The curtain closes on what truly was a successful season for Hitchin Town Ladies.

We started the season with no home ground, eight players and minimal funds in the account. I was newly appointed as manager, with Lou Gash stepping up as Club Secretary and Karla Chaffey remaining as Club Treasurer and it was time to plan our great escape.

Through local knowledge we found a new home pitch at Swinburne Recreational Ground. That was one box ticked! The pitch held up well during the first part of the season and then the local moles made an appearance. The weather didn’t really help and I don’t think we played on any blade of grass for about three months at Swinburne!

Our season was saved when our club sponsor Soul Shack made a generous contribution to kick start our campaign! Our season has been funded on player subs and sponsorship. We would like to thank Miss Rachel for sponsoring our ladies and I hope you keep on supporting us next season!

With a big push for players we signed a total of twenty three players within a month and we were ready for our campaign. A newly built Hitchin Town Ladies. Our mission this year was to obtain more points than last season and score more goals. My main goal was to create exciting football and create a positive atmosphere. Off to Fit4OCR for team bonding!

We hosted our first game together against Sherrardswood who beat us in the league 10-1 in Division 1 the previous season. The game got going and the football flowed and we stormed out 5-2 winners.

Our season in Division 2 got off to a rough start against local rivals Hitchin Belles. Windy conditions gifted them two goals and three points. We next played Welwyn Pegasus Sapphires who came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2. First point on the board!

Our first win was against Letchworth Garden City Eagles where we stormed home 4-2 winners. We were beginning to find our feet. We crashed out of the league cup at the first round when due to player unavailability we fell victim to Welwyn Pegasus Sapphires 2-0.

After our crash out of the cup we returned to league action where we won two games on the trot, 3-2 against Evergreen Eagles and a 9-0 thrashing of Woburn & Wavendon Lionesses Blues. More points than last season and more goals ! Targets reached.

After dropping three points to Welwyn & Letchworth on the return fixtures we got back to winning ways against Woburn. We returned back to Swinburne to play Royston Town Development. We stormed home winners 4-2 but lost 4-2 on the return fixture the following week. We beat Evergreen for the second time in the cup 4-0.

We clawed a 3-2 win against Hitchin Belles in the return fixture and got ourselves firmly in 4th place. We returned to cup action against Bedford where we won 4-1 but lost to Letchworth 2-1 in the semi finals.

We returned to league action against Garston where we won 3-1 when the odds were against us. We then pushed aside Evergreen 3-0 but fell at the last hurdle against Garston away 2-0. What a season!!

It’s been my first ever season as an 11 a side manager and the first time I’ve worked in ladies football. From the beginning of January we have played some entertaining football. Some great link up play and some great team goals. The strong bond the ladies have developed with each other is beyond where I thought it would ever be. The team have dug deep to fight for each point or to the next round! I personally cannot thank the ladies enough for the commitment and talent they have shown this year. MISSION COMPLETE!

I firstly want to thank all those behind the scenes who make this happen for us. Lou & Karla have organised me and the games and have paid the bills. Shannon provided the twitter updates and Ben guided (mislead) him. I would like to thank Miss Rachel & husband Gavin who have provided half time refreshments for all of us. I would like to thank Hitchin Town FC who have promoted our matches and match reports this season.

Most of all I’d like to thank all those that have supported us this season whether it’s been on social media or at our games!

Time for a break and to show some sort of attention to the better half before they trade me in!

Thank you

Callum
Hitchin Town Ladies FC Manager