Local Footballers

TheFox30

To anyone who plays local 11 a side football - how much do you pay?

I started playing again this season after 5 years out and have been shocked at the cost. My team (which is a 3rd team within a big club) charges £70 for annual subs (including registration, insurance etc), £6 per match and £3 for training.

The last time I played (admittedly 5 years ago) it was roughly half the overall cost - £20 annual subs, £3 per match and £2 for training.

Has the cost of football actually gone up that much in this time? Or is it just my club which is expensive??

dawyldthing

I know when I used to play for a Uni team years ago we paid £45 to start with, £3 subs but didn't pay for training. I think it's the extra costs of the ref etc

adonis10

Cost of grassroots football is depressingly high now, it's as if they're trying to put people off. Well I guess they do so they can sell off parks pitches and slap up loads of flats - depressing times.

I play for two clubs, both of whom have sponsers so it costs £10 start of season sign on (both clubs) and £6 on Saturday and £5 on Sunday for subs, so not bad at all. However, if the club doesn't have a sponsor the money needs to come from somewhere - fa registrations are hundreds of £'s per season then anywhere between £45 and £80 for the pitch + ref + buying own nets, balls, kits etc.. When we train it's just the cost of the 3G pitch hire split between however many are there.

So many clubs around my area have folded due to rising costs and lack of sponsorship. Saturday and Sunday league football is so good for many reasons; hobby, exercise, social aspect etc. but I fear the next couple of generations will be priced out and many fields will be replaced with properties etc., kids sat inside on their Xbox/ipad, adults not having as many chances to play as they exit youth football etc. Real shame.

TheFox30

I play for two clubs, both of whom have sponsers so it costs £10 start of season sign on (both clubs) and £6 on Saturday and £5 on Sunday for subs

Club I play for has a sponsor, which makes the £70 yearly subs quite baffling.

many fields will be replaced with properties etc

Bit of a separate topic this one but I think what will happen over the next 5-10 years is that local leagues will become more and more played on 3G / 4G surfaces as more get built.
I love the traditionalism of a muddy grass football pitch, putting up the nets etc but thinking practically, there's so many advantages to these surfaces. We used to have one at uni a few years ago, and the league was played entirely on that one pitch. You'd have matches starting throughout the day (9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm).

I think that's the way local Saturday football will start to head in the next few years, allowing the grass pitches to be sold off for properties etc

daveyjp

Subs will depend on the facilities the clubs have. If they operate out of a local pub, have no or very basic changing rooms running costs will be lower than a club which has club house, changing rooms etc etc.

Our rugby club charges start at £112 for minis, through to £150 plus match fees for seniors. This excludes the cost of kit, most teams try and get a shirt sponsor, otherwise its £35+ for a shirt plus costs of other gear which soon reaches £200.

A 3G pitch is £250,000-500,000 and do wear out so don't expect every park to have one anytime soon.

adonis10

TheFox30 wrote: »

I play for two clubs, both of whom have sponsers so it costs £10 start of season sign on (both clubs) and £6 on Saturday and £5 on Sunday for subs

Club I play for has a sponsor, which makes the £70 yearly subs quite baffling.

many fields will be replaced with properties etc

Bit of a separate topic this one but I think what will happen over the next 5-10 years is that local leagues will become more and more played on 3G / 4G surfaces as more get built.
I love the traditionalism of a muddy grass football pitch, putting up the nets etc but thinking practically, there's so many advantages to these surfaces. We used to have one at uni a few years ago, and the league was played entirely on that one pitch. You'd have matches starting throughout the day (9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm).

I think that's the way local Saturday football will start to head in the next few years, allowing the grass pitches to be sold off for properties etc

Depressing thought. 3G is fine for 5/6 a side but proper 11 a side is on proper pitches, not to mention the face that 3/4g is probably worse for the joints.

Sad future ahead but, fortunately, id have stopped by then and be able to look back on 25 years of football on proper pitches in the good old way.

It's not even just that, kids won't even be able to just go down to the park and kick around for hours, they'll have to hire pitches because the old field will be 100 flats.

Meh.

adonis10

daveyjp wrote: »

Subs will depend on the facilities the clubs have. If they operate out of a local pub, have no or very basic changing rooms running costs will be lower than a club which has club house, changing rooms etc etc.

Our rugby club charges start at £112 for minis, through to £150 plus match fees for seniors. This excludes the cost of kit, most teams try and get a shirt sponsor, otherwise its £35+ for a shirt plus costs of other gear which soon reaches £200.

A 3G pitch is £250,000-500,000 and do wear out so don't expect every park to have one anytime soon.

The problem is that the parks will be sold off quicker than the 3G pitches are built, resulting in a generation who have nothing but screens. The good old days of playing world cup and headers and volleys on the field until dark will be fading. It's ok though, everyone will be safe inside sat on their iPads with no old school enjoyment.

TheFox30

3G is fine for 5/6 a side but proper 11 a side is on proper pitches, not to mention the face that 3/4g is probably worse for the joints

I read an article ages ago that said the exact opposite - that the 3G / 4G should reduce injuries, not increase them. Don't ask me to quote the article though - all I could tell you is somewhere on the Internet!
From personal experience I've had 3 operations on the same knee (torn ACL & 2 torn ligaments) which resulted from my studs sticking in the turf on a grass pitch - whether this would be as likely on a 3G/4G pitch I'm not sure.
Nontheless I do still love a grass pitch - it does feel more like proper local league football running out into a big sloppy field of mud!

adonis10

TheFox30 wrote: »

3G is fine for 5/6 a side but proper 11 a side is on proper pitches, not to mention the face that 3/4g is probably worse for the joints

I read an article ages ago that said the exact opposite - that the 3G / 4G should reduce injuries, not increase them. Don't ask me to quote the article though - all I could tell you is somewhere on the Internet!
From personal experience I've had 3 operations on the same knee (torn ACL & 2 torn ligaments) which resulted from my studs sticking in the turf on a grass pitch - whether this would be as likely on a 3G/4G pitch I'm not sure.
Nontheless I do still love a grass pitch - it does feel more like proper local league football running out into a big sloppy field of mud!

Yeah true, perhaps they are better for injury reduction. However, even Gareth bale said about one 3G pitch Wales played on in a qualifier "yeah it was strange, probably be worst pitch I've ever played on". Football is played on grass, end of.

silverwhistle

I'm a veteran playing women's football in a county league hence occasionally 1/1.5 hour trips for away games, although many are much closer.

I pay £10 a month subs and £3/£5 match subs: the reduced fee if you're on the bench. That includes the cost of training on a floodlit 3G pitch during the winter.

Last year one of the girls had to leave as she (or parents) couldn't afford the subs. When I see posters for 'Sport for All' it makes me really annoyed: funding is so poor, and the benefits are just ignored. All this talk about obesity, people not exercising enough, and the hire rates for local (crap) pitches keep on going up.

At least with women's football we can normally get refs as there isn't the aggro they sometimes get with low level men's football.

silverwhistle

Today most fixtures were rearranged so that we could go up to Wembley for the International (at least that was a cheap day out). Just as well really, as with all the rain and the local park pitches we wouldn't have played anyway.
3G is OK - the more recent ones even better - but they're bloomin' unforgiving on a goalkeeper's knees - trust me!