Keep an Eye Out for the Under-21's

Reserve team (or Under-21) football seemed for a while to be drifting towards being merely an extension of training for the bigger clubs with games being played in the afternoon, often at the training ground and with little encouragement for spectators to attend.

That has changed over the past season or so. I blogged last season on the introduction of the Under-21 Premier League Cup which takes place again this year while Sky Sports, with a new channel added to their roster, have been screening live games from the Under-21 Premier League.

A number of clubs (both Arsenal and Spurs for instance) have already played games at their home stadiums with 7pm kick-offs allowing families to attend for an affordable price.

This week sees Manchester United in action at Old Trafford, Newcastle at St James' Park and Leicester at the King Power Stadium.

The Foxes made a big push last season to make Under-21 games a fan-friendly event and it is an easy PR win for clubs in the Premier League to keep doing so.

The official FA Premier League website has a comprehensive list of fixtures.

Affordable Football Update

An update on three of the stories we have featured here on Affordable Football over the past few weeks.

The 5th annual Non League Day took place this weekend and generated lots of positive publicity for clubs up and down the country as they took full advantage of the international break and the absence of Premier League and Championship games.

Bungay Town's free mushrooms for fans made national headlines and 'bumper' crowds were reported, none more so than an astonishing 2,856 as Dulwich Hamlet played host to Hampton & Richmond, enticed by a 'pay what you want' offer.

Lower down the pyramid, 717 attended Burgess Hill Town against East Grinstead Town and exactly 100 saw Haringey Borough against Newham, both fixtures offering free entry.

The numbers may not seem much but if only a small percentage of those people come back through the gates two or three more times this season then it can make a massive difference to the clubs concerned.

Coventry City cut adult prices to £10 for their homecoming game at the Ricoh Arena. 27,306 enjoyed an emotional night and although the price of tickets probably had little to do with whether people attended this particular game it was still a smart piece of PR from the club. Prices are back to normal for the visit of Yeovil this weekend but the usual matchday increase has been scrapped for the fixture.

Gillingham Ladies celebrated their strengthened partnership with Gillingham FC by allowing free entry to their first game at Priestfield. A record attendance of 351 watched the over Keynsham Ladies in the Premier League on Sunday.

Low Crowds Force Exeter City to Cut Matchday Prices

Disappointing crowds in recent weeks and a poor start to the League Two season saw Exeter City this week announce a reduction in ticket prices for all areas of St James' Park as they aim to get gates back above the 3,000 mark.

"We hope that these amendments to the pricing of matchday tickets will help to encourage more of our supporters to return to St James Park and that those fans who have stayed away in recent months will start to return at this challenging time," read a club statement.

Aside from a small reduction in student/under-18 tickets for two parts of the ground the price cut mainly concerns the prices paid on matchday. These are now generally just £1 more than the advance ticket price whereas the difference before had been as much as £5.

Comments underneath various articles about the subject this week have been aimed mainly at the price of tickets (regardless of whether purchased in advance or on the day). Without wishing to get into that debate it is clear that, outside the Premier League people still want to decide on the day of a game whether they are going, for it to be relatively easy to buy a ticket and for that ticket to be comparable to the prices paid in advance.

That may be especially true in a city such as Exeter where there are a lot of supporters of other clubs and a big student population and where supply of tickets is greater than demand.

Would £10 Tickets See a San Marino Sell-Out?

Tickets are currently on general sale for England's second Euro 2016 qualifier, the home tie against San Marino which takes place at Wembley on 09 October, and the FA face a heck of a task to drum up interest in it given the Thursday night slot the game has been allocated by UEFA and the (lack of) quality of the opposition.

The attendance for the recent friendly against Norway attracted plenty of talk and most match reports mentioned a 'half-empty' stadium but a crowd of over 40,000 was still an incredible figure which would have generated a great atmosphere at Villa Park or Anfield.

Moving the fixtures around is impossible for the foreseeable future as the FA look to pay off their debt on the national stadium and the governing body do work hard to make England games as affordable as possible. The lowest price general adult tickets for the San Marino game are £25 and in the family enclosure it is £20 for adults and £10 for under 16's but time and transport also count against people wishing to attend from other parts of the country.

