Club management · Play-Cricket syncGuide · Club money
Cricket club subs and match fees: what to charge and how to collect them.
Most cricket clubs charge an annual subscription to cover the costs of having a club at all, plus a match fee each time someone plays to cover the costs of the day. Here’s what real clubs charge, how to work out your own figures, and what a full season of collecting them looks like.
Subs vs match fees: what each one pays for
The split matters because it decides who pays for what. Subs share the club’s fixed costs across every member; match fees put the costs of a playing day on the people who played.
| Annual subscription | Match fee |
|---|---|
| Ground rent or lease, square and outfield upkeep | Match balls |
| Insurance and league or county affiliation | Umpires, where the club pays them |
| Kit, nets, covers and the roller | Teas |
| Clubhouse running costs | Preparing the pitch for that game |
| Paid whether or not anyone plays | Paid only when someone plays |
A club that leans on subs is easier to budget for and fairer to the treasurer; a club that leans on match fees is fairer to the player who turns out five times a season. Most land somewhere in between.
What clubs actually charge
These are seven clubs’ own published fees for adults, checked on their websites on 11 October 2026. They’re examples, not a standard: prices depend heavily on what the ground costs.
| Club | Season | Adult subs | Junior subs | Match fee | Short or second game | All-in bundle |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brockley CC | 2026 | £100 (+£20 after 31 May) | £50 (youth, student, unemployed) | £10 | £5 for a second game that weekend | £250, all matches |
| Berkhamsted CC | 2026 | £165 (half membership £80, up to 6 games) | Set separately | £8 | £5 (20 overs) | £285, all matches |
| Yateley CC | 2026 | £140 (£120 if paid by 21 May) | £150 (£125 early), second child £100 | £12.20 (+£5 with tea) | £5.20 (T20) | None |
| Mistley CC | 2026 | £170 men, £55 women | £85 | £5 | £3 (T20) | £250, all matches |
| Rickmansworth CC | 2026 | £140 men, £50 women | £70 to £125 by age | £13 | Not listed | £270, all matches |
| Northern Counties CC (Inverness) | 2026 | £50 | £25 | £5 | Free if you drive to an away game | None |
| Eynsham CC | Not stated | £60 | £60 | £10 (league) | £5 (Sunday) | None |
Across these clubs, adult subs at English clubs run from about £100 to £170, with smaller clubs well below that, and adult match fees from £5 to £13. Juniors pay lower subs and, in junior cricket, usually no match fee. Two of the seven charge women’s sections far less than men’s.
How to work out what to charge
Cost the season, don’t copy last year
The commonest mistake is rolling last year’s figure forward. Instead, price the two charges separately. The figures below are illustrative, for a two-XI Saturday club; put your own in.
| Fixed costs for the year | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ground: rent or lease, square and outfield upkeep | £2,800 |
| Kit, nets and covers | £700 |
| Clubhouse utilities | £700 |
| Insurance | £550 |
| League and county affiliation fees | £450 |
| Total | £5,200 |
Subs = fixed costs ÷ paying members. £5,200 ÷ 40 members = £130 each.
| Costs of one game | Cost |
|---|---|
| Match ball | £25 |
| Tea (averaged over home and away) | £35 |
| Umpire | £30 |
| Pitch preparation | £25 |
| Total | £115 |
Match fee = cost of a game ÷ players. £115 ÷ 11 players = £10.45, so a £10 match fee.
Leave room for what you won’t collect
Some fees are waived for hardship, some players leave owing money, and a wet summer cancels games while the ground still costs the same. Even a club collecting well ends the season with a little outstanding: at Brookweald it was 2.2% of match fees (below). A few per cent on top of the sub is a sensible buffer.
Concessions, juniors and occasional players
- Juniors: low subs and no match fees in junior cricket keeps the pathway open; charge a reduced fee when they play in adult sides.
- Students and the unwaged: half the adult sub is common (Brockley charges £50 against £100).
- Women’s sections: a low starting sub (Mistley £55, Rickmansworth £50) helps a new section grow; review it once teams are established.
- Occasional players: a half membership capped at a few games (Berkhamsted: £80 for up to six) gets people who’d otherwise not join at all.
- Two games in a weekend: a reduced second fee (Brockley £5, Yateley £5 on Sunday after playing Saturday) stops your keenest players paying the most.
- Life and social members: a nominal or zero sub, set as its own rate so they still appear in your membership records.
If your club is a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC), check the affordability rule too: HMRC requires a CASC whose membership costs more than £520 a year to make provision for people who can’t afford more.
Should you offer a season ticket?
