The Ritual

On a Saturday lunchtime in late February, shortly before the suspension of football at all levels of the game, I sat in a pub near to my house in Sheffield and had lunch with my dad as Leeds demolished Hull City on the television screens dotted around.

Behind us sat a group of Sheffield Wednesday supporters that grew bigger as time went on, each new arrival greeted with warmth as the beer flowed freely.

The conversation touched on lots of topics, families, work, the bets on the horses that afternoon.

With Wednesday already destined at that stage to be neither in the play-offs or relegated (not withstanding the outcome of an EFL enquiry into a breach of financial rules) there wasn't really much to say about the football and as kick-off time drew closer there wasn't exactly a huge desire to get out of the pub and make the final journey to Hillsborough.

But eventually a couple of taxis were summoned and the group made their way to the ground.

I arrived home around quarter past three, by which time Derby were already a goal to the good with two more added by the half-hour mark. 

You could almost hear the cries of 'we should have stayed in the pub' that I'm sure would have come from this group of friends.

It's a ritual that could have been observed in many pubs around Sheffield and the whole country on that day and many others, the match itself as merely the backdrop for the ritual of meeting, chatting, eating and drinking.

The rituals are now suspended, of course, and who knows at the upper levels of the game when, and in what format, they will return.

But competitive, league football is back this coming weekend and there are lots of Saturday, 3pm, games for supporters old and new to watch and maybe form new routines as they wait for the gates to open again at their club.

For Ipswich Town fans, perhaps, at Ipswich Wanderers of the Eastern Counties League with admission to their game against Mulbarton Wanderers priced at £7 Adults, £5 Concessions and free for Under-12's, plus have a beer pitch-side.

Or Southend supporters who can watch Southend Manor for £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for Under-16's. They host Sawbridgeworth Town in the Essex Senior League on Saturday afternoon.

A Tweet for the Weekend

Founded in 2012 by three former directors of Mansfield Town, AFC Mansfield currently play in the Northern Counties East Football League.

Tickets are on sale for their FA Cup tie at home on Tuesday (1st September) but before then there is a final pre-season friendly...

🆓 Fancy a free football fix this weekend?

Our final pre-season friendly at home to @swallownestfc this Saturday at 3pm will be FREE entry for all!

⛔️ Please remember, however, that only up to 150 fans will be allowed in due to current guidance.

ℹ️ https://t.co/AwGTePMxUi pic.twitter.com/z192ZChCi1

— AFC Mansfield (@AFCMansfield) August 26, 2020

Tickets Please...

It's a long time since you have needed a ticket to watch a match at Butlin Road, home of Rugby Town, probably since some of the big FA Cup games during the reign of Jimmy Knox when the club were still known as VS (Valley Sports) Rugby.

But 'The Valley' are one of many clubs adapting to the new reality of restricted numbers of spectators being allowed in to grounds and the requirement to keep a record of everyone who comes through the turnstiles, Tuesday evening's friendly against Barwell Town being a ticket only affair.

It's a strange situation, befitting the strange times that we are in but selling tickets, not just online but in person, is one of many ways in which clubs have stepped up to the mark in recent weeks in order to get fans back in, track and trace apps, one-way systems and plenty of information on social media all contributing to what seemed like a successful return of supporters over the weekend.

Many of next week's FA Cup extra preliminary round ties are all-ticket given the limits on capacity but it is great that spectators will be watching the first competitive action of the season.

There Are Many Roads to Wembley

And a number of them get underway in September, a positive sign perhaps of football making a slow return to something approaching normality although there remain plenty of indicators of a long road ahead on that score.

With so many competitions fighting for attention in a congested 2020/21 season it was perhaps inevitable that the FA Cup is once again diminished, with no replays at all and a 50% cut in prize money that will disproportionately affect the smaller teams.

But despite that, and a midweek start for the extra preliminary round at the beginning of September the cup still represents so much to so many and with restrictions slowly being lifted on supporters being allowed into grounds it will represent the first competitive action of the campaign for many players and fans alike.

As clubs get to grips with the increased regulations allowing spectators back in it does mean that just turning up and passing your cash through the turnstile may not be possible just yet so please check if you are planning to go to a game.

20 clubs will be taking part for the first ever time, including Hashtag United as they complete the journey from YouTube to FA Cup and former FA Sunday Cup winners New Salamis FC (tickets for their home tie against Colney Heath FC are available, priced £7).

Sunday 6th September sees the extra preliminary round of the Women's FA Cup, the anomaly here being that the 2019/20 competition is still to be played to a conclusion.

Take a peek at the social media accounts of some of the 174 clubs involved at this early stage and again you can see how much it means to be taking part.

There's a mammoth weekend of FA Vase fixtures taking place over the weekend of 19/20 September as 442 clubs enter the competition at the first qualifying round phase, including the newly-formed Bury AFC whose supporters will hopefully be able to enjoy the very pleasant experience that is an afternoon at West Didsbury & Chorlton, while the FA Trophy begins a week later.

Clubs Move Quick To #LetFansIn

Tuesday evening saw news break that supporters will be allowed to watch matches at Step 3 in England (below National League level) following the #LetFansIn campaign of recent weeks.

Or should that read that supporters were already allowed to watch matches, just that nobody seemed to know, as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport say they have 'clarified' the guidelines that already exist for 'non-elite' sport.

Clarification from the Football Association is expected on Wednesday but a number of clubs have unleashed months of pent-up frustration already with tweets about matches this Saturday at which spectators will be allowed.

AFC Portchester are offering free admission to the friendly against Cribbs, Hednesford Town against Kettering Town at Keys Park is £5 Adults, £3 Children (free to season ticket holders) and Brimscombe & Thrupp versus Cirencester Town is also a fiver.

Plenty more to come I would imagine and I will put as many as I can on Twitter.

Enjoy the game!

All Quiet at Great Yarmouth Town

 

 

 

Wide open spaces at the Wellesley Recreation Ground, home of Great Yarmouth Town, on a hot August afternoon.

 

The seaside resort was busy with holidaymakers, thronging to the pier, the arcades and the cafes, but the football ground lay all quiet.

 

Current restrictions mean that any scheduled matches would have to be played behind closed doors, a situation that seems strange to say the least given the wide open spaces of the Wellesley and the busy streets beyond.

 

The hashtag #letfansin is gaining currency across social media as clubs grapple with the increased regulation needed to put games on and the loss of income from supporters not being able to watch.

 

An excellent article on the twohundredpercent website lays out the hugely difficult situation now facing the game at levels below the National League.

But it's to be hoped that supporters will once again be able to watch a game in the shadow of this beauty, the oldest surviving grandstand in the country and worthy of an entry on the Historic England website...

Sheringham FC, Cabbell Park Cromer

Looking good in the August sunshine, the Weybourne Road home of Sheringham FC captured through the fence on Monday afternoon.

The Shannocks enjoyed a solid first season in the Eastern Counties League, lying seventh in the Division One North table before the suspension of action.

Admission prices were under a fiver in that campaign and I'm sure there will be some more great value football by the seaside in the coming season.

I also took a peek at Cabbell Park which I last visited for a game involving Cromer Town a couple of years ago.

The club sadly dropped out of the Anglian Combination the following season but the men's section of Cromer Youth Old Boys are set to play there in the coming campaign and tweeted recently that they had had positive dialogue with the local council about upgrading the facility.