Pre Season in The Garden of England

There is a host of affordable pre-season action in the beautiful county of Kent and here are a selection of the games that have come to my attention over the past few weeks.

Ashford United: Admission prices for all friendlies have been reduced to £6 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for U16's, starting with the visit of Tunbridge Wells on Saturday 8th July. Entry to the final warm up at Homelands, against Kennington FC on Tuesday 8th August is free for all.

Deal Town: Margate and Dover kick-off the friendly action at the Charles Ground, Margate on Saturday 8th July at 1pm and Dover on Tuesday 11th July at 7:30pm. Admission is £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and £1 for Children.

Dover Athletic: The game against Welling United at Crabble on Tuesday 25th July is priced at £5 with Under 11's free with a paying adult.

Erith Town: Home matches against a Margate XI on Saturday 8th July and FC Elmstead on Wednesday 12th July, both at the Erith Stadium, are free admission to all spectators.

Folkestone Invicta: The visit of Hythe Town to the Fullicks Stadium on Sunday 9th July is priced at £5 for a game that will be played in memory of former Folkestone physio Dave Williams. Admission is free to Invicta's final friendly against Thamesmead Town on Saturday 5th August.

Maidstone United: Admission is priced at £5 Adults, £3 Concessions, £2 Youths and free for Under 11's when Southend United bring an Under 21 side to the Gallagher Stadium on Saturday 29th July.

Ramsgate: Admission to each of the three home friendlies at the Southwood Stadium, including the derby against Margate on Friday 4th August is priced at £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and £1 for 12-16's.

Keep up to date with everything football related in the county via the excellent Kentish Football website.

The Shrimps Versus The Dolly Blues

Or Morecambe against Lancaster City to put it another away.

The Lancashire clubs will play for 'The Bay Trophy' at the Globe Arena, home of Morecambe FC, on Saturday 15 July and they hope this will become a regular pre-season fixture that alternates between there and Giant Axe, Lancaster's wonderfully named stadium.

Admission is priced at a flat £5 with Under 16's free on an afternoon that also sees a Family Fun Day take place.

The game will also raise money for local beneficiaries, one of the first of which will be the Neil Marshall Memorial Fund which was set up after the untimely passing of the former Lancaster captain.

As Morecambe director Rod Taylor told the official club website, the Shrimps are also keen to strengthen their links with the local community after their help and support during what could easily be described as difficult times last season.

The North West of England is home, of course, to many Football League clubs and it is good to see the likes of Rochdale, Fleetwood, Blackpool, Blackburn and Bolton Wanderers taking sides around the region in pre-season.

Friendly Focus: The Midlands

Rugby Town (the main stand at Butlin Road is pictured above) have two home friendlies scheduled, against Banbury United on Tuesday 25th July and Nuneaton Town on Monday 31 July. Admission to these fixtures is priced at £5 Adults and £3 Concessions. Matches on the adjoining 3G pitch on Saturdays 8th, 15th and 22nd July are free to attend.

Two Northamptonshire derbies are pencilled in at Brackley Town with Kettering Town on Tuesday 18th July and AFC Rushden & Diamonds the following week both set to visit. Admission prices for these games and the one against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday 11th July (7pm) are £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and free for Under 16's.

Fixtures against Hereford (Saturday 22nd July) and a Wolves Under-23 side (Saturday 15th July) at AFC Telford United are priced at £5 Adults, £3 Concessions and £1 Under 16's.

A busy summer for Paget Rangers with admission to the home matches against Bromsgrove Sporting (Tuesday 11th July) and Alvechurch (Saturday 22nd July) priced at £3 Adults, £2 Concessions.

Paget are also involved in the Sutton Charity Cup with seven other sides from the Birmingham area. Admission to each match in the competition is by a suggested £2 donation which goes to help local good causes.

Meanwhile, Champions League qualifiers Hoffenheim provide attractive opposition for a friendly at Pride Park and, having seen a number of friendlies at league clubs priced at £15 this summer, fair play to Derby County for making tickets just £5 (£1 Under 12's).

Scottish Summer Special

Some positive signs for the game in Scotland where attendances at league matches saw a 12% increase in 2016/17.

The end-of-season play-offs, the opening up of a potential avenue into the league for Lowland and Highland League clubs and the expansion of the IRN-BRU Cup to teams from Wales, Northern Ireland and now the League of Ireland, have all been part of a drive to revive the fortunes of football north of the border.

In a similar, innovative vein, the Scottish League Cup enters its second season with the competitive action beginning during the summer months and well before the start of the new league campaign.

It proved a popular move last season and it is good to see the four clubs drawn together in Group A of the 2017 competition come to an agreement over reduced prices for their matches.

That means the 10 fixtures involving Stirling Albion, Falkirk, Inverness Caley Thistle, Brechin City and Forfar Athletic between 15th and 29th of July will each cost £10 Adults, £5 Concessions (65+ and students) and free for Under 16's.

Lowland League champions East Kilbride take on Premiership Hamilton Accies in the competition on Saturday 15th July at 2pm and tickets are priced at £10 Adults and £5 Concessions.

Buckie Thistle were the winners of the Highland League and travel to face top-flight Dundee on Saturday 22nd July. Admission prices are £10 Adults and £5 Concessions.

Football In Bracknell

The ‘Links’ tab at the top of the blog has been updated to include Football in Bracknell.

I came across this site recently, in connection with a pre-season tournament at the home of Bracknell Town FC and also featuring Wokingham & Emmbrook, Binfield and Eversley & California.

Scheduled to be played over the weekends of 8/9 and 15/16 July, admission to the matches will be free.

Football in Bracknell is a not for profit site run by two people, Darrell Freeland and Tom Canning who have both been hugely involved in football in the Berkshire town over the years.

Comprehensive and accessible, it is the perfect example of the incredible depth of the game in this country and also how the internet and social media can allow for detailed coverage of a club, division or, in this case, area.

Hendon FC

Entering their second season at Silver Jubilee Park, the ground that enabled them to end a nomadic ground-sharing existence of eight years, the Greens of Hendon FC have been working hard on improvements to the stadium as well as to the playing side of things with manager Gary McCann entering his 12th full season in charge.

A busy pre-season of friendlies includes the SJP Community Cup over the weekend of 15/16 July with the hosts joined by Hemel Hempstead Town, Hitchin Town and Hayes & Yeading United for four games over two days.

Admission per day is just £5 for Adults and free for Under 18's.

Entry to the game against Hanwell Town on Tuesday 11 July is free for all and admission to the friendlies against Ebbsfleet United on 25 July and Hertford Town on 7 August will be £5 Adults and free for Under 18's. 

Speaking of Hitchin Town, regulars on these pages over the past few years, they have announced their friendly schedule and this includes some 'Pay What You Want' matches which the club hope will boost the number coming through the gate.

2 Days, 4 Matches, 12 Pounds (Or Less)

Two pre-season tournaments that may be of interest...

On Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 July, the Raydale Cup takes place at the home of Scottish Lowland League side Gretna FC 2008 with four matches across the weekend.

In action as well as the hosts are Annan Athletic, Workington AFC and Carlise United Youths. 

A weekend ticket costs £12, day tickets are £7. 

The O'Neills Invitation Cup takes place at Farnborough FC on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 July.

Again, four matches are being played across the weekend with Hartley Wintney, Basingstoke Town and Fleet Town joining the hosts in an all-Hampshire affair. 

Two-day tickets cost £12 Adults, £10 Concessions, £6 for 16-21's and free for Under 16's. For one day the cost is £8 Adults, £6 Concessions, £4 for 16-21's and free for Under 16's.