WEEKLY BULLETIN – 19TH JULY

FIXTURES

• Saturday 20th July Away to St Neots Friendly kick-off 3.00pm.
• Friday 26th July Home to Edgware and Kingsbury kick-off 7.30pm. Tickets can be purchased online.

LEAGUE FIXTURES
The Southern League fixtures were released today. This is the full list for Hitchin–

HERTS SENIOR CUP DRAW
We have been drawn at home to Hadley in the first round of the Herts Senior Cup. Should we progress to the second round we will be at home to Hemel Hempstead. Dates will be announced when known.

MANAGER’S NOTES BY BRETT DONNELLY
I’m back! Hard missing games this time of year but that’s why you have trusted staff around you to keep things ticking over. And it was a much needed bit of R&R after a busy summer. I was tuned in to the games on the radio and was in constant contact with everyone. I didn’t miss much as this stage of pre-season is all about getting minutes into players legs and looking at the players you aren’t sure of. I think we are just about there now. We have got a couple of lads coming in this week. It’s that time of year where lads are released higher up and you need to have a look at them. But now we are mainly looking at the 20 I want to go with for the rest of the season.

The goalkeeper situation hasn’t been resolved as yet but I think it’s there for all to see that we have good options. Sadly, I had to let Josh “Boomer” Mollinson go last night. Booms been at the club since my playing days and is a hugely infectious character around the place, but I didn’t feel it right to keep him around as a just in case option. He’s now at the stage of his career where he needs to be playing regularly and be settled at a club. It’s now a straight fight between James Callan and Kyle Forster. Both have been superb and it’s a tight decision whoever gets the nod as number 1. For me in the close season it’s been the question I’ve been asked non-stop, “whose going to replace Charlie?” well it will be one of these two. It’s up to them now to force me to pick them.

Tuesday against Luton U21’s side was a surprising clash. I didn’t expect them to be as physical and direct as they were. Fair play to Paul Benson and Joe Deeney in getting them ready for men’s football. It also meant that it was a proper game. Good to see Brooksy out there and looking sharp. Took his goal well. He’s had a back injury which has limited him, so it was good for him to be out there getting vital minutes. He’s another one who has thrown his hat in the ring for the captaincy. It’s not a decision I ever make until I judge the dynamic of the group and see who the leaders are. Who do the lads gravitate to? Who organises? Who’s prepared to upset his teammates when its needed? Who’s prepared to have hard conversations with me? I don’t want any yes men.. no good at all.

I thought first half we did ok.. didn’t keep the ball well enough and seemed a bit panicked in possession. But we looked energetic and defensively pretty sound. Just in the final third I want us better, but that will come. It also gave me chance to release a few trialists who weren’t quite at the level we require. No bad eggs just not good enough.

Tomorrow at St Neots we should be somewhere near where I want us to be in terms of personnel, it’s now time to start getting the messages across of how we want us to play. The lads are getting it, time to start seeing it on the pitch now.

Problem we have had is injuries, but we seem to be getting lads back now. Fernando should be fit enough for the bench at St Neots, LB is back and available, Albie is playing through a little ankle niggle, like I mentioned before hopefully Brooksy is back now. We are still missing Glees who has a calf strain and won’t be back for a couple of weeks yet. The one major one left is Henry Snee. He has a meeting with a knee specialist next week and sadly it doesn’t look good. We will await the results and the recommendations of the specialist. Gutted for Snee as he looked so sharp in training. We will just have to see.

This Saturday is the start of a busy week, with 2 training sessions before Friday’s game followed by team day out on the Saturday. Hope to see a load of you at St Neots Saturday. And hopefully a better performance”

Donners

MEET THE MANAGER
Hitchin Town Supporters Trust are pleased to announce that Brett Donnelly has kindly agreed to a Meet the Manager session which will take place in the Canary Club on Thursday August 1st, starting at 7.30pm.

This will be a chance to hear Brett’s thoughts on the squad he has assembled, the pre-season matches and the upcoming season. He will also answer supporters’ questions.

This event will be open to all supporters, not just Trust members, so please encourage fellow supporters to attend. .

We look forward to seeing you on the 1st. August.

