Getting To Football 2021-22 August 2021 Edition Andy Edwards Andy Edwards 17 Catherine Street Rochester Kent ME1 2HJ [email protected] Most of the content of this work is in the public domain. The remainder of the content, and the presentation of the information, is © Andy Edwards 2021. The cover image is © Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum 2019. Introduction Welcome back to Getting To Football! When I put out the last edition in March 2020, little did I know that it would be almost eighteen months before the next edition. As I write, there is reasonable confidence that football will be almost back to nornal in the 2021-22 season, although it certainly cannot be ruled out that this may change – and if there’s going to be a game, it remains the job of Getting To Football to get you there! For various reasons – mostly related either to procrastination or to cricket - this edition has been prepared with a shorter lead time than usual. This means that not all of the usual content is present; this edition covers only football in England from the Premier League down to Step 6, the top two levels of football in Northern Ireland, the top five levels in Scotland, and the top two levels in Wales. The lower levels in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales will return in the October edition together with hockey and rugby union. Football in Ireland, Gaelic football, hurling, rugby league, and shinty play summer seasons and will return in good time for their 2022 seasons. In another minor change for this edition, I’ve turned the font size up a bit. My eyesight isn’t what it was! A word of warning before I continue, though. It seems probable that different clubs will require intending spectators to jump through different hoops before allowing them into their grounds. Some will require so-called vaccine passports, some will require a dozen pieces of personal information which will promptly be sold to every cold calling conperson this side of Ulaanbaatar, some will require advance registration – and many won’t require any of these things because they’re just glad to have people back in their grounds. For spectators, please make sure that you check this out before travelling! For clubs, please make sure that what’s on your websites is correct and up to date! The entries should be largely self explanatory. For every team, the address of the ground is given, followed by the name of the most convenient railway station (or tram stop, or, in a few cases, ferry port) to which to travel. This is not necessarily the nearest railway station to the ground, although more often than not it is. After that, the guide provides directions from the railway station, tram stop, or ferry port to the ground. If the distance to the ground is less than 0.875 miles, then only walking directions to the ground are given. The abbreviations L and R stand for left and right! If it is further than that, then the guide provides details of bus services where such exist. Unless stated otherwise, all directions assume that matches are played on Saturday afternoons. = Station forming part of National Rail system ◈ Bus station or interchange ® Station served by light railway or metro ø Bus Tram stop ¥ Bus, in countries which drive on the right π Ferry port All of the entries are to the best of my knowledge correct at the time of going to press, but I fear that I cannot accept responsibility for any errors or their consequences. Bus and train timetables are still changing frequently and with little or no advance notice, and unfortunately not all operators have correct information readily available on their websites. Should you identify an error, please let me know by email ([email protected]) and it will be corrected in time for the next edition. I must thank assorted correspondents, many of them members of the NonLeagueMatters Forum (www.nonleaguematters.co.uk), for their valuable contributions and corrections to the various draft releases and earlier editions of this guide. Most of the content of this work is in the public domain, but I assert ownership of the presentation and of that part of the content which is not. Should any club or league wish to use part of the content in a programme or on a website then please contact me about this. Except as regards full time professional clubs and the leagues in which they play there will be no fee attached to use of the information, but I shall be disappointed if I find the information being used without reference to me. Andy Edwards August 2021 Getting To Football 2021-22 – Page 3 Contents Football in England 2021-22 5 Football in Northern Ireland 2021-22 66 Premier League 6 English Football League 6 Football in Scotland 2021-22 68 National League 10 Scottish Professional Football League 68 Step 3 Leagues 14 Level 5 Leagues 70 Step 4 Leagues 18 Step 5 Leagues 27 Football in Wales 2021-22 73 Step 