WEEKLY BULLETIN – 22ND DECEMBER

FIXTURES

• Saturday 23rd December Home to Mickleover League kick-off 3.00pm. Tickets must be purchased online.
• Tuesday 26th December Away to Royston League kick-off 1.00pm.
• FIXTURE CHANGE

We will now play our league game against Nuneaton at Barwell on Friday 5th January kick-off 7.45pm.

GEOFF THOMASON
This week we lost another of our great team of volunteers when Geoff Thomason passed away at the age of 75. He was a key member of Steve Barker’s ground staff and will be sadly missed. Steve paid a personal tribute to Geoff which is repeated here—

Geoff was born May 1948. (75)

I’ve been asked to pen a few words about Geoff Thomason, a valued member of my Ground staff Team who sadly passed away on Sunday 17th December at the Lister Hospital after losing his brave fight against illness at the young age of 75. Geoff leaves behind his wife Judith and Sons Greig and Carl, also his beloved grandchildren.

I first met Geoff when I had spotted him watching games on his own so asked him how long he had been coming along, he said only recently and we got chatting which led to me asking if he would like to become part of our ground staff team which he did and he really got on well with all of us. He mastered using the equipment eventually taking on marking the white lines which is something no one else except myself do. He took great pride in cutting the grass along with Marek preparing the pitch for midweek games when I was at work.

He later took on the roll of changing the fixture board to make sure it’s up to date and nothing was too much trouble.

He will be remembered for his regular shouts of “RUBBISH” when an opposition player missed a chance to score and frequent shouts at the match officials disagreeing at their decisions.

RIP Geoff you will be missed friend.

STEVE BARKER

It is so easy to take volunteers for granted and the work they do can so easily be overlooked. But a club like Hitchin can only operate because of people like Geoff who freely give their time and seek no reward. I had known Geoff for many years and saw the work he did in making Top Field the great playing surface it is. Another of his tasks was finding the footballs that had been kicked out of the ground and he must have saved us hundreds of pounds over the years. So many thanks Geoff for all you did for Hitchin Town FC.

On Saturday we will remember Geoff with a minute’s silence before the game and members of his family will be present.

MANAGER’S NOTES WITH MARK BURKE

ST IVES

We continued our very good form away from home when we secured 3 points against St Ives last week with a 2-1 victory. It was an important result that consolidated our position in the play-off mix and it also demonstrated the character we have in the squad by coming back from a goal behind and especially with the fact that we have lost our last 3 matches.

I was delighted that Arnie scored his first goals for the Club as his work rate has been second to none and he deserves his reward for this.

It was also good to see Finley Wilkinson back from injury as he was able to get the last 20 minutes of the match under his belt.

MICKLEOVER

Mickleover have had a fantastic start to the season and sit comfortably in the play-off positions having been top of the table for the majority of the season.

When we played Mickleover away in August we lost 2-1 having been 2 -0 down at half-time. We made a spirited fightback to reduce their lead to one goal but unfortunately, we did not have enough to get an equaliser.

John and Ricky have recruited good, young, hungry players to play alongside some quality experienced ex-professionals that play an attractive brand of football, and the task today will be very difficult.

However, we need to be brave on the ball, and play on the front foot to take the game to Mickleover and exert our own pressure on them to gain something from the match.

I hope you enjoy the match and we get a positive result to take you into the Christmas festivities.

On that note I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a big thank you to all our volunteers who make Top Field such a special place.

PLAYER NEWS

• Our medical team Sam and Chloe have been working very hard to get our injured players back for selection and they are doing a great job as the injury list goes down with Finley Wilkinson, Bradley Bell, Dan Idiakhoa and Kavan Cotter looking to be fit for the Christmas period.
• Ciaren Jones and Diogo are both awaiting results from scans to clarify the extent of their injuries.
• I wish to welcome Ryan Sellers to the Club having signed for us on a dual registration with Wingate & Finchley. Ryan is a left sided defender with plenty of pedigree and experience having previously played for Wealdstone and Halifax in the National League.
• I would like to thank Ahmet Rifat the manager of Wingate & Finchley for his help in getting Ryan’s signing over the line before tomorrow’s match.
• Geoff Thomason – RIP

Sadly, the Club has lost another volunteer and loyal supporter in the shape of Geoff Thomason after he lost his battle with cancer. A quiet (until a referee upset him), unassuming person, Geoff was one of our many unsung heroes that has made Top Field the place it is with his tireless work on the pitch and stadium.

I would like to send Geoff’s family our deepest sympathy and condolences at this sad time, and I am sure he will be looking down on us, still giving referees his opinion in his unique way!!

He will be missed.

Finally, I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New and I look forward to seeing you in 2024!

MARK BURKE

ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
The academy has now broken up for Christmas and will not resume training until Monday 8th January.

This week Chris Khoo was selected to play for the Pro:Direct 11 squad against Watford Academy at Watford FC training ground on Friday. This is a great achievement as this squad is selected from all of the Pro:Direct sites in the country which is over 1000 players.

Of course we will update you next week on how he got on in this game.

HERTS SENIOR CUP
Below there are the details of the Herts Senior Cup so far this season. You can see that if we beat St Albans we will be at home to Potters Bar or Stevenage in the quarter-finals.

MERCHANDISE UPDATE BY PAUL SPRAGUE
Saturday sees your last chance to secure your Canaries gifts ahead of Christmas. We will be open between 10am and 1pm in addition to our standard opening hours at the Mickleover game.

We have a great range of clothing available as well as lots of other great gift ideas such as:

• Player Squave Magnets £4
• 2023/24 Squad Posters £7.50
• 2024 Wall Calendars £10

Thanks so much for your support of both the Top Field and Online Club Shops in 2023. Sales have continued to grow and this provides another welcome income stream for the club.

HTWFC UPDATE BY KARLA CHAFFEY
On Sunday our First team hosted the Canaries in the Beds & Herts Women’s Football League. It was a game that promised to be full of healthy competition. Sadly within three minutes the game was postponed due to a serious injury to a Firsts player. We are pleased to say that Hannah is making a full recovery from dislocation of her knee. We wish her a speedy recovery.

That brings us to the end of 2023 which has been an eventful year. We now focus on 2024 where we are working on some exciting plans for our women’s section. Happy Christmas and hope you have a lovely New Year.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and let us hope Santa brings us plenty of points.

BY ROY IZZARD