WEEKLY BULLETIN – 25TH OCTOBER

FIXTURES

  • Saturday 26th October No game
  • Tuesday 29th October Herts Senior Cup Home to Hadley kick-off 7.45pm. Admission prices are as follows—adults £10, concessions £6, teenagers £3, under 13’s £1, over 80’s free. You are advised to buy your tickets online but you can buy a ticket from the match day office on the night. Ticket prices on the night will be £12/£8/£4/£2

MANAGER UPDATE
As I am sure you are all well aware Brett Donnelly is no longer manager of Hitchin Town FC. The club issued the following statement —

After a disappointing start to the season the Management Committee have unfortunately had to make the decision that to give us the best chance of remaining at Step 3 this season we regrettably need to make a change. We have today had to inform Brett Donnelly that we will be commencing the process to appoint a new manager.

Last season was tremendously difficult for our fans but they stood by us throughout, we recognise that the start to this season has been very frustrating and equally disappointing and we feel we owe it to the fans to do all that we can with enough time left to turn this position around.

Brett was appointed in March with a huge uphill task of trying to keep us safe in the last few remaining weeks of the season on the back of one of the most difficult runs of form for the club in recent history. We then had the news of our reprieve in the middle of the close season that impacted our preparations for 24/25. We have now played 13 league games and sit with just 8 points second from bottom in the league. Brett and his team have worked tirelessly to try and turn this position around but we feel that now is the right time to make this decision and to give us the best possible opportunity of turning our season around and securing the points required in the remainder of this season.

We thank Brett for his passion and commitment to the role and we recognise the huge amount of effort he has put in against a backdrop of very difficult circumstances and a bit of bad luck.

We have agreed with Michael Jones that he will take up the role of Interim Manager.

We will look to provide further updates when these are available.

As was said in the statement Michael Jones is the interim manager and he has already been extremely busy speaking to the squad and arranging a back room team. He will give a much fuller update in next week’s bulletin but did send me the following message–

‘’I am reaching out to all our supporters to assure them that while I am Interim Manager of this great club, I will give everything possible and more to turning the on the pitch situation around. I am not a miracle worker and I do not have a quick fix solution for all our problems but with the support of everyone involved in the club, from the many volunteers to the excellent supporters we have, I know we can get this team out of the difficult situation it finds itself in and get everyone enjoying the match day experience again.’’

CUBS VISIT ON TUESDAY
We had a nice message from the 6th Hitchin cubs after their visit on Tuesday—

Thank you so much for hosting us yesterday evening – our Cubs had an amazing time, and several stayed with their parents to the end. Others pleaded with a parent at pick-up, to be able to return to the ground for the second half! I’m sorry we couldn’t help HTFC to a better result, but the boys and girls had a blast and lots are keen to come back for a Saturday match soon.

Pete
6th Hitchin Cubs

HITCHIN BELLES VISIT LAST SATURDAY
Mick Docking also had an appreciative response from Hitchin Belles after their visit last Saturday—

“Massive thanks to you and Callum Ellis for hosting the girls this afternoon. They had a fantastic time and really enjoyed themselves.

Shame the level of noise the girls generated didn’t translate into a win. Maybe next time.

Thanks again and please pass on our thanks to Callum and the entire team.”

MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAPLAIN
As we see the last of the Harvest celebrations across churches our minds start to turn to the season of remembrance next month. We will take the opportunity to remember those we have loved and lost (often called All Souls or an annual memorial service) as well as those who sacrificed their lives on the front line in order that we can enjoy the lives we lead today. This reminds me of the events of Christmas 1914 on the Western Front, where English & German soldiers famously put their differences aside and had a game of football in ‘no mans land’ ie the bit between their respective front lines.

This is why the disparaging headlines around Thomas Tuchel becoming the new England manager make me wonder how far we have really moved on? We are told that the FA interviewed “approximately 10 people” and that Tuchel was the best man for the job. Shouldn’t that be the end of it? Isn’t that, after all, what we all want – the best person for the job? There can be few other professions where appointing a non-English person would have caused such a furore.

As the Guardian pointed out “You can point at the precedent of Sarina Wiegman or the fact that France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Argentina & Portugal have all had foreign coaches…. and none of these countries reported feeling any less jubilant or patriotic as a result” Maybe having appointed the best person for the job should, in itself, be reason enough to celebrate?

Maxine Howarth

ACADEMY AND JUNIOR CANARIES UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
This week in the academy has been pretty quiet due to it being the last week before the half term break.

We had a team bonding day at the arena on Friday where all our academy players were split into teams and we played a competition which involved Fifa, Table Tennis, Table Football and a Quiz. It was a great day where everyone got to relax and did not have to worry about the classroom or football pitch requirements. The winners of the tournament will receive a prize after half term and the losers had to perform a song to the group and I can assure you it was the worst rendition of Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline you will ever hear.

This week we also had William McNeil selected for Pro:Direct 11 to play against Luton Town Academy. Will gave a really good account of himself and the great work being done in our Academy. Luton won the game 4-3 but Will managed to get on the score sheet.

We are all delighted for Will, he has been excellent since he has joined the Academy and has deserved this opportunity and we are so pleased he has shown all the coaches what he can do.

Junior Canaries
Issue 2 will be sent out on Friday 1st November to all current Junior Canaries.

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.

HTWFC UPDATE BY CALLUM ELLIS
RESULTS

Hertfordshire Women’s Trophy – HTWFC Canaries 0 – 5 Baldock Town FC
BHWFL Division Two – Buntingford Town FC 2 – 3 HTWFC

FIXTURES
HTWFC Canaries v Flitwick Eagles FC
St Christophers School, Barrington Road, Letchworth Garden, SG6 3JZ

We are still recruiting for our teams. We train Wednesday evenings at The Arena, Norton Road, Baldock, between 19:30-20:30. Get in touch today ! hello@hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk

SOCIAL CLUB NEWS
Don’t forget to come to Canary Club for the Halloween party on Saturday 1st November- please see poster for details.

BY ROY IZZARD