I will probably be banned for this but... Footie Thread

[GridGirl]

When me and my brother were kids we were only taken to the football when it was was a 'Kids for a quid' match. More than 20 years later my club is still doing kids for a quid and I still go. It costs a bit more than a quid though.

[Bolton Midnight]

Taking my lad to see Arsnal tomorrow for £10 a ticket. Very reasonable

Bargain

Even for crappy Elland Rd it was £30 a pop

[MrJan]

Bit unfair to compare one of those 'deal' games to a normal fixture. Standard Arse tickets are stupid money and you need to be a member of the masons to get hold of one

[Bolton Midnight]

Granted not for Emirates but I usually get them for away Northern fixtures

[Alexamateo]

Hey all,

I'm a typical American who never gave much thought to soccer, but I married a Mexican girl, and follow Mexico in the World Cup, etc. Needless to say I became intrigued watching Chicharito this past year, and when he signed with Manchester United, I started watching English Football.

I'm hooked!

It doesn't hurt that Chicharito has just had a fabulous start, but now I find myself wanting to catch other games, too. Really and truly, I'm just fascinated by all of the different leagues, and competitions, and various cups. I love the idea of promotion and relegation. Maybe American football should copy it.

I do have a couple of questions though. I understand basically the different leagues, with Premier, Championship, League 1, and League 2. I'd equate it to the same as baseball here with the Majors, and then AAA, AA, & A leagues here. I also understand the FA Cup is a competition of all of the clubs in England.

So Man U has it's next FA cup match against Crawley Town, which is a 5th division Conference team. Are they Professionals? If so How many levels of Pro Soccer are there, and what would these guys make in the lower divisions. I am just a little bit amazed that a country the size of England can support so many pro teams.

[Rollo]

So Man U has it's next FA cup match against Crawley Town, which is a 5th division Conference team. Are they Professionals? If so How many levels of Pro Soccer are there, and what would these guys make in the lower divisions. I am just a little bit amazed that a country the size of England can support so many pro teams.

For all intents and purposes the four top tiers in the football ladder, which is 92 clubs are professional, some clubs in the conference and lower are semi-professional, and leagues lower than about level 7 tend to be all amateur (very very rough guide indeed).

There are 23 levels of clubs in England which amounts to more than 7000 all up; all of which could potentially find themselves in the FA Cup (though in practice its highly unlikely indeed).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English..._league_system

[GridGirl]

I quite like the fact that the FA Cup only costs about £70 to enter. I only found out this a couple of years ago.

[Rollo]

News just in:
Torr£$ ha$ gone to Ch£l$ki for £50m just minutes before the transfer window closed - says that money isn't what drew him.

[Alexamateo]

For all intents and purposes the four top tiers in the football ladder, which is 92 clubs are professional, some clubs in the conference and lower are semi-professional, and leagues lower than about level 7 tend to be all amateur (very very rough guide indeed).

There are 23 levels of clubs in England which amounts to more than 7000 all up; all of which could potentially find themselves in the FA Cup (though in practice its highly unlikely indeed).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English..._league_system

That is a lot of teams. Thanks for the link. So if Crawley were to somehow tie Man U, would they then go play at Crowley's 4996 capacity stadium? That'd be a sight.

[GridGirl]

If Crawley Town did manage to get a draw at Old Trafford they would replay at Crawley's ground in the first instance. If it was still a draw at the end of 90 minutes of the replay it would go to extra time and if there is still no winner only then it would go to penalties.

A lower league teams' dream ticket at this stage is to get a big Premier League club away. Even though a team like Crawley would get a capacity crowd at home the revenues generated from an away match would be much more. Compare 5000 tickets at say 95% of whatever Crawley charge compared to 5% of 70,000 tickets at Old Trafford at the much higher prices they charge.