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WEEKLY BULLETIN 18TH APRIL

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UPCOMING FIXTURES

Friday 18th April  league game away to Alvechurch kick-off 3.00pm. Coach leaves at 11.00am.

Monday 21st April  league game home to Bedford  kick-off 3.00pm.

BEDFORD TOWN PREVIEW

It’s our final home game of the season and we look to finish our season with a performance to be proud of despite our relegation having now been confirmed. We welcome our neighbours top of the table Bedford Town to Top Field.

In the reverse fixture on Boxing Day Bedford clinched the win despite a good performance from Hitchin Town, a 2-1 defeat with an own goal from Mensah.

TICKETS FOR THE BEDFORD TOWN GAME

It goes without saying that with Bedford Town in contention for the title, we are expecting our biggest attendance of the season. In order to ensure that we can accommodate everyone attending, we ask you to help us to ensure you have a quick and easy entry into the ground via the turnstiles and we minimise queues, either at the turnstiles or at the Ticket Office window.  So we ask that if you are able to buy your tickets online in advance, you do so. Not only is it cheaper but it will help us keep the car park area outside the bar and the area around the side gate and Match Day Ticket Office as clear and safe as possible. Link to online sales is:  https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets   

If you are unable to buy your tickets online, or get someone else to help you buy them, our Match Day Ticket Office will be open between 13:30-15:15. If you buy from here you will have to walk back round to the turnstiles to enter the ground. There is no entry through the side gate next to the Ticket Office. Purchases from the Ticket Office are by card payment only, no cash.

For any of you who need to request complimentary tickets for media, scouts or guests for the game, there is a deadline of midday on Sunday 20th April for any requests. After this time requests will not be accepted and ground entry will be by paid ticket only.

Thanks for your co-operation, and here’s hoping for a bumper crowd in a safe environment and a great game to end our season at Top Field.

CHRIS NEWBOLD

 

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 & 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 will be in attendance serving a great range of craft beers. They will be 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.

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 another big crowd and hope everyone has a great afternoon at Top Field.

GUESTS AT BEDFORD TOWN GAME

One YMCA are our guests for the Bedford match.

Working within the community is at the forefront of the Club’s Strategic Objectives, so when we received a request to support a local project for the homeless of Hitchin we were keen to help if we could.

Anderson House in Florence Street has recently been purchased by One YMCA a registered charity providing shelter for our local homeless. In total there are 21 residents, many of whom are big football fans, but most of whom have never visited Top Field. This afternoon we welcome a small delegation from Anderson House as our guests and trust that they will enjoy their stay with us. We hope to develop this relationship next season – who knows, our guests today may soon become tomorrow’s committed supporters and Club volunteers?

CHEQUE PRESENTATION TO GARDEN HOUSE HOSPICE AT BEDFORD GAME

After the great success of the recent charity game for Garden House Hospice we are pleased to host the cheque handover from Roger Levett and his family to Carla Pilsworth who is representing the charity. Over £7,500 was raised and the ceremony will take place before the kick-off. It has also been decided that there will be a minute’s applause before the game in memory of all those connected with the club who have passed away during the season.

MANAGER’S NOTES BY MICHAEL JONES

Relegation

Our relegation which has been pending for a few weeks was confirmed on Saturday with our dire performance at home to AFC Sudbury.

I know everyone will be extremely disappointed with how these last two seasons have gone, especially this season as we have not utilised the reprieve we received last season.

When I was asked to lead the group as interim/manager it was an absolute honour to be trusted with this position and we had 29 games to steer ourselves clear of relegation which is more than enough time and I honestly thought we would have enough to stay up and retain our step 3 status. I have failed the club who trusted me to lead the group and the supporters who have backed me, the group and the club with excellent support this season despite being in the relegation zone all season.

I know people will look at our start to the season and although having zero points after 7 games did not help this is not the reason we are now relegated. We put ourselves into a competitive position over the Christmas/New Year period but since our defeat away to Lowestoft we have been unable to win, which has allowed other teams to increase their points tally and the gap between us and safety became difficult to close.

