Worth doing every season

  1. 01A sponsors' board that is actually sold, with a named person chasing renewals in January.
  2. 02Match fees and tea money collected per player, cashless, so the money you are owed arrives.
  3. 03A 100 club or monthly draw with standing orders, not cash.
  4. 04Junior subs with a sibling discount, collected by direct debit.
  5. 05Retail on site: drinks, snacks and kit sold when the bar is shut. Nets nights are the untapped window.

Worth doing once a year

  1. 01A sportsman's dinner or quiz with a real headline guest and a proper auction.
  2. 02A sixes tournament with entry fees and a bar licence sorted early.
  3. 03A ground hire package for corporate days in the school holidays.

Usually not worth the hours

  1. 01Bag packing at the supermarket.
  2. 02Selling a calendar.
  3. 03Raffles at every home game with prizes nobody wants.

The multi-sport bonus

If you share a ground with a hockey or football club, they can have their own machine too, stocked for their sport, with the same retail and fee collection and one set of statements across both. The ECB reported over 213,000 fixtures in 2025, up 18 per cent since 2022, and women's teams more than doubled between 2022 and 2025: the demand on a Saturday is only going one way.

Sources

Read next

The Vending ClubEditorial team. Writes about club retail, fees and the rules that affect them. About TVC.