TLFG: 23-29 May 2022

Well that's almost it. 

The Premier League is over for another year and League One is all decided.

All that's outstanding now is this weekend's League Two and Championship play-off finals and the National League play-off final on 5 June at London Stadium.

Thanks to TLFG reader Toby K, we've got a few Essex Alliance League cup finals to look forward to this week and there's a random women's match with an international flavour just outside the capital.

To top it all off, there's a couple of railway games too which I know a few of you really enjoy.

The Women's Euros take place in England in July - tickets are available

Apart from that, there isn't anything else that I'm aware of - please get in touch if you know of anything worthy of inclusion.

My main criteria at this stage is that the match is being played somewhere with reasonable spectator facilities and ideally at least a rail round the pitch - at least a Step 6 quality ground.

With the season barely over for most clubs, talk of pre-season is already hotting up.

I'm huge fan of the summer warm-up games because of the unusual match ups and total lack of pressure which often leads to some fun stress-free games often played in beautiful weather.

While some teams have their schedules published months in advance, others are really cagey.

Sadly, both clubs I follow are in the latter category although QPR have announced a trip to Germany but precise details are pretty light at the moment.

Harrow Borough have said nothing at all, as if it's a great state secret but hopefully they'll have someone half decent coming to Earlsmead at some point.

Probably the biggest friendly to be announced so far is Arsenal v Sevilla at the Emirates on 30 July.

Tickets go on general sale on Monday 30 May for between £25-£40 which doesn't seem too bad.

With so little on for the next few weeks, this could well be the last full blog I write before July but I'll review that this time next week.

As mentioned above, the Women's European Championships are coming to England in July.

Brentford's new ground is the host stadium in London and a a few tickets are still available.

I've got tickets to see Denmark v Germany there and one of the quarter-finals. I've also got some for the final at Wembley too.

The prices are pretty great - the quarter-final ones I recently bought were 10 euros each.

Anyway, if I don't write another piece next week, have a great month off and I'll be back again soon.

MATCH MAPS

As always, please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or the venue or kick-off time has changed - this is highly possible for some of the lower non-league clubs. Also, please let me know if anything is wrong or missing.

Details on all of this week's games can be found on the following match maps. If you've never used them before, please note that when there is more than one match at a specific ground you'll only be able to see individual match pins if you zoom right in. If you don't, the pins obscure each other and you might miss them. To avoid this, you can also scroll down the list of games on the drop down menu at the top of the map page to make sure you get all the information. Games are listed from top to bottom in date order so Monday's games (yellow pin) will appear first and Sunday's (orange pin) last. Games are also ranked in terms of status so the higher the division, the higher up the list they will appear on each day.

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Also if you're unfamiliar with the English league structure I indicate the level at which an individual league sits in the national 'pyramid' with the Premier League at the top (Level 1) and various minor leagues at the bottom (Level 10). Typically a top level game will see crowds of anywhere between 20,000-60,000. These figures will gradually decline as you go down the leagues until you get to Levels 8-10 where attendances of 150 or less are most common.

It should also be noted that the top four levels are for fully professional teams. Level 5 has a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams, while Levels 6-10 will see most players paid but it will vary from no more than travel expenses at the bottom, right up to several hundred pounds a week at the top.

MIDWEEK MATCH MAP
Monday fixtures - yellow pin

Tuesday fixtures - green pin

Thursday fixtures - purple pin

WEEKEND MATCH MAP
Saturday fixtures - blue pin

Sunday fixtures - orange pin

TLFG DAILY DIGEST

In the following section, I list, by day, what are in my opinion the most notable games of the week and give some brief reasons for my choice. Check the maps above for kick-off times, ticket info and directions.

Monday 23 May

EAL Fenton Cup Final

DTFC v Rapid Chingford @730pm - pretty much all the teams normally covered in TLFG have finished for the season so there are some new teams for you to check out. Thanks to reader Toby K for pointing out that a number of the Essex Alliance League's finals are being played at some of east London's bigger grounds. I know very little about this competition but the clubs compete in the 11th tier and below. This game is being played at Leyton Orient so it's a great chance to visit Brisbane Road if you've never been before

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Tuesday 24 May

EAL Premier Division Cup Final

Wapping v London Park City @730pm - as above and once again, it's being played at Leyton Orient

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Thursday 26 May

EAL Division 3 Cup Final

FC Baresi U23 v Old Barkabbeyans Reserves @730pm - as above but this one's at Dagenham & Redbridge

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Saturday 28 May

League Two Play-Off Final

Mansfield Town v Port Vale @4pm - finishing seventh and fifth respectively, these clubs have done well to find themselves just 90 minutes away from a place in League One. Vale took four points off the Stags during the regular season so should have a slight psychological advantage coming into this. Tickets are available from each of the participating clubs so visit their websites for the latest info

Friendly

International Surrey Women v Afghanistan Development @330pm - if you're prepared to travel a little outside London to Dorking, then head to Meadowbank for this interesting looking friendly. Tickets are £5 and can be bought in advance

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Sunday 29 May

Championship Play-Off Final

Huddersfield Town v Nottingham Forest @430pm - the so-called richest game in football, given the amount of Premier League cash accessed by the winner, is here again. This time it sees Huddersfield, who played in the top flight between 2017 and 2019, look to make a reasonably swift return and Nottingham Forest. The East Midlands club have a hugely illustrious history with one league title and two European Cups - in 1979 and 1980. They also won the League Cup in 1989 and 1990 and were a decent side until the late '90s when things started to go wrong. They've now been out of England's top division since 1999 so a chance to play alongside the nation's elite is long overdue. Tickets are only available from the participating clubs but will be very hard to get

GET INVOLVED

If you're going to see a game, whether you're a local or a visitor, please let me know what you've been up to. If you're interested in reviewing a ground in the London area for this blog then get in touch. I also very much welcome photos of your football travels.

NEED HELP?

Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries. I do not charge for this advice like some other sites so don't hold back!

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