WEEKLY BULLETIN – 24TH MAY

MANAGER’S NOTES
No article from Brett this week but I did speak to him. He has continued his conversations with some of last year’s squad and has been actively pursuing new signings. Brett has said he will start to release details of the comings and goings next week and will be producing a column to give more backgroumd to his decisions.

FIXTURE UPDATE

• A friendly has been arranged against AFC Rushden & Diamonds on Saturday 6th July with a 2.00pm kick-off.
• The friendly at Stotfold Development on Friday 26th July has been cancelled. A replacement fixture is being sought for this date.
• Our Herts Charity Cup game at home to Hertford has been confirmed for Saturday 3rd August kick-off 3.00pm.
• Further dates for friendlies will be confirmed when it has been agreed with the opponents to make the announcement.

SEASON TICKETS
Season tickets went on sale on Monday and there was an encouraging number sold in the first week. Season tickets are more financially rewarding than ever before with really good discounts on match day prices.

Here is a reminder of the prices—

Season Tickets for the 2024/25 season are available to purchase online now. Adult and Concession season ticket categories have both been reduced in price this season now providing even better value for supporters who regular visit Top Field.

Adult Tickets are priced at £168 which is equivalent to just £8 per game
Concession Tickets are priced at £125 which is equivalent to just £6 per game
Teen Tickets remain priced at £40 which is equivalent to just £1.90 per game
U13 Tickets remain priced at £20 which is equivalent to just £0.95 per game
All categories also include free entry to all of our home pre-season friendlies making them even better value still.

You can buy you ticket online here and choose to either have your plastic card posted to you or to download your mobile pass to your smartphone wallet.

https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/season

CONGRATULATIONS TO WILL WRIGHT
Many congratulations to Will Wright as he helped Crawley Town beat Crewe 2-0 in the Division 2 Play-Off Final at Wembley last Sunday. As I said last week Will came through our college programme, based at the Arena, to our first team before progressing to the Football League initially with Colchester United before ending up at Crawley via Gillingham.

He is very fond of his time with the Club and has always followed the Canaries results throughout the seasons, keeping in touch with former players and ex Manager Mark Burke who he visited at the Arena a few days before his Cup Final at Wembley.

Will showed his sense of humour on social media after the win, as he posted the picture below referencing the foul throw he gave away which lead to a Hungerford goal in our League Play Off match in 2016. In his defence he has thrown former goalkeeper Charlie Horlock under the bus by claiming he was at fault for not claiming the resultant long throw that came into the box from which they scored.

The Arena which is the home of the Pro: Direct Academy in partnership with Hitchin Town FC also saw another 2 former members of the college programme, in addition to Will Wright’s, visit to the site last week.

Former Head Coach of the Academy Damon Lathrope popped in to say hello to the current staff of the college programme for 16-19 year old boys and girls. Damon left the Academy to take up the position of 1st Team Manager of Watford FC Women’s team a couple of years ago and his hard work there has paid off as he has just been made permanent Assistant Head Coach to Tom Cleverley with Watford FC’s 1st team playing in the Championship again next season.

Damon was joined at the Arena by Stevenage Borough FC defender and former Canary, Kane Smith who also came through our college programme before establishing himself in our 1st team at a young age.

Damon and Kane pictured below.

It is great to think that two of our own academy products and a former coach of the college programme keep in touch with the club and what a great outcome for Will well done!

HTWFC UPDATE BY CALLUM ELLIS
The Canaries entered the 23/24 season as a completely new squad with fresh recruitment over the summer. The season objective was to build the foundation of a team and to get them playing football.

The season started against EB Lions. We went with fourteen and lost seven due to injuries. It was not an opening to the season anyone could want. Sadly, due to the amount of injuries we had to give up the points to Watton even though both teams made strong cases to play against each other later on in the season. However, the league said otherwise and we had to bite the bullet. After a short break and players returning from injury we had Buntingford away. The Canaries displayed some very good football however we fell short of obtaining any points. We turned our view against Bury Rangers in the League Cup. We turned up to poorly marked & overgrown pitches. As we were about to kick off the referee never showed up. With the Bury manager too hungover to referee the fixture, in I stepped. We had a two-goal cushion in the opening thirty minutes, however, Bury stepped up in the second half and ran into the next round of the cup.

Our next game was against Real Bedford and the result did not reflect on the performance given by the Canaries. We were on top throughout the game but just could not score. It was a frustrating fixture and no matter how many minutes there were in the game we were not going to score any goals. However, this performance led us into playing Buntingford for the second time and it saw us pick up the first three points of the season. A change of formation and tactics saw us score four.

We took this momentum against EB Lions, we were hosted in Dunstable as our home pitch was waterlogged. The pitch impacted us massively, we just could not find our rhythm and it saw EB Lions run riot in the second half. It was back to the drawing board and I had to find a bounce back. We played against Watton and we put in a strong team performance. We found the net three times in short succession with our phenomenal passing and clinical finishing it saw us pick up a second win of the season.

The Canaries’ football was improving and I can see the progress from training being implemented into the game. We took two heavy beatings against Letchworth and Garston. Now we were out of the cups, I could turn my head to the league. We were sat bottom of the table and I wanted to see if relegation could be something we could avoid. We faced Stotfold Juniors Ladies who brought a strong team. The game was extremely even throughout and it was level at half time. Stotfold put the pressure on early doors in the second half. We conceded three in minutes and Stotfold claimed the three points.

We turned our head against the First Team and this was going to be a competitive game with both teams wanting points and to assert dominance. We took the lead however the Firsts got a late goal and respectfully both teams shared the points. This just showed how progressive the Canaries were. From some players who had never played to some just coming back from years out of the game we really were a strong team and we were finding our own style. We had Stotfold again and we improved from out last performance however again Stotfold took their chances and walked away with the points.

We turned out focus onto Real Bedford who had been at the top of the table all season. We took the game to Bedford and made them work for their points. We were extremely unlucky to take just a point from this game. The Canaries put a huge shift in and in the dying moments it saw our captain hit the cross bar seeking their 100th goal.

We moved our attention to the inter-club game, and it was under the lights at Top Field the home of HTFC. The game was extremely fast paced with both teams enjoying equals amount of possession. The Canaries produced an important well worked team goal. However, the Firsts quickly responded bringing things back on level. It was another draw between the pair and relegation did loom.

We had Letchworth who were now in prime position to nip Bedford to the league title. We took twelve players to the game with some coming back from injury. It went down to the 87th minute where Letchworth stole it from an absolute rocket shot. With the First team drawing with Bedford it saw Letchworth crowned Champions of the Division and saw us relegated. Our final fixture was rained off and it saw us having one of the wettest seasons.

In a nutshell it has really all been about building the foundations of a brand-new football team. If you look across the season at the results you would see we definitely achieved this. We played the two top teams in the division taking it to the closing stages of the game before the points were snatched away. This showed tremendous character from the Canaries. I am extremely proud of what they have achieved this season. They have become a very close, friendly and strong team. They welcomed everyone equally and gave everyone a chance to play. The best bit throughout the squad was the determination, support and generosity towards each other. Now I focus on next season to secure promotion and I believe we have the players capable to do this. I want to say a thank you Karla and Callum for their continued support towards the Canaries and I this season. It wouldn’t have been possible without them. But it is a huge thank you to my amazing team this year. The work rate and attitude has been outstanding and I really do look forward to building next season.

 

BY ROY IZZARD