WEEKLY BULLETIN – 15TH MARCH

FIXTURE

• Saturday 16th March Away to Leamington League kick-off 3.00pm. Coach leaves at 10.30am.
• There is no midweek fixture.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MICHAEL JONES

Friday v Luton Town XI

I would like to thank Luton Town for sending a team over for Roy’a testimonial match. It was great to see so many people attend and support such a great achievement and was really nice to catch up with some former players.

I’m hoping that albeit against a very young Luton team, we can take the positives from the game/win into Saturday’s match.

Interim Manager

People have asked me how preparation has looked this week as it must be hard preparing for just one game as interim manager. In answer to everyone who has asked it is quite simple, we are all here to win games of football for Hitchin Town Football Club and although we have fallen way behind this target recently, this has not changed and will not change moving forward. Everyone is focused on the task ahead.

I would like to thank everyone for their support this week, from friends, family, supporters, club officials and even opposition managers. Please rest assured I will be giving my absolute all to turn the team’s fortunes around.

Preparation for Leamington

This week started with a team meeting on Monday before training to discuss plans for the week and expectations going forward. All the players reacted extremely well to the meeting and are all fully focused on stopping the losing run on Saturday.

On Thursday before training we went through our game plan for Saturday’s match so the players all knew exactly what we are expecting from them and how we are going to approach a very difficult match against a team going for promotion.

Now it will be up to the players to implement the game plan to the best of their abilities. This is something I am confident that everyone in the squad will do and will give their all to the club.

Canary Call Out
We need as many Canaries behind us as possible. I know this run recently has been disappointing and even the most avid supporter is struggling to find the belief and positivity to get behind the team and I totally understand why but we all need you now more than ever. So I ask all the supporters to get behind the team for these final 8 games starting with a massive game tomorrow. Your support as always is appreciated and needed.

Paul Holleran
I would like to congratulate Leamington manager Paul Holleran on reaching 700 games, it’s an incredible achievement. He has built a very experienced team, which no doubt will end up in the play offs come the end of the season.

Player News

• Jack Bateson, Ollie Lynch and Lewis Barker will be in the squad for tomorrow’s game.
• John Freeman will not make the squad after picking up an injury against Brentford B last week.

MY TESTIMONIAL GAME
It is hard to put into words just how much I enjoyed my testimonial game against Luton last Friday. I had a brilliant evening and was so proud and honoured. I would really like to thank all my colleagues at Hitchin who helped to organise the evening and I am fairly certain it was the largest ever gathering of former Hitchin Town players and officials. Wherever I looked during the evening I saw my heroes from previous seasons. Every era of my 50 years was represented with Alf D’arcy the oldest player at 90 years of age.

The players were so kind and generous with their comments to me and I cannot thank them enough for travelling to the game to pay their respects. It made me realise what a special club Hitchin Town is. The attendance of 508 was better than 5 of the 7 league games played on Saturday! One scary sight for any referee was the full Donnelly family being in attendance while Paul Giggle was as much the life and soul of the party as he had ever been in his prime.

It was great that Mark Burke got the proper send off he deserved and seeing how he was greeted by the ex-Canaries showed how much respect they had for him.

I would like to thank the match officials who asked me to give their fees to the British Heart Foundation. As ever Luton really made the evening. They sent a team and gave the game great publicity. Their chairman David Wilkinson attended along with a good number of famous ex Hatters and it again showed the great relationship between the two clubs.

Can I make one last request for supporters to make a donation to the British Heart Foundation to help fund their vital work. Please use the Justgiving link—HITCHIN TOWN FC is fundraising for British Heart Foundation (justgiving.com)

A SATISFIED MASCOT
It is always pleasing to get a positive reaction from supporters who have enjoyed the Top Field match day experience. Mick Docking received the following email from Tim and Sam Oakley after Friday’s game–

Hi Mick

Just a few lines to say, how much Sam enjoyed his evening as HTFC mascot, and we won which was a nice bonus 💛💚. Thanks so much for arranging it all, And To Brian for all his kindness plus everyone else we met in the Canary camp,Burky and players etc, respect to you all and we shall return in a few games to hopefully see us gain some much needed points 👍🏻

Thanx Again

Regards Tim and Sam Oakley.

ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
On Friday 8th March Frankie Webster and Chris Khoo were involved in Roy Izzard’s 50 years of service to Hitchin Town Testimonial match against a Luton Town XI. This was also Mark Burke’s final game in charge on a special request from Roy.

Both players had plenty of game time, both coming on in the second half with Chris Khoo replacing Kavan Cotter after 56 minutes and Frankie Webster replacing Finley Wilkinson after 70 minutes. Chris Khoo came close to scoring after he rattled the woodwork after some good play and Frankie Webster played a vital pass in the build up to Isaac Galliford’s goal. It’s great for the players to continue to get first team experience, especially against professional players.

Again everyone at the Academy would like to thank Mark Burke for giving our promising youngsters a platform to showcase their talents with the first team. I think this is one of the many excellent qualities of Mark’s reign as Hitchin manager as he was always willing to give academy players a chance to impress.

EASTER FOOTBALL FUN
Fun football courses for boys & girls coached by our FA qualified and DBS checked Hitchin Town 1st Team players & coaches. Learn new tricks & skills throughout the day and put them all to practice in a mini-tournament at the end. Games, penalty shoot-outs and lots more! Hitchin Town FC gifts, 1st team match tickets and special prizes for star players. Easter sessions available to book now 2nd-4th and 9th-11th April

Book online now https://www.northhertsarena.co.uk/book-online

or email us at info@htcfc.co.uk for more information

HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY
‘On Sunday it was the return of our HTWFC fixtures. However at 12:00 it saw our First team match postponed due to the state of the venue from a previous fixture. The Canaries hosted Stotfold Juniors which promised to be an entertaining match. The first half was fairly even with both teams enjoying possession. However within the second half the Canaries fell to three goals in the later stages of the game. With that being the second fixture for the Canaries this year it was fitness that got to the Canaries.

Our next fixture is on Sunday 17th March 2024, 14:00.
HTWFC Firsts v HTWFC Canaries
St Christophers School, Barrington Road, Letchworth, SG6 3JZ

We are recruiting a manager for our First Team. Please get in touch with Callum via our website. Keep up to date with all our news, fixtures, results and so much more on https://www.hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk

BY ROY IZZARD