But, with a feel-good (or feel better) factor having been generated by Monday night's excellent 2-0 victory in Switzerland how about making this game, as a one-off, £10 for adults and £1 for under-16's in line with the England Women's international versus Germany which takes place on Sunday 23rd November at Wembley?

Getting 60,000 into the stadium would help the atmosphere no end and provide a positive piece of PR while still covering costs and more.

20,000 Crowd is Derby's Capital One Cup Aim

The third round of the Capital One Cup takes place in the week commencing 22 September and having attracted 16,000 to the iPro Stadium for their tie against Charlton Athletic with a maximum adult price of £7, Derby County are aiming to get 20,000 through the gate when they host Reading in another all-Championship clash.

Prices have been kept at the same level and are £5 for season ticket holders, £7 for non-season ticket holders and £1 for all aged under 16.

Chief Operating Officer John Vicars told the official Rams website: “Clearly we are not going to be able to do this for every cup game but our ticket pricing for the Charlton tie proved to be very popular so we’re pleased to announce that it will be the same again for the Reading tie.

"We saw a 16,000 crowd against Charlton, which was a tremendous effort, and with a place in the last sixteen up for grabs for the winners of the Third Round tie next month, I would like to think that even more people will buy into what we are trying to achieve so an attendance of 20,000 should be possible."

A number of other clubs have reduced prices for their ties. Fulham versus Doncaster at Craven Cottage for instance is priced at £10 for adults, £5 for over-65's and 16 to 20-year-olds and £1 for under-16's if purchased before matchday while West Brom versus Hull is £10 for adults and £5 for under-17's, again if purchased before matchday.

Buy in September to Watch England Women at Wembley for £10

England's Senior Women will make their first appearance at the new Wembley Stadium on Sunday 23 November at 3pm when they take on Germany in a friendly that marks the beginning of their build-up to the 2015 World Cup in Canada.

"To get another chance to play at Wembley after the Olympics will be an amazing experience for all the players," midfielder Jill Scott said this week.

The FA have announced that adult tickets purchased during the 'early-bird' period, which lasts for the whole of September, will cost just £10 with children's tickets only £1. This really does represent a great chance to take a family to the stadium to watch a high-quality fixture for an affordable price.

Adult tickets go up to £15 from the start of October.

In the domestic game, this Sunday sees the semi-finals of the Continental Cup with Manchester City Women hosting Chelsea at the home of Hyde FC. Tickets for the 2pm kick-off are priced at just £4 for adults, £3 for over-65's and 16-21 year-olds and £2 for under-16's.

And at Gillingham there is free football on offer to mark the strengthened partnership between the Gills Ladies and Gillingham FC. The FA Premier League game at Priestfield against Keynsham kicks off at 2pm.

Last Call for Non League Day

The 5th annual Non League Day takes place this Saturday, 6th September, and once again clubs up and down the country have embraced the spirit of the occasion as they look to boost numbers through the gate and generate positive publicity in their local community.

Many clubs are offering reducing price admission across the board, 'pay what you want' matches and offers for season ticket holders of local Premier League or Football League clubs.

Further to our previous updates there have been plenty more initiatives announced in the past week or so.

Fisher FC are offering £2 off admission for their FA Vase clash with Woodstock Sports (Sunday 1pm) if a donation is made to the Southwark Foodbank at the gate.

Bungay Town of the Anglian Combination host Martham at 2:30 on Saturday and not only can supporters pay what they want to get in but they will also be given a free punnet of mushrooms!

Wherever you're going and whatever your club are doing, enjoy Non League Day.

Free Football as Gillingham Ladies Mark Priestfield Move

As part of strengthened links between the two clubs, Gillingham Ladies FC will be playing home games at Gillingham's Priestfield Stadium in the FA Women's Premier League this season.

And to celebrate the partnership, Sunday's opener against Keynsham (kick off 2pm) will see all fans admitted free to the ground. It marks the start of a new era in the club's history with former Gillingham player Simon Ratcliffe appointed as manager and a number of new signings on show to fans.

Thanks to the excellent She Kicks website for this story. As well as news and features, the site has comprehensive fixture lists covering the women's game at all levels for anyone interested in catching a match.