our wallets and purses, for free coffees and teas, haircuts or books, so I liked a recent tweet from May & Baker ECFC of the Eastern Counties Football League to say that the first person to qualify for a free game of football this season had passed through the turnstiles.
Go to five matches at the Parkside Stadium and you will get your next one free and matchday prices for 2019/20 are just £5 for Adults, £3 for Concessions and free for accompanied Under 16's.
As the name suggests, May & Baker started life as a factory team, adding Eastbrook Community to their name in 2014.
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