SUDDENLY, the FA Trophy is important once more. With non-league action suspended, FA Trophy games have been allowed to continue, although goodness knows if the competition will be allowed to continue to its conclusion. With last season’s final between Harrogate and Concord Rangers still outstanding, this year’s FA Trophy is in full flow. Hitchin Town […]
HITCHIN TOWN have lost a lot of people during the pandemic, mostly veteran supporters or officials who epitomised the spirit of the club. Among the saddest pieces of news was the passing of club legend Tony Huckle, who died at the age of 87. I got to know Tony quite well over 30 years – […]
WHAT A ridiculous situation this season’s FA Cup is. The second qualifying round brought us many ties involving step two teams from the non-league world. But in this confusing world of the pandemic, step two clubs cannot admit supporters to their grounds. Somebody needs to tell the authorities that most non-league clubs play in front […]
NON-LEAGUE football has its heroes and Hitchin Town lost one of its legendary figures this past week when it was announced Bernie Gogan had passed away. Gogan was a member of Hitchin’s 1968-69 team that finished runners-up in the Isthmian League. Hitchin had a very decent team in those days and Gogan, along with his […]
THINGS haven’t gone particularly well for Hitchin Town this season, the first three games yielded just one point and a refashioned team was heavily beaten 5-0 at Alvechurch. Famously loyal, the fans have kept very quiet – there was a time when such a start to the season would have prompted calls for the manager […]
I DISCOVERED what non-league football was all about in, of all places, a gentleman’s urinal. It was 1991 and I had been involved with Hitchin Town of the Isthmian League for just a few weeks when a club “worthie” of many years leaned over and whispered: “The thing is, my friend, we don’t take kindly […]
WHEN the people of Hitchin marched in support of Top Field, the ancient home of the local football club, it was with one eye on a new stadium being constructed on Fishponds Road. It will be six years in December since that memorable afternoon took place, but there has been some movement on the playing […]
HITCHIN TOWN’s FA Cup run seems a long time ago these days. Since losing to Solihull Moors on November 11, they have played 14 games and have lost nine of them. Six home games in the league have yielded a combined attendance of 2,230 – whatever happened to those new found fans that discovered their […]
A NOTE to the national media – football clubs that enter the FA Cup are not, mostly, “amateur” and they do pay their players hard cash. This oft-repeated and somewhat patronising term, used to describe non-league clubs when anyone wants to underline a story about the “butcher, baker, candlestick-maker” element of football outside the professional […]
