We flagged up this year's Non League Day last week but as the event is now just a week away more and more clubs are outlining their plans for this celebration of grassroots football.
The Non League Day Twitter feed (@non_league_day) is the place to go to keep up with all of the things going on but all over the country clubs are pulling out all the stops to attract new fans through the gate on a weekend where there are no Premier League or Championship games.
Bungay Town, for instance, are paying fans (a shiny shilling each) to attend their home match while Chesham United have opted for a 'pay what you want' policy as they host Truro City.
Chesham have admitted 'bottling' the idea slightly by introducing a £3 minimum but I think they needn't have worried too much as fans have responded very positively to this type of initiative before.
http://www.cheshamunited.co.uk/news-and-media/non-league-day-v-truro-city-saturday-7th-September
Before next weekend it is the Johnstone's Paint Trophy and the majority of the clubs involved are offering £10 adult tickets for their games (Wolves v Walsall at Molineux could be tasty).
The final game of England Under-17's trio of matches at Burton Albion's ground is against Italy on Sunday 1st September at 3pm with adult tickets just £1.50.
Aberdeen's friendly match against Viking FC for the Energy Cities Community Cup on Wednesday 4th September is free to enter.
Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.
Up and running as a blog and on Twitter since July 2013. I hope to highlight affordable football at all levels of the game.
Saturday 31 August 2013
Wednesday 28 August 2013
Clubs Go The Extra Mile For Non League Day
Next
weekend's break from the Premier League and Championship programme for
important World Cup qualifiers gives fans across the country the chance to
support grassroots football and get behind this year's Non League Day.
Originally the idea of James Doe and first celebrated in 2010, Non League Day is being backed up and down the land with clubs pulling out all the stops to attract extra people through their turnstiles.
As an example of the type of initiative that is taking place, Margate FC are offering free entry to all season ticket holders at Premier League and Championship clubs for their Ryman League game against Leiston (as well as good value family tickets) in a bid to get 1,000+ through the Hartsdown Park turnstiles.
With England playing on Friday night and not clashing with Saturday's programme, a large catchment of potential spectators and the promise of a day out at the seaside what is there not to like about this?
Over at Kingstonian FC, season ticket holders from any sports club (not just football) can watch their match with Grays for half-price.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Non League Day website has an interactive map which allows you to find a local game (or two as kick-off times are often staggered to allow for more people to attend) and their twitter feed is full of info on what clubs around the country are up to.
Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.
Originally the idea of James Doe and first celebrated in 2010, Non League Day is being backed up and down the land with clubs pulling out all the stops to attract extra people through their turnstiles.
As an example of the type of initiative that is taking place, Margate FC are offering free entry to all season ticket holders at Premier League and Championship clubs for their Ryman League game against Leiston (as well as good value family tickets) in a bid to get 1,000+ through the Hartsdown Park turnstiles.
With England playing on Friday night and not clashing with Saturday's programme, a large catchment of potential spectators and the promise of a day out at the seaside what is there not to like about this?
Over at Kingstonian FC, season ticket holders from any sports club (not just football) can watch their match with Grays for half-price.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Non League Day website has an interactive map which allows you to find a local game (or two as kick-off times are often staggered to allow for more people to attend) and their twitter feed is full of info on what clubs around the country are up to.
Affordable Football aims to bring you the special offers, reduced ticket prices and family deals that make catching a match anywhere in the country more affordable. You can tweet us @affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if your club are doing something worth hearing about.
Thursday 22 August 2013
Villa, West Ham & Sunderland look for healthy League Cup crowds
Premier League teams not involved in European competition enter the League Cup at this stage and for those with home ties it needs some creative marketing to ensure healthy attendances.
Three clubs to have caught the eye are Sunderland, West Ham and Aston Villa with all adult tickets at the Stadium of Light and Upton Park just £10 for their games. With the school holidays still going strong it offers a chance for a families to attend games together and (hopefully) see two sides who will be making a determined effort to win the competition.
Adult tickets for the Villa game start from £10 while the club's 'Villa Cash' scheme seems to be a genuine attempt to reward supporters for their commitment.
Season ticket holders were given 5% of their outlay back as a Villa Cash balance (£20 for a £400 season ticket for instance) and all further purchases with the club are similarly rewarded.
That makes a game like the cup tie with Rotherham potentially free and allows for more flexibility than when offers are designated for particular games.
More about the scheme can be found out here - http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/villacash - Villa fans, how have you found this working so far? Tweet us @Affordablefooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com with your thoughts.
Also beginning next week are a series of three England Under-17 fixtures at the Pirelli Stadium with games against Portugal (Wed 28th), Turkey (Fri 30th) and Italy (Sun 1st September). Tickets are just £1.50 for adults and £1 for concessions.
http://www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk/news/article/eng17scloser-1006289.aspx
Monday 19 August 2013
Painting The Towns and Cities (Johnstone’s) Red
It was last season’s Johnstone’s Paint Trophy that gave Coventry City supporters their best memories for many years and also acted as an inspiration for the Affordable Football blog.
