Grab A Seat

Back in 2013 I wrote a piece on transport to and from games, how having bus or train travel included with the cost of your match ticket, or at a reduced price at least, can make a small positive contribution to what, increasingly, can be an expensive day out.

I highlighted at the time how such an initiative had never really been put in place at the Ricoh Arena (as it was then) despite the presence of a train line running alongside it and plenty of talk about a green travel plan when the stadium first opened.

So, in keeping with the positive moves that have been, made over the past year or so, to improve the matchday experience for Sky Blues' supporters, it is good to see a free shuttle bus service being trialled for the upcoming matches against Tottenham and Swansea.

Any Publicity Is...

If the old saying is true then Barnet FC have had plenty of good publicity this week, the after-match comments of their manager Dean Brennan following the midweek win against Altrincham having reached a worldwide audience.

Having finished second in the National League last season, the Bees are again in the play-off places in the early weeks of the new campaign and Brennan, far from 'losing it' as some of the headlines would have it, seems to be a popular figure at the club and one willing to engage with supporters.

The club have moved quickly on the back of this week's events to offer football for a fiver when AFC Fylde are the visitors to The Hive on Saturday 28th September, so come and see what the fuss is all about!

A Brentford Bargain

Brentford Women will take on Clapton Community at the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday 29th September, 3pm, and tickets for the game are just £2 for adults and free for under-18's. 

Also coming up this month, Exeter City Women versus Oxford United at St James Park on Sunday 15th, 1pm. Tickets priced at £5/£3 if purchased in advance.

And Cambridge United Women against Dulwich Hamlet at the Abbey Stadium on Sunday 22nd, 2pm. Under-18's free, adult tickets £5.

Updated 8th September: Another good chance to watch a game at Brentford comes in the next round of the Carabao Cup, on Tue 17th Sep, against Leyton Orient.

Adult tickets are priced at £10, concessions £7 and juniors are £5 or free with every full paying adult or concession.

In Brief

I haven't wasted too much time getting to grips with the new Champions League format, any lingering interest I had in the competition now firmly ended by the 'Swiss Model' that has been introduced this season.

Surely if a tournament structure needs explaining in some detail then it loses some of its atractiveness, especially when the changes are so clearly being made in order to accomodate the wishes of the continent's major clubs.

If it was confined to the Champions League then it wouldn't bother me so much but the impact of extra matches in Europe has already been felt domestically, with the scrapping of FA Cup replays and a seeding system now in place for the League Cup which led to a farcical Third Round draw last week.

Hopefully the impact in terms of people getting out to midweek matches lower down the footballing scale will be minimal, keep following on X for games that may be of interest.

Although I could probably be classed as a traditionalist/dinosaur (take your pick), I have sadly gotten out of the habit of buying a local newspaper. Here in Sheffield like many areas, The Star is a shadow of its former self.

But I did pick up a Carlisle News & Star on a Monday, while travelling to Scotland a couple of weeks ago, and it had a cracking inside back-page report on the weekend's game between Carlisle United and Barrow.

Jon Colman delivered the kind of 'final verdict' on Saturday's action that I used to love when reading either a Saturday Pink or Coventry Evening Telegraph on a Monday when I was younger and his writing on the Brunton Park club is well worth a follow.

Up in Scotland, I caught a game at Strathspey Thistle and also saw the Jags' in North of Scotland Cup action at Clachnacuddin a few days earlier.

There is a sense of space and openness around many Highland League grounds but Grant Street Park, home of Clach, is in a warren of tight streets just away from Inverness city centre and exudes history, Clach having played there since 1886, and atmosphere.

An excellent article on the BBC website from 2020, when the club were forced to temporarily leave their traditional home, gives a flavour of what Clach mean to their local area.