Up and running as a blog since July 2013. I hope to highlight affordable football at all levels of the game.
It was good to see so many people out and about at matches on Sunday and Monday with many non-league clubs reporting record crowds, helped by the postponement of so many games in the Premier League and EFL.
I'll keep updating on twitter over the next few days and wish a happy new year to everyone.
Merry Christmas to everyone who reads the blog or follows on twitter after another rollercoaster year for football clubs up and down the country.
From matches played behind closed doors, to no games at all, to the slow return to normality and back, potentially it seems, to more uncertainty in the weeks ahead.
That will clearly be the case in Wales, where strict new restrictions come into force on Boxing Day while clubs lower down the Scottish pyramid may benefit from the limits that have been imposed on those higher up.
In England, in the absence of information to the contrary, plans are being put in place for fixtures over the festive season and two clubs close to me here in Sheffield are good examples of how football and the local community can be linked.
Stocksbridge Park Steels host Sheffield FC on the 27th and are also collecting for local Food Banks while Dronfield Town are throwing open the doors of the H E Barnes Stadium the following day for the visit of Parkgate.
There are also a number of clubs offering reduced price admission to those supporters of EFL clubs left without a game on Boxing Day due to Covid issues or because their team are away, both in the case of Tavistock AFC where Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle season ticket holders can pay just a fiver on Boxing Day.
Before Christmas, or even longer perhaps given talk of 'curcuit-breakers' and the like.
There's still quite a few matches scheduled for this week which I will try and publicise on twitter.
Redditch United and Stourport Swifts meet in a Worcestershire Senior Cup quarter-final on Thursday evening and the two clubs have agreed free admission to the tie.
Free admission at Buckland Athletic this coming Saturday (18th), for the Toolstation Western League game with Brislington, for those arriving before 1.30pm.
Mulled cider and mince pies are available all day.
Also of interest may be Cymru Premier League football for a fiver at Caernarfon Town this Friday evening, with under 18's getting into the game against Aberystwyth.
There will also be a food bank collection.
With Covid-related postponements on the increase, check before travelling and stay safe but enjoy your pre-Christmas football.
At Ilkeston Town FC on Saturday 18th December with Father Christmas before, a party after and free admission for all to the football match in between, a Northern Premier League clash with Stamford AFC at the New Manor Ground.
If you fancy a double-header then the FA Trophy match between Notts County and Altrincham is a 7.30pm kick-off on that Saturday evening and ticket prices have been reduced to £10 for adults and less for concessions when purchased before matchday.
A great bit of collaboration between Bromley FC and Southend United as they prepare for a double-header of meetings over the holiday period.
Bromley's upward progression of recent years means they will head into Christmas with genuine hopes of being in the Football League next year.
They host the Shrimpers on Boxing Day in a 5.20pm kick-off and all adult tickets have been priced at £5 with accompanied Under-16s getting for a pound.
Getting back into the Football League at the first time of asking may be beyond Southend this season but supporters will be hoping that rock bottom was reached in October when a heavy home defeat left them in the relegation zone and saw manager Phil Brown leave the club amidst protests against chairman Ron Martin.
Legendary non-league figure John Still has recently been appointed to a Head of Football role, working alongside head coach Kevin Maher and football strategist Stan Collymore.
Southend have reciprocated Bromley's prices for the return fixture on 2nd January.
Some lovely footage from York City FC this week of supporters taking their final opportunity to wander around Bootham Crescent and spend a little bit of time at a ground that will have held so many memories for each of them.
And, as a Coventry City supporter who saw Highfield Road demolished and redeveloped without any nod to its past, York's plans to retain a legacy of the old ground within its new use, get a massive thumbs-up.
Will the new LNER Community Stadium be spoken about in the same way in years to come? I hope so even if it doesn't, when I look at pictures of it, quite inspire me the same as glimpses of Bootham Crescent did.
The memories are still to be made of course and even though York's fortunes on the pitch are yet to turn, hope springs eternal.
All tickets for the home game against Chorley on Saturday 11th December are priced at a fiver or less with concessions £3 and under 14's free.
Perhaps the only thing that can outweigh the depressing fact that food banks have became a permanent feature of society over the past decade is the incredible efforts that volunteers go to in running them and providing such a lifeline to so many people.
The link between football and food banks is well established, from supporters of top-flight clubs to the clubs themselves further down, many of them community hubs in their own right.
Walthamstow FC of the Essex Senior League are offering free admission to this Saturday's home game against Woodford Town but are asking for donations to the Waltham Forest food bank.
And the following Saturday...
Food for Football | Bring goods to the turnstile and receive free admission on 11th December vs @FCRusthall at Erith Stadium KO 3.00pm. #UpTheDockers #WeAreErith @Bexley_Foodbank pic.twitter.com/usH5dGCzuQ
— Erith Town FC (@ErithTown) December 1, 2021