‘Football For A Fiver’ was the club’s offer as they
progressed through the rounds via home games against Sheffield United and
Preston North End to a Northern Area final against Crewe Alexandra that was
witnessed by over 30,000 fans at the Ricoh Arena.
All three fixtures created superb atmospheres as families
watched together and lapsed CCFC fans were attracted back.
The competition has its detractors but the vast majority
of clubs will be offering reduced price tickets for their games this season
while the evening kick-off times are often brought forward to reduce the
possibility of late finishes (games also go straight to penalty shoot-outs) for
children who are there.
Last Saturday saw the 1st Round draw being made with ties
taking place in the week commencing Monday 2 September.
Coventry have a bye for this season’s opening round but,
ironically, are likely to attract a record low crowd if they have a home tie
due to their current circumstances.
Affordable football elsewhere this month? There are
plenty of offers from the clubs themselves and the sponsors for the Capital One
Cup 2nd Round (adult tickets for Norwich v Bury for example are £10 and Shakers
fans can also travel free to the game) while the reserve team leagues are also
kicking into action which sometimes offer the chance to sample a match for just
a couple of pounds.Tweet us @AffordableFooty or email affordablefootball@yahoo.com if you see anything that catches your attention.
Wednesday 14 August 2013
It All Starts Again This Weekend
Not the Premier League, although it seems that is what the world has been waiting for over the summer months, but the FA Cup where the Extra Preliminary Round kicks off the long road to Wembley.
Affordable football will be taking place up and down the land on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check out http://www.thefa.com/ or http://therealfacup.co.uk/ for details of fixtures near you.
There is no image problem for the grand old competition at this stage of proceedings. 737 clubs have been accepted into the tournament for 2013/14 and for many teams this is the highlight of their season with the £1,500 prize money up for grabs this weekend capable of making a huge difference to a club's fortunes.
That trend continues throughout the qualifying rounds and into the stage where League One and Two clubs enter the fray as they aim for a tie against one of the Premier League big names.
It is the third round, so often one of the most important days in the football calendar, that has created negative headines in recent years with much-changed sides and low crowds. Fresh from negotiating a new television deal for the competition with the BBC and BT Sport, maybe the FA could try a radical move and subsidise ticket prices on a January weekend when they have the national stage to themselves football-wise and very little competition from other sports.
Last week's blog post about the cost of getting to the game came just before a call from the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) highlighting how much of an issue that is becoming.
"Our research found that, up and down the country, many fans spend as much money on getting to the ground as they do on buying a ticket for the game," said CBT sustainable transport campaigner Sian Berry.
"Clubs need to learn from other countries and work with train and bus companies to make travelling to the game an affordable part of the match-day experience"
Expect more on that over the next few months.
Affordable Football to look out for in August includes the 2nd Round of the Capital One Cup. First offer that we have noticed is £10 for an adult ticket at West Ham's home game against Cheltenham while the sponsors are again running a two-for-one promotion at selected clubs.
http://www.capitalonecup.co.uk/2for1/
Affordable football will be taking place up and down the land on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Check out http://www.thefa.com/ or http://therealfacup.co.uk/ for details of fixtures near you.
There is no image problem for the grand old competition at this stage of proceedings. 737 clubs have been accepted into the tournament for 2013/14 and for many teams this is the highlight of their season with the £1,500 prize money up for grabs this weekend capable of making a huge difference to a club's fortunes.
That trend continues throughout the qualifying rounds and into the stage where League One and Two clubs enter the fray as they aim for a tie against one of the Premier League big names.
It is the third round, so often one of the most important days in the football calendar, that has created negative headines in recent years with much-changed sides and low crowds. Fresh from negotiating a new television deal for the competition with the BBC and BT Sport, maybe the FA could try a radical move and subsidise ticket prices on a January weekend when they have the national stage to themselves football-wise and very little competition from other sports.
Last week's blog post about the cost of getting to the game came just before a call from the Campaign for Better Transport (CBT) highlighting how much of an issue that is becoming.
"Our research found that, up and down the country, many fans spend as much money on getting to the ground as they do on buying a ticket for the game," said CBT sustainable transport campaigner Sian Berry.
"Clubs need to learn from other countries and work with train and bus companies to make travelling to the game an affordable part of the match-day experience"
Expect more on that over the next few months.
Affordable Football to look out for in August includes the 2nd Round of the Capital One Cup. First offer that we have noticed is £10 for an adult ticket at West Ham's home game against Cheltenham while the sponsors are again running a two-for-one promotion at selected clubs.
http://www.capitalonecup.co.uk/2for1/
Wednesday 7 August 2013
Getting To The Game - Every Little Helps
Getting
to and from games can be a major part of matchday costs and, as the slogan
goes, every little helps in this regard.
