
WEEKLY BULLETIN – 16TH JUNE
MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE
Another week and another piece of positive recruitment news as Layne Eadie has agreed to sign for the coming season. There are still a few players I need to talk to and I will hopefully have more news next week..
After what seems like a very short period of time the players return for the fist training session of the new season next Thursday. It will be a light session and will be followed on Saturday by an internal game.
DEVELOPMENT SQUAD
I would like to introduce Andy Zeller, a former Luton Town academy coach, who will be heading up our development squad for the coming season. He will be assisted by former Letchworth Garden City first team manager Jason Valentine. They will be coaching young players we have identified as potential first team players of the future.
The aim is to bridge the gap between our academy and youth section players and the first team. Marc Campbell will become the first team’s director of youth football and he will liaise between the youth section and development squad. Throughout pre-season there will be regular training sessions for the development squad and some friendlies. The aim then is that once the season begins we will be looking to attach development players to local clubs to gain first team experience while benefitting from additional training and possibly development team friendlies.
The development squad staff will work closely with our chief scout Ian Stratford who will be assisted by Michael Devine who joins our scouting team this season. Ian and Michael will be monitoring development squad players while also looking to identify new recruits.
MARKET STALL REPORT BY PAUL SPRAGUE
Last Saturday we set up our stall in Market Place to spread the message to the wider community about how great Hitchin Town FC is! Firstly thanks to the volunteers who helped to run the stall in some very warm conditions.
We all enjoyed getting to engage with some potential new supporters and talk about all things Hitchin Town FC. We were very pleased with how much people wanted to talk and genuinely find out more about the club and what match days at Top Field are all about. Even those that didn’t like football were enticed in by the mention of the Cider and Cheese Festival!
To top it off we even sold a few bits of merchandise too. Thanks to everyone who came over for a chat and hopefully we will see them soon either at a match or at the Cider festival.
CHARLIE HORLOCK
My recent interview with Charlie Horlock is now available across all our social media outlets. I recommend you read it as he gives a great insight from inside the dressing room.
SEASON TICKETS
Please remember that season tickets are currently on sale and give free entry to all home league games and friendlies (excluding testimonial games). You get a generous discount by buying a season ticket so please buy here: http://bit.ly/3pAi75d We are pleased with initial sales and encourage more supporters to take advantage of the opportunity to watch Hitchin at a discounted price.
You can also go online to buy tickets for our pre-season games against Luton Town Xi, Stevenage and Watford Academy.
BY ROY IZZARD