WEEKLY BULLETIN – 12TH MAY
TEAM OF THE MONTH
Hitchin Town have won the April 2023 PST sport club of the month award for the Southern League Central Division. The award goes to the club with the best average points per game.
Hitchin averaged 2.4 points per game and having started the month with a 2-1 defeat at Redditch then had home wins over Royston and Ilkeston and away wins at Alvechurch and Kings Langley. Manager Mark Burke was delighted with the award that he felt was just reward for the hard work the players had put in.
MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE
Mark has continued to talk to squad members about next season and is pleased with the positive responses he has had. He is also still mapping out the pre-season friendly programme. As ever it is not easy to tie down higher level teams while a large number of lower level teams are seeking to play us and it becomes a balancing act to get the ideal programme which will include games against the three categories of teams—those at a lower level, those from the same level and those from a higher level. It is necessary to have sufficient games to ensure all players get the required game time without being over used while triallists will also need games to try and impress Mark.
INTERVIEW WITH MARK BURKE
On Thursday Freddie Cardy interviewed Mark and reviewed the past season. Please watch out for the interview on our social media platforms.
PRE- SEASON FRIENDLY CONFIRMED
On Tuesday 18th July Hitchin will travel to newly promoted Stotfold where we will have the pleasure of locking horns with Brett Donnelly. The kick-off time will be 7.30pm.
WORKING PARTY ON SATURDAY
There will be regular working parties through the close season and the first session will be this Saturday 13th May from 9.00am. There will be tea biscuits and cake provided. There will also be gardening gloves provided. This first Saturday will be spent clearing timber which has fallen in the Canary Club garden and getting on top of the lawn again, so wear good shoes.
TICKET AND SEASON TICKET PRICES FOR 2023/24 BY CHRIS NEWBOLD
ADMISSION PRICES FOR 2023/24
- Adult £13
- Concession £9
- Teenager £4
- Child under 13 £2
- Over 80 free
SEASON TICKET PRICES FOR 2023/24
Season tickets for the 2023/24 season will be on sale from 10:00 hours on Friday 12th May.
Whilst we are sure you will appreciate that costs to stage games have significantly increased, we are pleased to be able to ensure that our admission increases for next season are minimal, and continue to offer a massive saving on paying for each match separately.
Prices for the 2023/24 season are as follows:
Adults £195.00, Concessions (retained at 60-79) £135.00, Teenagers £40.00, Child Under 13 (accompanying an Adult) £20.00, Seniors (Over 80) FREE.
Link to Season Ticket sales is:
https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/package/hit2324st/season-ticket-202324
Season tickets can only be purchased online. When purchasing a Season ticket online, please be mindful of the following:/
You can order your ticket in one of two ways: (i) Downloadable to your smart phone, then all you have to present is the icon showing the QR code for scanning, or: (ii) A hard plastic card showing the icon which you will need to present at the entrance for each game.
· If you are ordering any tickets for anyone other than yourself:
YOU MUST use the “Edit Details” box to enter the name, date of birth and phone number (if different) of the person who will be the Cardholder and attending the games. This ensures that the correct name will be on the season ticket before production. Season tickets not in the name of the attendee will not be valid.
Child U13 season tickets can only be purchased when bought with an accompanying Adult, Concession or Senior ticket, to a maximum of three Child tickets per one adult.
Season tickets are valid for all 21 League games in the PitchingIn Southern League Premier Division Central. They will also be valid for all pre-season matches that are played at Top Field provided that they are purchased in advance of the game(s) you wish to attend (Cup games and testimonials excluded) Please note tickets are not valid for Cup games in FA Cup, FA Trophy or County Cup competitions, nor for any testimonial games that the Club might arrange during the season.
With the team having finished this season on a real high, having won the Southern League “Team of the Month” award for the very first time in April, we are obviously hoping for a good season in 2023-24. So don’t delay, buy your season ticket now and be part of the Canaries experience!
Any questions about season or match tickets can be sent to tickets@hitchintownfc.club
COMMERCIAL NEWS BY MICK DOCKING
GARDEN HOUSE HOSPICE
Even supporters with the shortest memories will remember the visit for our Charity Partners GHH just before Easter. The impressive figure of Harry Bear with his minder Caroline will long linger with me – just how do you get through a 2ft 6inch door when you have a 3ft head? With great difficulty – that’s how!
Poor old Harry navigating blind around the ground – he must have sweated a stone that afternoon.
Anyway the serious side of the afternoon was the collective effort to sell as many fluffy woollen Charlie Chicks in support of the Hospice and provide me with a more than adequate supply to sell on afterwards!
Well, I am pleased to announce that the clacking of knitting needles has finally stopped and the money collected. All those involved in the event were invited along for afternoon tea and cake at the Hospice and I was only too happy to attend on behalf of the Club. It was a new record for the Chicks campaign, with over £18,000 being raised in all.
Carla Pilsworth, GCH Director of Income Generation, thanked all involved for their efforts – in particular Letchworth Company DLRC who sponsored all those Creme Eggs, all the ladies who had done the knitting, stuffing and finishing and all the local outlets in North Herts that had helped sell the 13,000 plus, multi-coloured wooly chicks to thousands of unsuspecting locals who needed to satisfy their chocolate cravings.
I would like to thank everyone at the Football Club who supported this fund-raising effort, as well as Paul, Hannah and Glen at the Plume Ickleford and Rob, Lauren, Sue and Sarah at The Three Moorhens who all helped to shift those fluffy balls of chocolate.
CIDER AND CHEESE FESTIVAL
Just a reminder to everyone that our annual indulgence with all things cider is rapidly approaching. Alan Clark has got his chequered shirt and straw hat out of the cupboard, drawn up an excellent listing of West Country Ciders, Kate Deller has been lining up some musicians to enthrall us and some nice smelly cheese has been lined up..
We have new main sponsors this year and our thanks to Gordon Bickerstaff at Screenbond for his support. Lyndhurst Financial Management and B & D Civil Engineers have also offered their assistance, so many thanks indeed to Adam and Brett.
As usual we will be hoping to attract sponsors for the cider boxes – please contact Alan or me for more details.
So, put the 30th June and 1st July in your diaries now. More details will follow shortly.
CLUB MERCHANDISE
Please visit the online club shop where you can purchase a wide selection of club merchandise. Please follow the following link–https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com
HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY
Results from last Sunday
HTWFC Firsts 3 – 0 Knebworth Ladies
Garston Ladies Development 2 – 0 HTWFC Canaries
The last fixture for the season takes place this weekend–
Sunday 14th May 2023, 14:00
HTWFC Canaries v Garston Ladies Development
The Buffs, Clothall Road, Baldock, SG7 6PE
We now see the end to our season on Sunday, and look to build to the 2023/2024 season. Please look on our socials for details of our pre season training sessions.
We are also looking for new sponsors for the women’s set up. We are looking for sponsorship for training kits and tracksuits. If this is something you are interested in please get in touch with Callum on HTLFC.ClubSecretary@gmail.com.
BY ROY IZZARD