Stoke City announced at the start of the season that they would be offering their fans free away travel by coach to all 19 Premier League games in 2013/14, funded by the increase in television money that the club have received.
The Potters never seem to have forgotten since reaching the top-flight that their supporter base remains local and that attending games will eat into a big slice of their disposable income. Their season ticket prices have been realistic and the free travel offer has been widely applauded.
I noticed this week thatNotts
County Meadow Lane Forest fans
making their way to the City Ground.
http://www.thetram.net/news/1/discounted-tram-travel-for-sports-fans/
As aCoventry City
A 'Football Special' bus was in place but cost £4 on top of either paying to park your car in the city centre or for a further journey home by public transport. What a contrast to when the stadium hosted the Olympics and an army of smiling volunteers showed you the way to the buses that were included as part of your ticket price.
Any other clubs that deserve a mention for making it easier to get to games? Tweet @affordablefooty or email us at affordablefootball@yahoo.co.uk.
Affordable Football to look out for over the next week or so includes the Chelsea versus Spurs Under-21 game which takes place at Aldershot’s ground on Friday 9th August and which is free for all spectators.
http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3338913
Sheffield United have sold over 23,000 tickets for the England versus Scotland Under-21 international on Tuesday 13th August. A family of four can watch the match for £20 and a two-for-one offer has been running for Blades season ticket holders and members.
http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/20130813-england-hosp-408577.aspx
UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship takes place inWales
It is the first timeWales
http://www.uefa.com/womensunder19/index.html
Stoke City announced at the start of the season that they would be offering their fans free away travel by coach to all 19 Premier League games in 2013/14, funded by the increase in television money that the club have received.
The Potters never seem to have forgotten since reaching the top-flight that their supporter base remains local and that attending games will eat into a big slice of their disposable income. Their season ticket prices have been realistic and the free travel offer has been widely applauded.
I noticed this week that
http://www.thetram.net/news/1/discounted-tram-travel-for-sports-fans/
As a
A 'Football Special' bus was in place but cost £4 on top of either paying to park your car in the city centre or for a further journey home by public transport. What a contrast to when the stadium hosted the Olympics and an army of smiling volunteers showed you the way to the buses that were included as part of your ticket price.
Any other clubs that deserve a mention for making it easier to get to games? Tweet @affordablefooty or email us at affordablefootball@yahoo.co.uk.
Affordable Football to look out for over the next week or so includes the Chelsea versus Spurs Under-21 game which takes place at Aldershot’s ground on Friday 9th August and which is free for all spectators.
http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3338913
Sheffield United have sold over 23,000 tickets for the England versus Scotland Under-21 international on Tuesday 13th August. A family of four can watch the match for £20 and a two-for-one offer has been running for Blades season ticket holders and members.
http://www.sufc.co.uk/news/article/20130813-england-hosp-408577.aspx
UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship takes place in
It is the first time
http://www.uefa.com/womensunder19/index.html
Sunday 4 August 2013
Leeds And Portsmouth Lead The Way
Hope and optimism abounds at the start of the football
season but two attendance figures stand out from the weekend games and both
show the benefits of clubs being engaged with their supporters, listening to
and learning from things that are wrong.
At Elland Road, where the 2012/13 average gate was 21,572, Leeds United drew 33,432 to their game against Brighton & Hove Albion and they weren’t all there to celebrate the fact that Ken Bates was no longer connected with the club!
Portsmouth, meanwhile, were celebrating a more entrenched form of supporter engagement as they are now the largest community-owned club in the UK.
18,181 packed out Fratton Park and, although their team suffered a heavy defeat, the majority did so because they felt a genuine part of their club and community.
At Elland Road, where the 2012/13 average gate was 21,572, Leeds United drew 33,432 to their game against Brighton & Hove Albion and they weren’t all there to celebrate the fact that Ken Bates was no longer connected with the club!
Sensibly priced tickets (£11 less than the corresponding
fixture last season) were what encouraged the Leeds faithful to come out in
force with the club’s new(ish) owners having made a positive push for a big
attendance on the opening day.
It will be interesting to see how Leeds look to keep
boosting attendances over the season.Portsmouth, meanwhile, were celebrating a more entrenched form of supporter engagement as they are now the largest community-owned club in the UK.
18,181 packed out Fratton Park and, although their team suffered a heavy defeat, the majority did so because they felt a genuine part of their club and community.
Good luck to Pompey for the rest of the season
This Saturday is Sir Bobby Robson National Football Day
with well over 100 events all over the country, plenty of which involve good
value senior football matches to watch combined with plenty of activities to
keep the kids happy.
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