WEEKLY BULLETIN: 3RD APRIL
Upcoming Fixtures
Friday 3 April vs London Lions (H) – Southern League
We welcome London Lions to Top Field in the Southern League Division One Central. This game is a 3pm kick off.
We last met in the Herts Senior Cup in February with Hitchin Town winning 2-1 courtesy of goals from Diogo Freitas-Gouveia and Elliott Phillips.
London Lions currently sit 17th in the league table with 40 points from the 35 games they have played, whilst Hitchin Town remain in second with 77 points earned in our 36 games.
Tickets
Where possible we advise purchasing online. As well as being cheaper, it will ensure your quick and easy entry into the ground through the turnstiles.
Please purchase your tickets online here:
https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets
The online box office remains open until 30 minutes after kick off.
If you do need to buy your tickets in person, our Matchday ticket office will be open from 13.30-15.15 , and can be accessed from the rear car park (behind the Canary Club). Payment at the ticket office is by card only. Once you have purchased a ticket at the Matchday Ticket Office you will then present your ticket at the turnstiles for entry. More details here:
https://hitchintownfc.club/admission-prices/
Turnstiles open at 14.00
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 and Drink
The Canary Club bar is open from 11.00 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.
Please enter the ground as early as possible before kick off to avoid congestion at the turnstiles. We have the following options inside the ground and you can still exit to the Canary Club Bar too:
Mad Squirrel Brewery are serving a great range of craft beers, ciders and lager. The Mad Squirrel 1865 Bar is 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 everyone to Top Field and hope that everyone has a great afternoon.
Monday 6 April vs Stotfold (A) – Southern League
On Monday 6th April we make the short journey to Stotfold for another local derby. Kick-off is 3.00pm. We won the home game 3-2 in front of 1,499 fans with Taylor Rhiney scoring two and Lewis Franklin getting the other.
Admission details are as follows—adults £10, concessions £7, 12-17 year olds £3, under 12’s £2 (if accompanied by an adult) and under 5’s free (if accompanied by an adult)
Gates open at 1.00pm and your support can really make a difference.
Jay Rosa
We are really pleased to be able to welcome Jay Rosa to Friday’s game. Jay is a football freestyler with some very impressive tricks in his repertoire. Jay has a focus on using football as a tool to inspire and engage young people including at his Hertfordshire based Football Freestyle Academy which provides young people with structured training in freestyle football skills alongside education in teamwork, confidence and mental wellbeing.
Jay takes time out of his EFL tour for Mind to visit Top Field this Friday. He is currently in the middle of a mission to perform at every EFL stadium in the country to raise awareness and money for the charity Mind. We are sure you will be wowed by his tricks, and we would like to thank Jay for taking the time to visit today. To donate to his EFL tour visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/efltour
Check out more from Jay on social media @jayrosa1_
Manager’s Notes
Last Weekend’s Defeat to Flackwell Heath
Saturday we travelled to Flackwell Heath which turned out to be our most disappointing Saturday of the season. Flackwell had nothing to play for, whereas we needed to make sure we did not drop any more points in the run in.
The game started off with both teams trying to work out the best way to approach the game and it looked like from early on both teams were just going to cancel each other out. We struggled to find our usual confidence and bravery on the ball and it resulted into a game that suited Flackwell more than ourselves. When we did find moments to hurt Flackwell our decision making or quality was all wrong. Flackwell looked more dangerous when they went forward as they were able to hold the ball up the pitch and their decision making/quality was much better but still both keepers were just spectators. We were very loose in possession and this meant the turnover of the ball was extremely high. We then conceded a goal when we were briefly down to 10 men and this goal proved critical. We did not look threatening at all in the first half with our best chance coming from a corner.
Half Time we needed to try and get some life into a very flat performance as there were plenty of players who were not anywhere near their usual levels. We needed to try and be braver and more confident on the ball and we needed to make the correct decisions with the right quality in the key moments.
Second half we started to play at a better tempo and we looked to be braver on the ball but we still lacked any threat to trouble Flackwell. The game also fell into a pattern where Flackwell were happy to sit in and play on the counter because they had the lead and as time went on we had to commit more and more bodies forward. This meant Flackwell looked really threatening on the break and we had to produce some last ditch defending to stop them scoring again. We made subs to try and give us some more energy and creativity but in all honesty despite brief moments of hope we never really got going.
Good Friday Clash with London Lions
Friday we host London Lions, a team that is struggling to find form and consistency at the moment. London Lions have plenty of energy in their squad and they have individuals who can produce quality in the key moments.
