Football Focus Issue 74 | Page 28

Hertford Town Hertford Town FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/FOOTYFOCUSMAG Hertford Town FOOTBALL CLUB Hertford Town FC secured promotion last season and has been working hard during the off-season to make sure that they are ready for the new campaign. Football Focus Magazine recently caught up with their Chairman Peter Sinclair to find out more about how they are getting along. Involvement The Role He told us, “I first joined Hertford Town FC nine years ago, the attraction (although not the right word - more a sense of duty to the people who love and support the club) was that the club had been under a period of disarray and my first job was to put the club back on an even keel as it was on the brink of folding. From there we, as a club, have taken great strides - in the first instance saving the club from relegation, then building over a number of years a structure to return the club to the Bostick League where we feel we belong, given the great support and gates that we have week in week out at Hertingfordbury Park.” “Being a chairman is a balancing act between so many different people and roles around the club, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this was the most challenging part of my job - I’m sure every chairman at this level would say that we couldn’t function without the volunteers that involve themselves so heavily for the sake of their community club. The manager, coaches and playing staff obviously worked so hard to get us promoted last season and that is where the rewards lie for me - we try to offer as much as we can for them to be successful, with that success the fans walk away happy and that’s all I can ask from this role.” 28 Issue 74 Atmosphere “We have had an excellent close season at the club; everyone here has been pulling their weight to get the club ready for our return to the Bostick League for the first time since 2002. The players look sharp and very focused for the forthcoming campa ign, if you can’t get excited by the forthcoming challenges this season will bring then you shouldn’t be involved in football!” This Season “The players due to their conditioning work by the coaching staff look more than ready to hold their own in the Bostick. We have tested ourselves against higher league opposition in friendlies and I am very confident that we are in great shape. Our manager Gavin Kelsey summed up a lot of our feelings in our local newspaper interview - ‘there’s no real pressure on us - we can go in it with a smile on our face and enjoy ourselves.’ I think that’s the same for all of us involved with the club, coaches, players, fans - lets enjoy it, get the gates up to 300+ and cheer our team on week in week out.” Youth “Youth football is key for us, we have our EJA sides from U14 level upwards, then our newly formed U18 side and U25 development squads. Again the coaches and volunteers involved with all of these sides are striving to get their boys into a position whereby they are ready for the next level - many of our U25 players have begun to break into the first team, making the step into a first team squad which is a very hard thing to do without great coaching and preparation through each level of the club.” Community “This is absolutely a community club. We involve ourselves with every part of the community, we have both Inclusive and over 50’s Walking Football team; Stevenage Ladies play Mick’s Barbers have been looking after the crowning glory of the great and the good of Hertford for over 30 years. Renowned for traditional service amongst their established clientele, they offer “cutting edge” styling for the generations, looking to make their mark on the world. Proud sponsors of Hertford Town FC 01992 589 089 | www.micksbarbers.co.uk 2 Green Dragon Yard, Hertford, Herts SG14 1PT at HTFC, our town’s local youth sides are all involved with the club and we try and give as much back to our town as we possibly can. Our gates have risen steadily season by season and I believe that is down to us listening to our fans and involving them in their community club.” Challenges “Hertingfordbury Park as we know it was built as a modern stadium in the 1950’s. In 1965 our inaugural floodlit match featured many famous professionals of the 50’s and 60’s, Jack Kelsey, Danny Blanchflower, Dave Mackay, Jimmy Hill and Tommy Docherty to name but a few, but the stadium is now sixty years old and in need of modernisation. We as a club need to raise as much money as possible for this modernisation to take place, this is a five year plan that we as a community need to gather momentum behind.” Ambitions “We would obviously love to continue our journey to get ourselves as high as we can in the football pyramid, although, I have been involved in football for 50+ years and know that this is easier said than done!” www.footballfocusmag.com 29