WEEKLY BULLETIN 11TH JULY

Friendly vs MK Dons

It’s another big pre-season friendly at Top Field this weekend. We welcome League Two side Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday 12 July, with a 3.00pm kick-off at Top Field.

Tickets

Where possible we advising purchasing online. As well as being cheaper, it will ensure your quick and easy entry into the ground through the turnstiles. Please use the following link: https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets

The online box office remains open until 30 minutes after kick-off.

If you do need to buy your tickets in person, our matchday ticket office will be open from 13.30-15.15, and can be accessed from the rear car park (behind the Canary Club). Once you have purchased a ticket at the matchday ticket office you will then need to walk round to the Turnstiles on Fishponds Road present your ticket for entry. Turnstiles open at 14.00.

More details here:https://hitchintownfc.club/admission-prices/

Parking

Unfortunately supporter parking is not available in the club car park (unless you are a registered blue badge holder and have made prior arrangements).

Food and Drink

The Canary Club bar is open from 11.00am with some of the lowest prices in Hitchin! Drinks can be taken into the ground in a reusable plastic cup. (£1 deposit required). You can exit to the bar during the match and will be re-admitted via the side gate by showing your hand-stamp.

Mad Squirrel Brewery are now a permanent fixture at Top Field matches serving a great range of craft beers. They are located adjacent to the main stand.

Canary Kitchen will be open from when the turnstiles open serving a great range of food and soft drinks including our signature HTFC Pies. They also have ice creams on offer!

Club Shop

Get your matchday programme, teamsheet, chocolate bars, sweets and HTFC merchandise from the club shop.

For full details on the facilities at Top Field see our Matchday Info page here:
https://hitchintownfc.club/matchday-info/

We look forward to welcoming everyone to Top Field and hope that everyone has a great evening.

Friendly at Potton United

On Tuesday night (15 July) we travel the short distance to face Spartan South Midlands Premier Division side Potton United away. Kick-off is at 7.45pm and admission prices are as follows: adults £4, concessions £2, under 16’s free if accompanied by an adult.

Southern League Fixtures for 2025-26

These are due to be released next Friday (18 July) at 13:00. We’ll get these fixtures on site and out via social media as soon as we can next week.

FA Youth Cup

We have agreed to play the FA Youth Cup Extra Preliminary Round tie against Milton Keynes Irish on Wednesday 3 September with a 19:00 kick off.

Managers Notes

3-0 Defeat to Luton U21s

We hosted Luton Town U21s last Friday after our first pre-season outing on Tuesday against Barnet.

The starting XI was changed again from the one that started against Barnet on Tuesday.

We got off to a great start on the front foot with Liam Brooks forcing the Luton number one into an early save but it was not long before a defensive header was missed and Luton took the lead. We then controlled most of the remainder of the first half and just lacked the sharpness with our play, especially in the final third. Luton looked dangerous on the break but neither keeper was called into action.

Second half and both teams changed the starting XI, with Toby Syme playing 90 and Callum Kane playing 70 minutes before Kieron Forbes came on to replace him. The second half continued in a similar fashion to the first as we just lacked the sharpness needed to break down Luton. The few chances we had we were unable to hit the target. Tyrese Kamara in goal for us was not called into action either until Trialist D was forced to come off and we went down to 10 men. In this time Luton managed to add two goals late on to make the final score 3-0.

A good workout for our new group of players and although I am disappointed with the lack of quality/sharpness, I must put things into perspective that we have only now had three training sessions, of which not all players have been able to attend and now everyone has only had two 45 minutes of action. The players are all still trying to get back up to speed and blow off the cobwebs from the off-season.

We have also now played two full-time professional teams which has given them an edge in sharpness and fitness which has tested us even more.

Training

We have now had two more training sessions at Top Field this week, where we have been able to work on certain things from the two games last week. It has also been good to get everyone into training as we look to increase the sharpness and fitness levels of everyone to set us up for the start of the season. We will now be increasing player minutes during games to further enhance this.

MK Dons Fixture

We host league two side MK Dons on Saturday. MK Dons are bringing their first team squad to Top Field as they start their UK pre-season campaign. This is a season where they will be expecting promotion to league one and they have made a lot of signings during the off-season and these signings have strengthened their squad remarkably.

This is our final game of our professional team pre-season schedule, before we start our non-league pre-season schedule on Tuesday night away to Potton United.

You will all be pleased to know we are done with the two teams each half and we will be aiming for the starting players to play 60/70 minutes this weekend as we look to build up our fitness levels. We also welcome back Ciaren Jones to the squad this weekend.

I look forward to seeing you all at Top Field on Saturday for what should be a great day.

Potton United Fixture

On Tuesday we travel to Potton United for our first non-league friendly of our preseason schedule. Potton play in step 5 and their new manager has assembled a very good squad this season. This will pose an excellent test for our group and I am looking forward to a great game of football.

It would be great to see as many of our supporters attend this game and continue to get behind the group.

Academy Update

Blue Joy, Tyrese Kamara and Will McNeill were all involved again for the first team against Luton U21s and all three players played 45 minutes. Will and Blue have now also played two games for Biggleswade United as they continue their development in senior football.

We are still recruiting for the 2025-26 season.

