European groundhopping thread

[Holyjoe]

Another thing to tip the scales in favour of Albion Rovers, the floodlights at their ground are a rather well traveled and famous set of floodlights having previously been in place at Cardiff Arms Park until it was demolished to make way for the Millennium Stadium.

If you want to go right off the beaten track then Arthurlie (Barrhead, near Glasgow) and Irvine Meadow have brilliant little old school grounds in the Juniors and they're both playing at home on the 27th.

[MipoFanatic]

Or, be a hipster and visit United Glasgow in some park. They're so cool that their fixture page is currently empty.

[SteveW]

Going to be doing a lot of this in the coming weeks.

So far I've been to:

The Flying Monk Ground - Malmesbury Victoria
The Meadow - Brimscombe and Thrupp FC
Hardenhuish Park - Chippenham Park FC

I genuinely have no idea what leagues some of these teams are in but I think they are all around level 8/9 in the Pyramid. Brimscombe was the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.

Thinking about Swindon v Bristol Rovers in a couple of weeks - although could be a bit tasty as a local derby.

[daeguowl]

Going to be doing a lot of this in the coming weeks.

So far I've been to:

The Flying Monk Ground - Malmesbury Victoria
The Meadow - Brimscombe and Thrupp FC
Hardenhuish Park - Chippenham Park FC

I genuinely have no idea what leagues some of these teams are in but I think they are all around level 8/9 in the Pyramid. Brimscombe was the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round.

Thinking about Swindon v Bristol Rovers in a couple of weeks - although could be a bit tasty as a local derby.

I had no idea there was a Chippenham Park. Chippenham Town play at level 7 i think...

[MipoFanatic]

I had no idea there was a Chippenham Park. Chippenham Town play at level 7 i think...

Precisely what I thought.

I've only heard of one of those clubs - Brimscombe and Thrupp - due to their FA Cup appearances in the early rounds.

[SteveW]

Yeah I didn't know there was a Chippenham Park either till I turned up and realised it wasn't Town. They seem to be a feeder club for Town.

The game was 4-0 at HT and 4-4 FT and featured the worst goalie I have ever seen. Worse than Martyrs.

[SteveW]

Football is quite unpredictable at this level. Went to see Cirencester Town yesterday and though I think it was the highest level I have seen so far it was by far the worst game with both teams being completely toot. £10 to get in as well. More than it costs to watch the best K-League sides!

[MipoFanatic]

Yeah, the English non-League admission prices cost almost as much as entry to Major League Soccer.

[eujin]

Yeah, the English non-League admission prices cost almost as much as entry to Major League Soccer.

Does anyone know why that is? They don't have to pay mega-salaries and transfer fees to Juventus do they? Is it just price trickle-down from the Premier League, something like "the quality is a fifth as good and therefore the price should be about a fifth"?

You'd like to think that as the Premiership disappears off into international tourism land, the ordinary fan can just shift down a bit and still watch decent football for a reasonable price. £10 might not break the bank, but you can easily end up paying £25 for a match at Swindon in tier three. As we discussed elsewhere, the quality is about the same as the K-League, but the ticket costs more than three times as much.

[Holyjoe]

Couldn't be arsed with the drive up to Aberdeen on Saturday so thought I'd look into taking my two boys to watch Hamilton Accies, our (relatively) local and closest league club. Soon knocked that idea on the head when I'd phoned up to query the prices and was told that yep they would indeed be charging £12 each for both my 5 year old and my 3 year old.

[daeguowl]

Yeah, the English non-League admission prices cost almost as much as entry to Major League Soccer.

Does anyone know why that is? They don't have to pay mega-salaries and transfer fees to Juventus do they? Is it just price trickle-down from the Premier League, something like "the quality is a fifth as good and therefore the price should be about a fifth"?

You'd like to think that as the Premiership disappears off into international tourism land, the ordinary fan can just shift down a bit and still watch decent football for a reasonable price. £10 might not break the bank, but you can easily end up paying £25 for a match at Swindon in tier three. As we discussed elsewhere, the quality is about the same as the K-League, but the ticket costs more than three times as much.

If EPL away tickets have been capped at 30 quid, 25 quid to watch Swinedon seems awfully steep!

[eujin]

If EPL away tickets have been capped at 30 quid, 25 quid to watch Swinedon seems awfully steep!

For the Swindon vs Bristol Rovers match that SteveW mentioned, it's £19 to sit behind the goal in the diinky Town End and £25 to sit on the sides. It's only £2 for under 11's though, so it would've been cheaper for Holyjoe and his two kids than Hamilton Accies. Prices have remained the same since last year. The cheapest non-member tickets at Arsenal this past weekend were £65, but good luck finding any of those.

[SteveW]

One plus point for Cirencester - technically they should have charged £2 for under-11s but the guy at the gate didn't charge for my 5 year old. Did pay £2 for a programme though so they got it back anyway.

[MipoFanatic]

Yeah, the English non-League admission prices cost almost as much as entry to Major League Soccer.

Does anyone know why that is? They don't have to pay mega-salaries and transfer fees to Juventus do they? Is it just price trickle-down from the Premier League, something like "the quality is a fifth as good and therefore the price should be about a fifth"?

I moan about the price, but I suppose to be fair they do have expenses and precious few revenue streams.

The manager and coaches get paid, as do the players. Most Conference National (L5) sides are full-time; most Conference North/South (L6) sides are at least semi-pro (0.5 FTE). I'd guess that a fair number of Northern/Southern/Isthmian League Premier Division (L7) clubs pay most of their squad a 0.25 FTE salary, with some of the better players on 0.5 FTE wages.

The club I follow went up from L9 to L8 a couple seasons back, and the manager resigned when the club wouldn't increase the player budget. I suppose part of that is down to competition for players between a vast number of clubs in London football, but it speaks volumes about how much cash is splashing around even toward the bottom of the English non-League pyramid.

Some clubs are lucky enough to get a volunteer groundskeeper, but it's not uncommon for someone to get paid 0.2-0.33 FTE to tend to the pitch.

Many clubhouses pay for a Sky Sports subscription, but one would hope that bar profits negate such costs.

The only "media rights" I've seen purchased from non-League is at Football Exclusives, but I can't see them paying much for the rights.

So, a fair number of expenses when you consider it. Player wages surely the biggest culprit.

[eujin]

So, a fair number of expenses when you consider it. Player wages surely the biggest culprit.

So is the difference with the MLS just largely the revenue from TV money? It still seems odd that tickets would cost about the same at non-league level and be considerably more at tier three. It costs half as much as Cirencester to watch Arminia Hannover here in German tier five (with a covered seat) and it's a similar story at Havelse in tier four.

What they ought to do (and obviously won't) is create a system a few tiers below the Premiership, where ordinary local people can go and support their local team week in week out at a cost comparable to every other football country on the planet. People have had their culture and identity destroyed by money and there's no real need to let it infect all the way down to the non-leagues.

This is rather heretical, but perhaps the time has come to consider ending promotion and relegation at some point of the English pyramid?