I also know that people will not be looking forward to playing Step 4 football, while also thinking that we have no ambition and we are not trying to progress/move forward. This is not the case but as things stand, we will need to reset and take one step back to progress forward together.

We have already started preparations for next season and have been speaking to current players who we wish to retain and looking at new recruits which will help us try and bounce back at the first attempt. I will be working hard over the summer to make sure we look at every detail at the club to try and improve the culture and give us a team we can all be proud of next season.

AFC Sudbury

I felt really let down by the group of players Saturday, not because we lost a game of football that confirmed our relegation but the way we lost it. I was expecting to see a group of players who were willing to give everything on Saturday for the supporters but instead we got a nothing performance. We were too slow with the ball, not positive enough with our passing, played at such a slow tempo with everything we did and failed to create anything. It was like watching a boring Premiership match. This is something I do not want a group of players I am leading to ever look like and this is why I feel so let down with the performance.

Not much happened in the first half and 0-0 at half time was a fair reflection of the game. Second half, despite our poor performance, the small margins showed again. We had an unbelievable chance to take the lead when a cross from Dan Stokoe was not met cleanly by Rio Deall and then Jake Hutchinson had a swing and a miss. Then a few minutes later we found ourselves 1-0 down. Once the game went 1-0, Sudbury managed it well and sat everyone behind the ball and despite the support of over 700 trying to get the group of players going on the pitch and inject some life into the game, we went down with a 1-0 defeat and an absolute whimper of a performance.

Alvechurch

We travel to Alvechurch on Good Friday. Alvechurch find themselves only 4 points off the drop, so the game is vital for them to get a win so they can make sure they steer clear of the relegation places.

We are playing for pride and I will be expecting a much better performance than we got on Saturday.

I want to finish the season as strong as possible on the pitch, starting with this fixture.

Bedford Town

Bedford travel to us on Easter Monday and could be looking to either secure the league title or put themselves in a very good position going into the final game of the season.

This is our final home game and we all need to reward the excellent support with a performance and sign off our home season fixtures in a positive manner.

I will be trying everything to motivate the group to make sure they give you a performance to be proud of and a better game of football in front of another big crowd.

Player News

  • Lewis Barker has stepped up his recovery and is now in contact training.

  • Harry Titchmarsh will be back for the Easter weekend fixtures.

  • Lewis Franklin has recovered from his illness and will be good to start.

  • Stephen Gleeson will not be involved this weekend.

  • Liam Brooks faces a late fitness test against Alvechurch.

  • Dom Martins is on trial with a professional club.

  • Josh Odell–Bature is on trial with a professional club.

  • Rio Deall will be finishing the season with Hemel Hempstead FC.

  • Bradley Bell is unavailable against Alvechurch due to work commitments.

NEW VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED FOR TANNOY!

Due to volunteers having university or change in circumstances next season we are on the look our for budding tannoy announcers. If you see yourselves as having “The Voice for our Stadium” we would love to hear from you. As you will know its really just a case of announcing a few safety messages, substitutions and any information about mascots, sponsors or visiting clubs.

You will be given full training and support throughout. We would like to have two or three people to allow for a rota system and allow you to volunteer and also enjoy being a supporter. This exciting opportunity would mean you get your own season ticket for the club and access to home games even when you are not volunteering.

If you would be interested in this or any other type of volunteering at Top Field please drop an e mail to volunteers@hitchintownfc.club or pop in the Shop and see us at the last two home games where you can collect and fill in a Volunteer Application form


ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES

Will McNeill came on as a sub for the first team on Saturday and will be involved in the last 3 games of the season.

Blue Joy and Tyrese Kamara will also be selected in the remaining first team squads.

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


JUNIOR CANARIES UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES

If you wish to sign up as a Junior Canary, please email juniorcanaries@hitchintownfc.club with the following details:

  • Name, Date of birth, Address, School, Club Team (if applicable), Team you support, Parent/Guardian Name, Email, Contact Number.

We look forward to welcoming you all to the Junior Canaries.

Roy Izzard