Local Footballers

A question about : Local Footballers

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 Ј70 for annual subs (including registration, insurance etc), Ј6 per match and Ј3 for training.

The last time I played (admittedly 5 years ago) it was roughly half the overall cost - Ј20 annual subs, Ј3 per match and Ј2 for training.

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

Best answers:

• I know when I used to play for a Uni team years ago we paid Ј45 to start with, Ј3 subs but didn't pay for training. I think it's the extra costs of the ref etc
• 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 Ј10 start of season sign on (both clubs) and Ј6 on Saturday and Ј5 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 Ј's per season then anywhere between Ј45 and Ј80 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.
• I play for two clubs, both of whom have sponsers so it costs Ј10 start of season sign on (both clubs) and Ј6 on Saturday and Ј5 on Sunday for subs
  Club I play for has a sponsor, which makes the Ј70 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
• 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 Ј112 for minis, through to Ј150 plus match fees for seniors. This excludes the cost of kit, most teams try and get a shirt sponsor, otherwise its Ј35+ for a shirt plus costs of other gear which soon reaches Ј200.
  A 3G pitch is Ј250,000-500,000 and do wear out so don't expect every park to have one anytime soon.
• 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!
• 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 Ј10 a month subs and Ј3/Ј5 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.
• 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!
• 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"
  Gareth Bale obviously hasn't played on some of the pitches I've played on :-)
  All this talk about obesity, people not exercising enough, and the hire rates for local (crap) pitches keep on going up.
  I sometimes wonder if from a government / local authority point of view, there's some thinking about the cost to the NHS - getting everyone playing contact sports like football and rugby would impact significantly on the local A&E. Whereas if they just encourage everyone to go to the gym, there's similar health benefits without the injury list
• Every clubs and every academy has different cost. The cost depends upon infrastructure, facilities and the coach.
• Which part of the country are you in? Things are usually more expensive in London and the South East
• I run an Under 18 team for a Step 6 club.
  We charge our players Ј10 registration fee and then Ј3 per week for training and a match. Ј2 if they don't train but still get selected.
  We play in a midweek floodlit league that provides three officials per game.