If you would like to be part of the academy or would like to find out more information on what we offer please register your details using this link – https://extranet.wearescl.co.uk/ToolkitNew/webenrolment.aspx?page=~/webcontrols/courseapply.ascx&OfferingId=85258

Michael Jones

Parking Update

As we prepare for the 2025-26 season, Hitchin Town FC is introducing a revised process to manage home matchday parking requests at Top Field.

Starting this season, all parking requests for registered disabled spaces must be submitted via our new dedicated email address: parking@hitchintownfc.club

Please contact the club via the above address in advance of the fixture to request a parking space. This will allow us to ensure a suitable space is available for your arrival.

Requests must be made at least 24 hours before kick-off time. The parking list is then finalised. Any requests received after this time will be considered if picked up, but there are no guarantees of a response at short notice.

Please be aware that parking is extremely limited. All requests will be reviewed, and a confirmation will be sent if a space can be allocated. Parking on Top Field is not guaranteed without confirmation.

We appreciate your cooperation and look forward to welcoming you back to Top Field for an exciting new campaign.

Please note: Regrettably we cannot accommodate parking requests from Media representatives and Scouts.

Holly Jones

Community Update

Schools Programme: An Update

Our schools’ programme has expanded over the course of this academic year, and we are looking forward to increasing our provision again from September as we offer a range of services at local schools as per below:

Our new brochure giving details of the services we can provide to schools will be added to the website shortly. If you are a teacher or parent of a school that you think could benefit from our services’ please do not hesitate to contact me Mark Burke Community & Development Director on info@htcfc.co.uk

Preston Primary School – (Hitchin)

Breakfast Clubs, Lunchtime Clubs, PE lessons and Ofsted Registered Wraparound care are all delivered Monday – Friday every week.

We also operate multi activity holiday camps on site during the school holiday periods on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. (See Flyer)

Oughton Primary School – (Hitchin)

Lunchtime Clubs, PE lessons and After School Clubs are delivered to the children attending Oughton Primary with them producing the winner of our ‘Design a Training Shirt’ competition a community initiative staged earlier this year. (Winner with shirt)

Grange Academy – (Letchworth)

We are working Monday to Friday at the Grange Academy delivering lunchtime clubs, PE lessons and after school clubs for the pupils aged from 7-10 years old.

Icknield Infants and Nursery – (Letchworth)

New to our family of schools is Icknield Infants and Nursery in Letchworth where we have just started staging Tennis and Football After School Clubs on a Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. They are proving very popular, and we are looking forward to expanding the provision in the future.

We managed the School Sports Day on Wednesday 9 July, and it proved to be very successful. This is another service we can provide local schools.

Woolgrove School (Special Needs Academy) – (Letchworth)

On a Monday, Wednesday and Friday lunchtime we have two lunch-time sessions per day for the children with Special Needs attending Woolgrove School.

St Mary’s Junior School – (Baldock)

Our Coaches have been providing cover for school staff over the last couple of terms delivering PE lessons in addition to a breakfast and an after school club.

Brandles School – (Baldock)

We continue to host pupils of the Brandles School at the Arena on a Friday morning for a football session.

The Priory School – (Hitchin)

Earlier in the Academic year we delivered a girls’ football programme after school for eight weeks and this is something we would like to repeat again in September.

Other Upcoming Events

Summer Holiday Camps

The Arena, Baldock – Football Holiday Camps

The end of the school year will soon be upon us, and we will be staging our football holiday camps at the Arena, Baldock throughout the school holidays from 29th July to 26th August.

Preston Primary School – Multi-Activity Holiday Camps

The multi-activity holiday camps at Preston Primary School are between 29th July and 21st August.

Mark Burke

Cider Festival Review

They think it’s all over…..

Last weekend saw another resounding success for our popular cider festival. Even Wetherspoons are getting in on the act!

The music was great fun with the Sandy Ukulele band kicking off on Friday night with their foot tapping set. Not to be out done, on Saturday we enjoyed John Powell on guitar followed by the Glee Club and the incredible Jasmin. Contract negotiations are already ongoing for next year!

We were pleased our manager, Michael Jones, was able to make time to relax and chat to supporters in between long sessions with the General. Sadly, his driver had to cut short what was becoming a very intense encounter with the General who may well figure in Michael’s plans next year.

A huge thank you to our tireless volunteers who put in some incredible hours over the two days not to mention the preparation and clearing away which, although unseen, is so important.

Thanks also to our sponsors with a special mention to main sponsors Boxall, Lyndhurst Financial Management and Modern Networks. In all we attracted 30 cider box sponsors from both local businesses and friends of the Club; we are very grateful to all of you.

As well as raising funds for the Club this is an opportunity to show the local community that HTFC is a great place to visit and have fun. Whatever your interest be it football, events or just a drink with friends we have it all.

So, put 3-4 July 2026 in your diaries and get down to the Canary Club for a great day out with cider, music, and a friendly atmosphere.

Ian Murrell

HTWFC Update

It has been a fantastic start to the pre-season schedule with several new faces training and a lot of our previous season’s players returning.

Now that the Women’s Euros are on, some are sat there wishing to give it a go or even getting back to football. Well you can!

We run our sessions weekly on a Wednesday at the Baldock Road Rec on Baldock Road, Letchworth between 19:00-20:30. If you cannot make it until 19:30, it’s not an issue still pop down and take part.

Contact us today on hello@hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk