FIXTURE
- Saturday 27th April Home to Stourbridge League kick-off 3.00pm. We advise you to buy your tickets online but tickets can be purchased (card payments only) from the club ticket office which will be open from 13.30 to 15.15.
- This is the last game of the season.
MANAGER’S NOTES BY BRETT DONNELLY
So it’s all down to this final game. We no longer have the cards in our own hand. We will be asking for a favour from Leamington and hope we can get a result at home tomorrow. Stourbridge won’t be the pushover we’d love to be facing. Its going to be hard. But we will be setting up to have a proper go and get the goals we need. If we can get an early one it should filter through to Sudbury and push them to get a goal that’ll hopefully leave them a little exposed at the back. All if’s, but’s and maybe’s but we need to heap the pressure on.
Since coming in it’s been a huge eye opener. I probably didn’t allow for the amount of psychological damage the run of form had on the players. The last two games I have seen how much conceding takes out the lads. It’s a hammer blow and something we struggle to recover from. Tomorrow we can’t let any setbacks affect us. We have to be brave, on the front foot and take risks. All or nothing.
Finally I must thank the supporters for their continued support amidst a very difficult season. The numbers have been unbelievable, it’s something that regardless of what the outcome is tomorrow I want to build on next season. It’s a big factor in tomorrow’s team talk. Giving something back to all those that have come along this season. Let’s all get together and make sure tomorrow is a day we can all be proud of our club. ‘
CHARLIE HORLOCK’S LAST GAME
Charlie Horlock has announced that Saturday will be his final game for Hitchin Town. I interviewed Charlie this week as he explained his reasons and outlined just how much he has enjoyed his career at Hitchin and how special the club is to him. As I say in my interview which is reproduced below I hope a bumper crowd turns up to give Charlie the send off he so deserves after such loyal and dedicated service.
It will be the end of an era on Saturday when Charlie Horlock will play his last game for Hitchin Town. It will be his 273rd appearance and Charlie will definitely feel very emotional as he has a deep affinity for Hitchin Town FC. I interviewed Charlie this week as he explained why he feels the time has come to explore new options. Charlie was very anxious to point out it has nothing to do with how the season has ended and in no way is he jumping ships to escape., There has been no fall out with the club or new manager Brett Donnelly. Indeed Charlie asked me to relate that he feels Brett is the right choice to take over as manager regardless of whether we are relegated and he backs him to be a success at Hitchin.
Charlie felt he needed to consider his options because of some big changes in his life. Until recently Charlie was working at the Arena and helping with the academy and it was a job he loved. But living in Wycombe he really wanted to work nearer home. It can take him up to one hour and forty minutes to get to Hitchin or Baldock which was taking its toll. He now works as a PE teacher in Wycombe. He is also soon to be married and as he approaches his 29th birthday he felt he would like to play nearer to his Wycombe home.
Charlie had great respect for Mark Burke who he said had a major impact on his life and got him the job at Baldock. Charlie could have signed a two year contract but only signed for one year as he had been thinking of moving more locally in the future. But when Mark left Charlie was absolutely focussed on staying at Hitchin to the end of the season. In turn Mark thought highly of Charlie and this was his personal tribute—
‘Charlie has been an excellent goalkeeper for Hitchin Town FC, the ultimate professional and an absolute pleasure to work with.
Affectionately known as ‘Baby Face’ when he first arrived at Top Field in 2014 from Wycombe Wanderers he was instrumental in helping us win the Herts Senior Cup for the first time in 20 years and in achieving a ‘play-off’ position in the League in 2016.
This form earned him a move up the pyramid to the National League South Division with Eastbourne Borough before I was able to re-sign Charlie in 2019 and he has been my number 1 ever since.
Charlie commands respect from all of the players and staff because he has a great attitude, applies himself and has tremendous ability– all of the ingredients required to be a top player but more importantly a top person who has contributed so much to Hitchin Town FC and he will be missed.
I wish him the very best of luck for the future both in football and life.’
Charlie told me he has always been happy at Hitchin and he really loves the club. He says there are so many good people at Hitchin both on and off the field, He actually said it was a privilege to play for Hitchin and le had a great rapport with the supporters. Over the years there has always been a good group of players to be around and while he is reluctant to single out individual players he said he has been blessed to learn from so many of them.
Charlie’s own goalkeeping hero was Dean Kiely the Charlton Athletic custodian (Charlie is a Charlton fan). Dean said he prided himself on his consistency, reliability and dependability—and Charlie has always strived to achieve these three attributes and I think we can all agree he succeeded in this objective.
When I asked Charlie to pick out some favourite games for Hitchin he chose two. Not surprisingly The game at Halesowen featured from this season when Charlie not only scored his first and only goal but he also saved a penalty. Charlie is shy and modest so was taken aback by the publicity this performance engendered but he eventually decided to milk it up! His other memorable game was against Poole when the supporters marched through the town to save Top Field in 2016. Charlie remembers it was a perfect atmosphere and he realised just how special the club was and it meant more than just football.
Charlie was also keen to point out over his career how tight knit the squads have been and as captain he has worked hard to ensure this continued. He also wanted to assure supporters the players really do care and there is no lack of effort on their part. They have been distraught at the collapse this season and will give everything on Saturday to turn it round.
Charlie really cannot explain just what has gone wrong this season. He still believes we had one of our best ever squads going in to the season and feels it is a combination of factors that have seen us struggle so badly. Confidence has disappeared and we have lacked composure. Charlie said the players were really despondent after the defeat at Stamford but he assures supporters no stone will be left unturned on Saturday. The players are overwhelmed by the great support they have received from our loyal supporters and together we can win on Saturday.
I personally hope for a very big turn out on Saturday not only because of the importance of the game but because there is the opportunity to thank Charlie Horlock for his great contribution to Hitchin Town FC. I have been very close to Charlie over his career at Hitchin and he has always been so open with his interviews. I can definitely say he is one of the nice guys and what a great ambassador he has been for the club since playing his first game in 2014. We all wish him the very best for the future and he has told me he will always be a Hitchin fan and our result will always be the first he looks for.
Thanks for the memories Charlie.
IT ALL COMES DOWN TO SATURDAY
So we pay Stourbridge on Saturday in our final game of the season knowing that we must win and that Leamington must beat AFC Sudbury for us to avoid relegation. Any other combination of results and we will be relegated. All we can do as supporters is to turn up in numbers and really get behind the team and spur them on to victory. All we can do is win our game and then our fate rests with Leamington who will need to win to guarantee a home game in the play-off’s. So please get to Top Field and bring your family and friends—we really need your help.
As I have said so often our supporters have been incredible this season with attendances going up even as results got worse. The players really have been grateful and are determined to win the last game for the supporters. It is quite likely our average attendance for home league games will exceed 600 so once again thanks for your great support and apologies for not winning more games.
ACADEMY UPDATE BY MICHAEL JONES
On Wednesday 25th April 2024 we played an in house friendly with our U17s vs U18s. The game was really competitive and allowed some of our players who are coming back from injury and ones who have not had much game time recently an opportunity to get some minutes.
The result finished with a 3-2 win to our Under 17s. We will look to play another in house match before the end of the academic year and who knows we may even have to have a third match to decide…
We have also had 5 players selected to represent a Pro:Direct regional team in a VAR tournament on Tuesday 30th April. Well done to, Henry Silver, Govind Bains, Chris Khoo, Caleb Wright and Joel Jolly.
HTWFC UPDATE BY CALLUM ELLIS
Results:
- Buntingford Ladies 3 – 2 HTWFC Firsts
HTWFC Canaries 0 v 1 LGCE Ladies
HTWFC Firsts 1 v 1 Real Bedford
After the Sunday results it saw both teams picking up losses. The Firsts were unlucky not to pick up any form of result / point from Buntingford. The Firsts battled hard and after two penalty claims were waved away, the Firsts were left feeling frustrated. They headed over to Barton Rovers to play Real Bedford. Real Bedford had been enjoying the entire season at the top of the table and this was their last fixture. With Letchworth knocking them off the top of the table on Sunday it was a must win for Bedford. The game got underway and Bedford opened the scoring. However the Firsts battled hard with the eleven players and equalised with thirty minutes to spare. The Firsts saw out the game and secured a vital point in the relegation battle. It was a tough game against a team that had been top of the table all season.
The Canaries were hosted by Letchworth in which was pretty much a cup final for Letchworth. The game was underway and Letchworth didn’t get the walk over they expected. The Canaries made it difficult. It came down to the last few minutes when a corner was incorrectly awarded to Letchworth. They slotted it home to secure the three points and overtake Bedford.
With Letchworth winning their match against EB Lions and the Firsts making Bedford drop points, the Division title is awarded to Letchworth.
Upcoming Fixtures
Sunday 28th April 2024 – 14:00
HTWFC Firsts v Stotfold Ladies FC
St Christopher’s School, Barrington Road, Letchworth
HTWFC Canaries v Letchworth Garden City Eagles Ladies
Pixmore Playing Fields, Baldock Road, Letchworth SG6 2ER
Recruitment
As we enter the closing stages of the season, I already start progressing the 2024/2025 season. We have plenty of voluntary opportunities available at HTWFC so please click on https://www.hitchintownwomenfc.co.uk/clubinfo/Vacancies
BY ROY IZZARD