We now just need to get back to relaxing, playing our usual attacking game and enjoying games again as the last two we have gone away from this and in 200 minutes of football we have gone away from what has got us to where we are and we have not had any notable shots on goal and we certainly have not enjoyed either game.
Please get behind us Friday as we look to get back to winning ways.
Trip to Stotfold on Easter Monday
Monday we travel to local rivals Stotfold. Stotfold are another team that are struggling to find form and consistency at the moment but we know how good a team they can be on their day.
I know they will be giving everything to get the win as it’s a local derby for them and the biggest fixture they have left this season.
I am hoping we arrive at this game off the back of a win against London Lions and we can try and find some form and consistency to finish the season as strong as possible.
Player News
- Josh Bowler is out for the rest of the season.
- Josh Coldicott – Stevens is unavailable Friday due to work commitments.
- Kye Tearle was back in training this week.
Academy Update
Monday we held an in house game at the ground with a mixture of current and new players making up the two squads.
The game was a great success with the away team holding a 5-1 lead with 15 minutes to go but a tactical masterstroke by the home team manager Lewis Franklin to put Blue Joy up front resulted in 3 goals for Blue to help the home team on to a remarkable 7-5 victory. Much to away team captain Will McNeill disappointment as he had taken an early shower with 20 minutes to go, thinking the game was won!
If you would like to be part of the academy or for further information please use this link
Or email Michael.jones@wearescl.co.uk
Michael Jones
Herts Senior Cup
We are pleased to announce that Hertfordshire FA has agreed to Hitchin Town selling tickets online for the Hertfordshire Senior Cup Final vs. Bishops Stortford at Top Field on Tuesday 14th April, kick off 7.45pm.
Prices of tickets are:
Online in advance: Adults £10, Concessions (60-79) £6, Teenagers (13-19) £3, Children Under 13 (Accompanying an adult) £1, Seniors Over 80 Free (but must obtain a ticket)..
Match Day Ticket Window (card payment only, no cash): Adults £12, Concessions (60-79) £8, Teenagers (13-19) £4, Children Under 13 (Accompanying an adult) £2, Seniors Over 80 Free (but must obtain a ticket for ground entry).
The Herts FA have agreed to adopt our pricing categories and policy, but we emphasise that it is not Hitchin Town’s home game. It is the Hertfordshire FA’s game – it is their Senior Cup Final, for which the venue just happens to be Top Field, and Hitchin Town just happened to have qualified for the final. We are selling tickets for the game for the Herts FA, but all rules, regulations and pricing for tickets is down to the Herts FA, not Hitchin Town.
So for any requests for media, Scouts or any other concessions, people will need to contact competitions@hertfordshirefa.com . Please can I request to you all in the Club, if you receive any such emails, can you please advise them directly of the email address to send their request to rather than forwarding to me – thanks. Hertfordshire FA are dealing with all complimentary and guest entries.
Tickets are now on sale on our website.
Chris Newbold
Player & Team Achievement Sponsorship
The sponsorship raised for March was £322.50. This is made up as follows:
£210.50 – goals scored
£44.00 – defence or other in-game achievements (clean sheets, penalty saves etc.),
£68.00 – results (wins, league points)
If anyone would like to sponsor any players or team achievements they can either speak to Roger Berry who sells the 50/50 tickets at home matches or email him at
roger.berry@hitchintownfc.club
Chris Newbold
Community Update
Coaching Courses at the Arena
Easter Holiday Courses
The Arena, Baldock – Football Holiday Camps
We begin our second week of football holiday camps at the Arena, Baldock on Tuesday 7th April to Thursday 9th April.
The first week saw 32 different children attend the course with 22 already signed up for next week but it is not too late to sign.
Preston Primary School – Multi-Activity Holiday Camps
We will also be hosting our second week of the multi-activity holiday camps at Preston Primary School on Tuesday 7th April to Thursday 9th April.
The first week saw 28 different children attend the course with 12 already signed up for next week but it is not too late to sign.
Junior Ability Counts
Our Junior Ability Counts sessions at the Arena, Baldock on Monday’s begin again after the Easter holidays and will run for 5 weeks from 13th April (excluding 4th May Bank Holiday) from 5-6pm.
The sessions are open to 5 – 16 year olds with physical and or SEN but be able to walk.
