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INTRODUCING THE GENERATION CUP

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We are delighted to announce our participation in The Generation Cup in association with Fruitflow Plus which is a special competition that has been set up to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the FA Cup. A select number of the inaugural clubs of the world’s most famous competition have got together to mark this special occasion.

Nine of the eleven clubs still in existence are taking part and they are Upton Park, Crystal Palace, Reigate Priory, Maidenhead United, The Royal Engineers, Civil Service, The Wanderers, Clapham Rovers and Hitchin Town The Generation Cup will have a special format and each team can only have a maximum of 5 players under 40 and must have a minimum of 3 players over 50 years of age. The idea is to create a unique blend of players and serves as a means of creating a level playing field so teams of different levels can compete with each other.

The nine teams have been split in to three groups and we are in group 1 with Crystal Palace and Maidenhead. Each team will play each other in a 30 minute each way match. There is a maximum squad size of 24 and there will be roll on roll off substitutes. There are 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw. We are pleased to announce that our group will play their games at Top Field on Sunday 31st October. The details are as follows:

  • Match 1: 11.00 to 12.15 Hitchin Town v Maidenhead
  • Match 2: 12.30 to 13.45 Crystal Palace v Maidenhead
  • Match 3: 14.00 to 15.15 Hitchin Town v Crystal Palace

We have decided to make the day a pay what you want event with a minimum charge of £2. The Canary Kitchen will be open all day as will the bar and we have held back two barrels of the Hop Field beer that was created specially to mark the 150th anniversary of the FA Cup to be sold on the day.

Mark Burke is aiming to include many past FA Cup legends in our squad and we will give more details as we get confirmation from the players. The club would like the day to be a Hitchin Town reunion for any past players and if you are a past player that would like to be considered for the squad or just want to attend please send an email to info@htcfc.co.uk.

It should be a great day and will bring back many happy memories.

The other six teams will play at Reigate Priory on Sunday 7th November – Group 2 Civil Service, Royal Engineers and Clapham Rovers and Group 3 The Wanderers, Reigate Priory and Upton Park.

The three group winners will then go to Finals Day which will be played on The Elite Pitch at St Georges Park on Tuesday 13th March.

BY ROY IZZARD