TLFG: 4-10 April 2016

The end of the season is drawing nigh with matches becoming more and more important.

While there's still a fair way to go in the professional ranks, some of our local non-league clubs are down to their last four or five games with some already securing play-off places and others, sadly, relegated.

Finals are also starting to come thick and fast with those of the Isthmian League Cup and Surrey Premier Cup taking place this week and others looming in the not too distant future.

After last week's feast of live football, I've gone back to fasting this week and haven't seen any. Apart from work, it's been all about promoting Non-League Finals Day which is apparently going pretty well. A few days ago FA Vase finalists Hereford revealed that they'd sold well over 12,000 tickets so with three other teams also taking part we could hit the first major target of selling out Wembley's lower bowl.

Tickets are on sale now - join us at Wembley 

If you are in London on Sunday 22 May, you are warmly invited to join us at the national stadium for the doubleheader of finals (FA Vase and FA Trophy). Remember it's only £25 adults and £1 kids. Also if you get a group of 12 or more together then adult tickets halve to just £12.50 each which is excellent value for a whole day at Football HQ.

The main change to this week's blog sees at least a temporary end to TLFG's Top 10. Compiling it every week had become incredibly time consuming as there was quite a bit of research involved. However, instead I've gone for a new Daily Digest like the one I do at Christmas and Easter. In many ways this is better - it's quicker to produce and there's no limit to the number of games I can include. Hopefully it works for you.

Have a great week and thanks again for reading.

LATEST TICKET NEWS

Please follow this link or click on the tab at the top of the page for all the information you need about how to get a ticket, what's currently available to non-members at London's biggest clubs and any other special offers or promotions which might be running.

THE WEEK AHEAD

There are over 90 matches in the London area over the next seven days so there's plenty to choose from whatever your budget.

However, please make sure you check with clubs before you travel just in case a game has been called off or venue has been changed. 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 (white 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.

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 (e.g. clubs in the Conference South).

MIDWEEK MATCH MAP
Yellow pin - Monday fixtures
Green pin - Tuesday fixtures
Red pin - Wednesday fixtures
Purple pin - Thursday fixtures
Black pin - Friday

WEEKEND MATCH MAP
Blue pin - Saturday fixtures

White pin - Sunday fixtures

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 3 April
Arsenal v Manchester City - FA Youth Cup semi-final second leg at the Emirates, great opportunity to visit this stadium on the cheap
Fulham v Derby County - U21 Premier League action at Craven Cottage, as above, another chance to visit one of the capital's top grounds for pennies

Wealdstone v Hemel Hempstead Town - two clubs with a chance of making National League South play-offs meet at Grosvenor Vale

Kingstonian v Bognor Regis Town - battle of Isthmian League promotion contenders 

Tuesday 4 April

Brentford v Bolton Wanderers - a win for the Bees would pretty much secure their Championship status and end Bolton's

Dagenham & Redbridge v Morecambe - last chance saloon time for the Daggers as they look to pull off a miraculous escape from relegation in League Two

Egham Town v Royston Town - third versus second in the hotly contested Southern League Division 1 Central title race
Thurrock v Cray Wanderers - second versus fourth in the Isthmian North with a win for the hosts keeping their very slim title hopes alive
Corinthian Casuals v Carshalton Athletic - south London derby in the Isthmian South
Erith Town v Erith & Belvedere - local derby in Southern Counties East League, a shame neither of them have their own grounds or play in Erith

Wednesday 5 April

Isthmian League Cup Final - Faversham Town take on Kingstonian at Carshalton Athletic for a major bit of non-league silverware

Surrey Premier Cup Final - there's another trophy on offer at Imber Court where Frimley Green play Nottsborough

Thursday 7 April

Charlton Athletic v Bristol City - U21 game at The Valley
Hillingdon Borough v Edgware Town - a win for the visitors will take them a step closer to winning the Spartan South Midlands 1 title

Friday 8 April 

Chelsea v Blackburn Rovers - FA Youth Cup semi-final second leg at Stamford Bridge
Arsenal v Newcastle United - U21 Premier League action at the Emirates Stadium

Saturday 9 April

West Ham United v Arsenal - game of the day in London as two local rivals, both in the Premier League's top five, battle to secure the highest finish possible
Crystal Palace v Norwich City - a scrap at the other end of the table as the sides look to secure their top flight statuses
Fulham v Cardiff City - match of equal importance at either end of the Championship table with Fulham looking to avoid the drop and Cardiff hoping to grab a play-off place
Queens Park Rangers v Charlton Athletic - London derby, QPR have little to play for but the Addicks can still avoid relegation
Millwall v Shrewsbury Town - the Lions are still in the League One play-off places but the chasing pack aren't far behind
Barnet v Leyton Orient - London derby in League Two with the O's firmly in the hunt for a play-off place
Dagenham & Redbridge v Portsmouth - bottom club Dagenham welcome one of the big boys of the division who haven't given up hope of an automatic promotion place
Welling United v Kidderminster Harriers - battle of the bottom two in the National League, a win is a must for both
Barkingside v Redbridge - bottom two in the Isthmian North and also a local derby between teams who used to groundshare
Edgware Town v Harpenden Town - first versus fifth in the Spartan South Midlands 1

Sunday 10 April

Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - a huge game to finish the week with Spurs still chasing the title and the Red Devils fighting for a Champions League place

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 within the London area for this blog then get in touch. You might also want to have a go at writing a 'Top Ten' one week. I also very much welcome photos of your football travels.

Got any questions about visiting London? Don't hesitate to ask - be they football or more general travel/touristy queries.

You can contact TLFG through the comments section below or via Facebook, Twitter or even by good old email.