GOOD ATTENDANCES FOR FRIENDLIES
We can be well pleased with the attendances for our friendlies so far. Having attracted 247 to the Rushden game when the weather was poor, we then had 411 attend the Barnet game despite a late change of date. On Tuesday despite it being well known that the Luton first team squad were abroad and we would be facing their academy side an excellent turn out of 654 were at Top Field. Many thanks for your early support.

We still have the very attractive fixture against Arsenal under 18’s to come on Saturday 3rd August where there should be another crowd in excess of 500.

VOLUNTEER ABUSE
Our Volunteers are the lifeblood of our Club. Many of them give countless hours of their own time, away from match days, doing all sorts of jobs: from administration to pitch maintenance and practical jobs to maintain and improve the ground facilities. Unpaid.

Without them, the club would simply cease to exist.

At the end of last season, one of our long-standing volunteers was personally subjected to a totally unprovoked deluge of insults and abuse from a person who basically had issue with the rules that the Club had entrusted this volunteer to apply on their behalf.

This was totally and wholly unacceptable, and the Club has taken steps to address this issue in the manner it felt to be most appropriate with the person concerned.

Our valued volunteers are hard to find. They deserve to be treated with respect and recognition for what they do for the Club.

The Club will not tolerate any abuse or disorderly behaviour directed towards any of its valued volunteers, and appropriate sanctions will be applied to anyone found doing so. We sincerely hope that this will not be necessary, and that we can continue to all dedicate our time towards further improving our Club.

We have placed posters emphasising our commitment to zero tolerance of abuse to volunteers both within the ground and the Canary Social Club.

Should anyone wish to consider becoming a valued volunteer, please email volunteer@hitchintownfc.club and we would love to find the best way you can join the team and help your Club.

A GROUNDHOPPER’S VIEW…
Nigel Gray, a dedicated groundhopper and Gillingham season ticket for 29 years, paid his first visit to Hitchin Town on Tuesday evening for the game against Luton. Here’s what he had to say about his visit on his Twitter account:

“Really enjoyed my visit on Tuesday evening – another ground off the list and not only a thoroughly entertaining game, but also a cracking little stadium – way better than many at this level. As a disabled (MND – Motor Neurone Disease) fan – special shoutout to all the staff/volunteers who not only went out of their way to assist me wherever necessary but were also extremely welcoming and friendly.

Extra special thanks to Chris Newbold and @kamakazekate for sorting out parking/entrance/teamsheet/pin badges for me as well as just being amazing people who went above and beyond – real credit to the club. Also have to mention the incredible Hitchin pies – some of the best grub ever had. All in all a great night out – thank you and best of luck for the season ahead.”

HITCHIN TOWN WOMEN FC UPDATE BY CALLUM ELLIS
Hitchin Town Women FC appoint Andy Gordon as the new manager.

We are delighted to announce that Andy Gordon will take on our role of manager of Hitchin Town Women FC. Andy will take charge from Friday as we prepare for the new season in September.

Andy is a well known individual in women’s football and had started working with Luton Town Ladies as a goalkeeping coach. That led him taking on many roles in girls football playing against Tottenham, QPR and Arsenal. After his spell at Luton Town he made the transition to Arlesey Town Ladies (Former Hitchin Town Women FC). After spending a couple of years at Arlesey he took some time out for the family. He returned back to women’s football and coached Welwyn Pegasus Ladies FC.

After a serious injury he was forced to the stands however came back into football coaching and managed a local men’s team where they finished a strong fourth and found themselves in two cup finals.

On his appointment Chairperson Karla Chaffey stated ‘The response to the job advert was highly sought after and we are extremely happy to announce the new manager. Andy knows the women’s game and the difficulties it can present. He shares the same ambition of the club and drive to make the women’s game a success.’

We are now in the recruitment phase for new players for the 24/25 season. We train weekly on Wednesday evenings between 19:30 – 20:45. We train at Baldock Road Recreational Ground, Baldock Road, Baldock, SG6 2EL. Players aged 16 years and over are welcome, and it does not matter what ability ! So if you are an experienced player looking for a new club or a new player wanting to try something new then get in touch.

hello@hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk

BY ROY IZZARD