An all-in bundle (subs plus every match fee) brings money in early, when the club needs it, and ends the weekly chase for your regulars. The question is how many games it takes to pay off:
| Club | Subs | Match fee | Bundle | Pays off after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rickmansworth CC | £140 | £13 | £270 | 10 games |
| Brockley CC | £100 | £10 | £250 | 15 games |
| Berkhamsted CC | £165 | £8 | £285 | 15 games |
| Mistley CC | £170 | £5 | £250 | 16 games |
A season ticket pays for itself after (bundle − subs) ÷ match fee games. Set it near the number of games a regular plays and it rewards loyalty without costing the club much; set it far below and your most active players pay less than the games cost to put on.
Collecting it without chasing
What one club’s season actually looked like
Brookweald CC’s 2026 season, in club totals:
- 366Match fees paid
- £4,622Collected
- 97.8%Of value collected
- 65.3%Paid by card
44 players paid 366 match fees, with a typical fee of £10. About two in three paid by card from a link (239), one in three in cash at the ground (123) and 4 by bank transfer. 7 fees were waived. By October, 11 fees worth £104 were still unpaid. Subs came from 32 members, £2,020 in all, with none outstanding.
What makes the difference
- Charge from the team sheet, so the fee goes to exactly the players who played, at the right rate.
- Pay by link, with Apple Pay and Google Pay: no bank details, no transfer references to match up.
- Let cash be cash. A third of Brookweald’s fees were paid in cash; the captain marks them paid on the spot, so they land on the same record as everything else.
- One owing board for the whole club, with reminders that go only to people who owe.
- Bundle what a player owes into one statement for the ones who fall behind: one link, one payment.
That’s how match fees work in MVP Cricket, the app Brookweald runs on: requested from the published team sheet, paid into the club’s own Stripe account. Read how the season went.
Card fees, Direct Debit and Gift Aid
- Card fees. Stripe’s standard rate for UK cards is 1.5% + 20p. Many club apps charge 2.5% or more, card processing included; on a season of £15,000 the difference runs to a few hundred pounds. We’ve worked it through vs Spond, vs Teamo and vs Pitchero.
- Direct Debit suits subs paid in instalments, because the money arrives without anyone remembering to pay. It suits match fees less well, because the amount changes with every game.
- Gift Aid isn’t available on subs at a CASC. HMRC is clear that a CASC can’t claim Gift Aid on membership subscriptions, because membership gives access to the club’s facilities. It can be claimed on genuine donations that aren’t linked to membership. Clubs that are registered charities rather than CASCs follow different rules; check before you claim.
Getting it agreed
Put the fees to the committee or the AGM with the costing behind them, and publish them before the season so nobody is surprised in April. Two levers help: an early-payment discount (Yateley’s sub is £120 if paid by 21 May, £140 after) and a late surcharge (Brockley adds £20 after 31 May). And make the insurance point plainly: most clubs won’t select a player whose membership isn’t paid, because the club’s cover only extends to members.
Questions treasurers ask
Should the match fee include tea?
Most clubs build tea into the match fee on days it’s provided, and some charge it separately so players who don’t eat don’t pay: Yateley adds £5 on tea days. If teas are a big cost, keeping them separate makes the match fee easier to compare and easier to cut when you stop providing them.
Do juniors pay match fees?
Usually not in junior cricket. Mistley and Berkhamsted charge no match fees in junior games, and that’s typical. Juniors who play in adult sides normally do pay, often a reduced fee: Berkhamsted charges under-18s £5 in senior games.
Can we split subs into instalments?
Yes, and for a £150 sub it can be the difference between a member renewing in April and in July. Set the instalments at the start of the season, put any odd pennies on the first one, and make the later ones easy to pay from a link rather than a bank transfer reference.
What if a player won’t pay?
Make the rule before you need it: most clubs say unpaid members can’t be selected, because the club’s insurance only covers members. Then make it easy to clear the debt in one go, with a single statement listing everything they owe, rather than a string of reminders for each game.
Sources
- Brockley CC: subscriptions and match fees
- Berkhamsted CC: subscriptions and match fees
- Yateley CC: subscriptions and match fees
- Mistley CC: subscriptions and match fees
- Rickmansworth CC: subscriptions and match fees
- Northern Counties CC (Inverness): subscriptions and match fees
- Eynsham CC: subscriptions and match fees
- HMRC: CASC newsletter, February 2023 (Gift Aid and membership)
- HMRC: Community Amateur Sports Clubs detailed guidance notes
- Stripe UK pricing
Match fees from the team sheet, paid into your club’s own account. Club is £99 a year and adds nothing on top of Stripe.