Caney’s Corner, Your Local Paper, Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Let's get one thing straight - it's expensive to do most things right now.
Eating out, cinema tickets, the cost of your food shop; the list could go on and on.
People are, understandably, being careful about their leisure spend but the current economic climate doesn't appear to have done much to affect average football attendances across the country.
While many may still bemoan the cost of watching lower-level football at The Walks compared to professional offerings at local(ish) sides like Peterborough, standing prices, especially, are more than fair given charges elsewhere across National League North.
Since the arrival of Turn Sports Investments (TSI), plenty of effort has been made to make supporters feel more like fans than customers.
Cleverly-timed incentives have boosted gates and piqued local interest when it comes to watching King's Lynn Town on one-off occasions.
But now they've gone even further by putting together a genuinely enticing 'new era' package that, at the time of writing, has seen 100 season tickets already snapped up.
It's vital for football clubs to get money in, early, and by offering supporters a deal that can see them pay around £10.80 per game for standing by purchasing a season ticket is back of the net stuff.
To keep the 'new era' feel going, the ownership will have won plenty of plaudits for focusing on "making football at The Walks more affordable and accessible for everyone."
Before June 23, there's a host of offers and savings that will have many reaching for their debit card.
Who wouldn't want to save almost 20% compared to last season's early bird adult ticket? Talk has, so often, been cheap around The Walks but TSI are putting their money where their mouth is.
By knocking £1 off all early matchday purchases, but putting up on-the-day admission by £1 on last season's prices - basically a £2 swing - it should drive more early ticket sales.
Some will say that's unfair, but it's common practice across a whole range of sectors to reward in-advance purchases. A late decision to attend costing £2 won't make or break entry either, especially for a massive game in midweek.
Interesting additions like the 'adult plus upgrade' shows plenty of business nous in offering luxury options - yet providing plenty in return.
Can you imagine old owners giving away a home or away shirt and 10 drink tokens as part of any deal? You don't need to imagine, the facts provide the answers you need.
The new era is truly alive and kicking and all of the noise coming out of the club has been almost universally applauded.
Who knows how the Linnets will fare on the pitch? But off it, their approach to season tickets has left them on to a winner.
For many years now I've wanted to take on a popular local 10k race that isn't GEAR.
Sadly, for all manner of reasons, but often injury, I haven't been able to line up at the Sandringham race across the distance. But this Sunday that's set to change.
It's been a really strange spell of training for me since a painful GEAR left me crossing the line in 21st place.
I hurt for almost every part of that 35 minute and 32 second effort - and am still not entirely sure why.
And nothing since has felt easy, even the easy runs.
It led me to feeling fairly burnt out physically and mentally, so much so that I dropped nearly the whole final tough week of my block.
I needed a break and it's been fairly invigorating so far.
Us runners put so much pressure on ourselves and it's why the sport can do some harm as well as all the good it provides.
I couldn't predict what time I'll run on Father's Day but I know crossing the line and seeing my two boys there with my parents will fill me with plenty of joy regardless.
I'm looking forward to tackling a new race, route and roads that I don't usually run on and, as of yet, haven't taken any interest in the course map.
I could run GEAR with my eyes closed I've done it so many times - in fact it's what I did in the end to block out the pain.
Fingers crossed we all experience less of it at the weekend.
It won't be any consolation to Jannik Sinner.
But he and Carlos Alcaraz will have inspired a whole new generation of tennis players after their absolutely enthralling French Open final on Sunday.
World No.1 Sinner blew three championship points in the fourth set with the score at 5-3 and 0-40 to spark one of the greatest comebacks in any sport.
It looked to all and sundry that the Italian was going to cruise to victory given his Spanish challenger had never recovered from two sets down in eight previous attempts. Yet, somehow, at the weekend he dug deeper than ever before.
These moments often don't make any sense but they are an absolute privilege to watch as humans produce performances that they do not seem capable of.
Just when it seemed Sinner was done for, he fought back too to take it all the way to a final-set tiebreak.
For over five hours, the pair traded blows and then showed all sorts of class afterwards. It reflected so well on them, but also the sport.
It's a timely boost for tennis given the clouds that have circled around Sinner and his doping ban.
This time, he's in the news for the right reasons - an absolutely scintillating match that he more than contributed to, despite the defeat.
As we move away from the era of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic displaying their greatness, the weekend's finalists have shown that they can step up and fill the void.
Iconic rivalries are what make sport what it is, especially in head-to-head combat like boxing and tennis.
It's a shame someone has to lose, but tennis certainly didn't this time.
