Higham Town F.C. April Update

Keeping you up-to date during this challenging time.

Hopefully, you are all saying home (where possible) and helping us all to save lives.   I am sure its brought you all closer as a family and no young children have been locked under the stairs or husbands banished to the garden shed !! ..

We had our club committee meeting on Monday, remotely via zoom.  Not just to keep things flowing at the club, but to have some social contact with somebody other than kids and pets!   After that meeting it was discussed that we would publish and key points directly to our site, rather than to the coaching staff (give them a break).

It is truly unprecedented times and we want to keep you all in the loop with any club updates.  Topics which were sharable have been outlined below, if you have any queries please do not hesitate to email us on vice-chairman@highamtownfc.co.uk.

Please keep safe, please keep indoors where possible and do not relax your protection or think it won’t happen to you.  For the sake of being locked down for a few months it could save not just your life, but others close to you.    We know that in these times it can be hard to keep your mindset positive, but we shall push through with real, solid British grit !

Reminder of the general rules still in place by Higham Town F.C.

  • All games league or friendlies are not permitted (offical games cancelled by the league)
  • NO Training to be undertaken either on or off-site of Lancaster Park.
  • Coaches to stand down with any football activities and/or team social events.
  • Lancaster Park will be closed to players, parents or coaches.  Committee only.

Failure to follow these rules may result in suspension or rejection from the club permanently. 

Topics raised during our committee meeting

  • Any news from the FA about when things may return.

    Currently no, as far as we are concerned its radio silence on the subject until such time the situation has improved across the country.    We expect grassroots to be the first stage of youth football to return, prior to elite leagues.  But we will keep you posted on any updates.

  • What will happen with club presentations / awards.

    We have decided to continue with the club presentations, however with a difference.    We plan (with the help of our sponsor) to do our club presentations as live video stream.  A time and date will be arranged soon, with plenty of notice.

    We feel it’s very important the players still gain recognition for what they have achieved this season, regardless of the fact it was cut short.  We want to ensure its business as usual and therefore we have considered this new approach.   Hosted by our vice-chairman James Sharp, we will look to do both the youth and the adult presentation at the same time.    Awards will then be delivered safely and in accordance with any government guidelines at the time.

    Coaches are reminded to get their nominations in urgently.

  • What will happen with the Club AGM

    A but like the tournament, we are unclear.   AGM’s are always good to do in person however it may not be possible.   If, as we get closer, we do not foresee being able to run a normal AGM meeting, we will run one via video conference of which all managers will be welcome to attend.    We will keep you posted on this.

  • What will happen with our 9v9 summer tournament.

    Too early to say.  We have already done a lot of work ready for the tournament and we have teams registered.  However, the longer the restrictions are in place, the less likely we are to run the tournament.  That said, we want to wait until later just in case.

    If the restrictions get lifted, players will be relying on Tournaments such as ours to get back into the competitive swing.   As our tournament is not until the 11th / 12th July, we will wait until June before we make a decision.

  • Player sign on, what will be happening.

    Strange times, usually we would not even be thinking about this yet as the season would still be in full swing.   But, as we can now start to plan, we feel it’s important to look at player sign on for next season.

    Firstly, this year we did consider putting up our club fee’s and sign-on cost (we are very cheap considering local clubs).   The extra monthly increase and sign-on would then go towards our club re-build project.   However, it has been discussed that at this years AGM we will not be putting forward any increases.    We are mindful that due to the current pandemic, there will be a lot of families who would have struggled and its only right that we try and keep any extra burden to a minimum.   There will be no increases next season.

    As for sign on, we are still in debate as to how we will do this.  We may provide sign on forms for you to fill out and post to us (once things have calmed down a little) or we provide an online sign-on method.  Either way, once the fog starts to clear a little, we will start to look at getting players on the books so that we can understand what teams will be running next season.

    We feel things will come back very fast and therefore we may not have much time to get things in order.  Hence, early preparation.

  • Club kit, please help us save money.

    We ask all players and parents to keep the club kit safe during this time.  They are expensive strips and it can be easy to just stuff them in a draw or cupboard and forget about them.   Please do look after them and ensure they make it safely back to us if your child decides not to sign up next season.   Thank you.