6 Leagues 45 Getting To Football 2021-22 – Page 4 Football in England 2021-22 Structure for 2021-22 The term ‟Step” is conventionally used to indicate the level of a league below the English Football League. It denotes the number of times that a club in the given league would need to be promoted in order to reach English Football League Two. Level 1 Premier League Step 5 (Level 9) Combined Counties League Premier Division North Level 2 English Football League Championship Sixteen leagues Combined Counties League Premier Division South Level 3 English Football League One Eastern Counties League Premier Division Level 4 English Football League Two Essex Senior League Hellenic League Premier Division Step 1 (Level 5) National League Midland League Premier Division North West Counties League Premier Division Step 2 (Level 6) National League North Northern Counties East League Premier Division Two leagues National League South Northern League Division One Southern Combination League Premier Division Step 3 (Level 7) Isthmian League Premier Division Southern Counties East League Premier Division Four leagues Northern Premier League Premier Division Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division Southern League Premier Division Central United Counties League Premier Division North Southern League Premier Division South United Counties League Premier Division South Wessex League Premier Division Step 4 (Level 8) Isthmian League North Division Western League Premier Division Eight leagues Isthmian League South Central Division Isthmian League South East Division Step 6 (Level 10) Combined Counties League Division One Northern Premier League One East Seventeen leagues Eastern Counties League Division One North Northern Premier League One Midlands Eastern Counties League Division One South Northern Premier League One West Hellenic League Division One Southern League Division One Central Midland League Division One Southern League Division One South North West Counties League Division One North North West Counties League Division One South Northern Counties East League Division One Northern League Division Two South West Peninsula League Premier East South West Peninsula League Premier West Southern Combination League Division One Southern Counties East League Division One Spartan South Midlands League Division One United Counties League Division One Wessex League Division One Western League Division One Getting To Football 2021-22 – Page 5 Level 1 – Premier League Arsenal Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU Liverpool Anfield, Walton Breck Road, Liverpool, Merseyside L4 0TH ® Arsenal (London Underground Piccadilly Line) ¼ mile. = Liverpool Lime Street 2 miles. R out of station Gillespie Road, R Drayton Park, ground on R. Stagecoach Merseyside & South Lancashire ø 917 from Liverpool (St John’s Lane, St John’s Garden, 5 mins walk from =) direct to ground as required, Aston Villa Villa Park, Trinity Road, Birmingham, West Midlands B6 6HE journey time 20 min. = Witton ½ mile. Out of station and L Witton Road, L at roundabout Witton Lane, ground on R Manchester City Etihad Stadium, Ashton New Road, Manchester M11 3FF between Witton Lane and Trinity Road. Etihad Campus (Manchester Metrolink Blue Line) ¼ mile. Tram stop is adjacent to ground. Brentford Brentford Community Stadium, Lionel Road South, Brentford, Greater London TW8 9BW Manchester United Old Trafford, Sir Matt Busby Way, Stretford, = Kew Bridge ¼ mile. Greater Manchester M16 0RA L out of station Kew Bridge Road, L Lionel Road South, ground on R. Wharfside (Manchester Metrolink Red Line) ¼ mile. Leave tram stop on south side and R Trafford Wharf Road, then L Sir Alex Brighton and Hove Albion American Express Community Stadium, Village Ferguson Way, continue across Wharfside Way and ground on R. Drive, Falmer, East Sussex BN1 9BL = Falmer ¼ mile. Newcastle United St James’ Park, Strawberry Place, Newcastle upon Tyne, Leave station on south side, and there is a walkway from station to ground. Tyne and Wear NE1 4ST = Newcastle Central ½ mile. Burnley Turf Moor, Harry Potts Way, Burnley, Lancashire BB10 4BX Out of station and L Neville Street, R Bewick Street, R Clayton Street West, L = Burnley Manchester Road 1 mile. Westgate Road, R West Walls, R Stowell Street, L St Andrew’s Street, L L out of station Manchester Road, R at roundabout Centenary Way, R at next Gallowgate, R Strawberry Place, ground on L. roundabout Yorkshire Street, becomes Harry Potts Way and ground on L. Norwich City Carrow Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 1JE Chelsea Stamford Bridge, Fulham Road, London SW6 1HS = Norwich ½ mile. ® Fulham Broadway (London Underground District Line) ¼ mile. L out of station and over roundabout into Wherry Road, continue into Geoffrey L out of station Fulham Road, ground on L. Watling Way then immediately L Carrow Road and ground on R.