Safe Hands Goalkeeper Course
We will also start Our Safe Hands Goalkeeping sessions at the Arena, Baldock for 6 weeks to run from Wednesday 15th April from 5.30-6.30pm with former Hitchin Town 1st Team goalkeeper Josh Mollison. The sessions are open to 6 – 14 year olds
Coaching in Schools
We have started the new half-term delivering coaching sessions in our local schools with sessions taking place at:
- Preston Junior: Wraparound Care, Lunch Time Clubs and PPA
- Oughton Primary: Lunch Time & After School Clubs and PE Lessons
- Icknield Infants: After School Clubs and Morning Clubs
- St Mary’s: Morning and After School Clubs, PE Lessons & PPA Cover
- Woolgrove: Lunch Time Clubs
- Brandles: PE Lessons
- Samuel Lucas: After School Clubs everyday Monday – Friday (excluding Thursday)
If there are any schools requiring support for their PE, PPA, After School and Breakfast Clubs please contact Josh Mollison on info@htcfc.co.uk
Mark Burke
Ex-Canaries Catch Up
Former Canary Jamal Lowe was just 90 minutes away from going to the World Cup Finals with Jamaica in the summer but unfortunately the Reggae Boyz lost to the DR Congo 1-0 on Tuesday night in the Play-Off Final.
Jamal is now plying his trade with Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship.
Hitchin Town Walking Football Team
Former Club Programme Editor and current Talk Sport Commentator Barry Swain is looking for players to join him to create a new section within the Football Club.
Walking Football for 45+ years is proving increasingly popular and Barry has organised a free taster session at the Arena in Baldock on Friday 24th April between 7-8pm. Please see the flyer for more information.
Mark Burke
Hitchin Town Women FC Update
Results
Bedwell Rangers 0 – 4 Hitchin Town Women FC
Hitchin Town Women FC 1 – 2 Bedwell Rangers
HTWFC Canaries 3 – 2 Welwyn United
Fixtures – 12th April 2026
Everett Ladies v Hitchin Town Women FC
Callum Ellis
Game at Top Field
On Saturday we host the FA Inter League Cup semi-final between the Herts Senior County League and the West Cheshire Football League kick-off 3.00pm. Admission is £7 for adults.
Charity Match at Top Field in Aid of Garden House Hospice
Sunday 19th April 2026 (from 12pm, Top Field)
Following the huge success of last year’s charity football match at Hitchin Town FC— which raised £8,000 in memory of David Levett and united 66 local players, families, children, and the wider Hitchin community, including special guest Jack Wilshere — Garden House Hospice, together with Roger Levett, is delighted to announce Jack’s return for a second year at this year’s event on Sunday, April 19th 2026 from 12pm at Top Field.
What to Expect on the Day;
- DJ Johnny Lock providing live entertainment
- Mini-tournaments for local schools and walking football
- A 66-player roll-on/roll-off match: Counterfeit Canaries vs Garbled Gunners with participation from local groups and residents
- Live in-match commentary from local celebrity Mark O’Sullivan
- 150 strong local Rock Choir performance.
- Children’s face-painting and roaming magician.
- Half-time kids’ penalty shootout and schools Cheerleader performance
- Live Music from Retro Echo performing at half-time & post-match
- Food stalls, cake stand and fully stocked bar
Raffle & Auction
- Online raffle (only £2 per ticket) featuring signed Arsenal & HTFC shirts
- On-the-day auction including Jack Wilshere’s match-worn shirt and other items (TBC)
- Why the Event Matters
- All proceeds support Garden House Hospice, which faces significant funding pressures. The Hospice’s care was invaluable to Roger and his family during David’s final days, and the event aims to ensure others receive the same support. Local outlets — including The Comet — will again help amplify awareness.
Raffle QR Code here:
With special thanks to our event sponsors and donors;
Jones Hunt Keelings Chartered Certified Accountants- our Headline Sponsor, Brookers, Austins Funeral Directors, GKL Mortgage Brokers, Norgans, RTB Complete Ltd, Hound Marketing, Leaders Estate Agents, Shared Space, Hensel Print, The Creative Lab, MD Aesthetics, Daisy May Flowers, Arsenal FC, Hitchin Priory, Timpsons, Sarah Graham Art, Printmill, Prosperity Global, Sundown Cinema, Modern Networks, Phillips Print, Raymond James, The Hermitage Restaurant, Hitchin Town FC and Altitude Drone Surveying.
At just £3 voluntary entry at the door, Roger is hopeful the 2026 match will surpass last year’s effort and continue the meaningful legacy inspired by his father.
Roger Levett