UEFA Euro Under-17 Championship: Pick Of The Group Games

The Football Association is hosting this year's UEFA European U17 championship between 4-20 May at venues across the Midlands and South Yorkshire and tickets for all matches are on sale now.

16 countries are taking part and here are five matches that catch the eye from the initial group stage.

England begin their campaign against Israel on Friday 4th May, kick-off 7pm, at the Proact Stadium in Chesterfield.

The Three Lions were runners-up in last year's competition before going on to lift the World Cup in fine style and a new crop of players will be looking to achieve similar success.

Any meeting between Germany and Holland whets the appetite and they will play each other on Saturday 5th, kick-off 3pm, at Walsall FC while the other two teams in their group, Serbia and reigning champions Spain meet at 5.45pm the same day at Burton Albion's Pirelli Stadium.

Rotherham United's New York Stadium hosts the final on Sunday 20th May and the South Yorkshire venue will also welcome Bosnia & Herzegovina and Belgium on Tuesday 8th and England for their final group match against Switzerland on Thursday 10th (both 7pm kick-offs).

Tickets for England matches are priced at £5 Adults and £2.50 Under 17's, Seniors and Students. 

Other games are £4/£2 and special schools rates are available.

Full details on the FA Ticketing page.

Cup Finals For A Fiver At Hampden, Bramall Lane & Chesterfield FC

Some upcoming Cup Finals which may be of interest if you are nearby...

The SFA Youth Cup is at the silverware stage and Aberdeen and Hibernian will meet at Hampden Park on Thursday 26th at 7.30pm.

Cash admission is available on the evening and entry is priced at £5 Adults and £2 Concessions.

Bramall Lane hosts two FA finals on consecutive Sundays starting with the Sunday Cup on 29 April at 1pm.

Reigning champions Hardwick Social, of the Stockton Sunday League, are looking to retain the trophy with Gym United from the Bury St Edmunds & District Sunday League aiming to stop them.

Admission is £5 Adults and £1 for Under 16's and the same prices apply the following Sunday, 6 May, when the Inter League Cup is decided between the Amateur Football Combination and the York Football League.

Just down the road on 29 April (2pm kick-off), Chesterfield FC host the FA Women's Premier League Cup Final between Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City with admission to the Proact Stadium priced at £5 Adults (including match programme), £2.50 Concessions and £1 Children.

The same stadium will also be prominent in the FA's hosting of the UEFA Under-17 Championship this May.

Grimsby Town, Chesterfield FC

A busy spell of in League Two, with Carlisle United, Crawley Town and Newport County all offering various deals for upcoming fixtures, and Grimsby too are looking to get more through the Blundell Park turnstiles for two importanct matches in their battle to stay in the Football League.

Anyone buying a ticket for this Saturday's visit of Port Vale can claim a free brief for the Stevenage clash on Good Friday and there also 'Kids go Free' and season ticket holder offers for both matches.

Fellow strugglers Chesterfield have a 'Three for Two' offer on their final three home fixtures of the season starting with the visit of Newport County on 2 April which is also a 'Kids for a Quid' fixture.

UEFA European Under-17 Championship

The Proact Stadium, home of Chesterfield FC, will be one of the venues for this summer's European Under-17 Championship which takes between from Friday 4th to Sunday 20th of May.

England, reigning world champions at this age group, will be joined by 15 other countries and the FA are making a big push for the tournament to be as accessible as possible to schools and youngsters.

10 matches, including games at Chesterfield, Walsall, Burton Albion and the New York Stadium in Rotherham, will kick-off at 1pm during the week with school parties encouraged to attend.

School tickets are priced at £2 each with accompanying adults/teachers going free.

There are also other opportunities to get involved, such as adopting a nation and a Champions Flag competition.

More details are available on the dedicated competition pages on the FA website.

Chesterfield FC

There were a few tears, some disagreements and a couple of injuries at the Proact Stadium on Wednesday, but that was mainly because I was in the soft play area that is located within the ground!

Home to the Spireites since 2010, on one side the stadium looks to be the perfect example of a soulless modern ground, hidden as it is by a busy road and a huge supermarket. On the other side, however, there are shops, cafes and life and it remains walkable (albeit a decent distance) from the town centre.

It looked for a while as though the move from Saltergate was going to be the catalyst for Chesterfield being able to emulate the likes of Barnsley and Rotherham and spend at least a couple of seasons in the Championship but the club currently occupy bottom spot in League Two.

There have been a couple of small, positive steps in recent weeks, however, with fans favourites Jack Lester coming back to the club as manager and owner Dave Allen, who seemed keen to sell the club not so long ago, set to back the new man in the January transfer window.

The Proact Stadium hosts England Under-17's against Portgual on Wednesday 8th November, part of a four-team tournament that will act as a warm-up to the UEFA Under-17 European Championships in 2018 for which Chesterfield will stage the opening match.

Tickets are priced at £3 Adults and £1.50 Concessions.

True Blue Day At Chesterfield FC

2015/16 has been quite a slog for Chesterfield FC supporters, the Spireites never quite getting going in League One and still mathematically not safe from relegation going into the final two matches of the campaign.

2010’s move from the historic Saltergate ground to the new b2net (now Proact) Stadium has allowed Chesterfield to revise upwards their own ambitions, however much the old home would be missed, and there is no reason why the club and the town could not emulate the likes of Rotherham United in reaching and staying in the Championship.

Hence the disappointment at a season treading water with relegation still a possibility, although a four-point gap to Blackpool in 21st place should just about ensure safety.

But, onwards and upwards and this Saturday's final home fixture against Bury has been designated as True Blue Day with ticket prices reduced to £10 and £5 in all areas of the ground.

Elsewhere in League One, Scunthorpe United host Port Vale with tickets priced at £5 for Over-18's and free for anyone younger.

Reduced Prices For The Game Nobody Wants!

MK Dons host Chesterfield on Friday 2 January in an FA Cup tie that neither side wants to play after an FA ruling this week over the Spireites' use of an ineligible player in the original fixture on December 6.

On-loan defender Georg Margreitter should not have featured as Chesterfield gained a 1-0 victory over their League One rivals but, instead of being expelled from the competition as has happened to teams in the past, the decision of the governing body has been to replay the match for the right to meet Scunthorpe United in the Third Round.

And the FA appear to have angered both sides, although not in the way you might think.

Chesterfield manager Paul Cook believes that: 'If we broke the rules, then we should be chucked out, and if we didn't, then we should be through,' while opposite number Karl Robinson said that Dons had: "Written a letter of support for Chesterfield - it's a great football club. It was just a very minor error."

Fixture congestion and the cost and inconvenience to fans have been cited as reasons not to have a replayed game but both clubs have done what they can to make it as affordable as possible to attend.

The Dons have asked and received special permission from the FA to lower the minimum price normally charged in the competition proper and adult tickets are available from £6.

Chesterfield, meanwhile, are subsidising both tickets and travel for their supporters.