CUP PROVIDES RECOGNITION
THE MAGIC IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE
Anote 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 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 game, continues to be used when national media turn up at the local “Town” or “United” in pursuit of a heart-warming FA Cup story that relects the great class divide in our national game.
Of course, the old cliché of humble artisans putting on a football shirt and creating a little bit of history has been replaced by call centre operatives, sports science students and IT professionals skipping-off work early to play for, at best, a couple of hundred quid.
Regardless of the misconception by national TV and newspaper journalists, describing my local team, Hitchin Town, as “amateurs”, the FA Cup manages to draw enormous attention when clubs from outside the top bracket venture beyond the hazardous qualifying rounds of the competition. In Hitchin this past week, the TV cameras came to town and held the draw for round one at Top Field, which despite the claim from BBC, did not host one of the very first FA Cup ties in 1871 – that honour went to either a piece of common land opposite Hitchin’s ground, the local cricket club or possibly a farm on the outskirts of the old market town.
Misconceptions
The amateur code was all but abolished, or let’s say redefined, back in the 1970s. In fact, Hitchin may well have helped accelerate that process when a club official exposed the infamous “shamateurism” affair. Nobody liked the whistle being blown, even back in the 60s, but this incident probably contributed to changing the face of non-league.
Amateur or not, Hitchin Town received more publicity from the FA Cup draw being held at their weathered clubhouse than in a whole campaign of Southern League games, and having deservedly beaten Leatherhead in a dramatic fourth qualifying round replay, they will have their busiest and most demanding fortnight in 23 years as they prepare to face Solihull Moors of the National League.
Once more, however, this next week or two in the Hertfordshire commuter-belt the club will become the centre of attention from people wanting to grab a slice of FA Cup. To be frank, it is the prospect of a round one tie that sparks the interest of casual onlookers, people mostly unaware that a club like Hitchin began their campaign in the competition some three or four rounds earlier. Crowds in those banana-skin laden weeks are invariably very tepid, but get to the last qualifying stage and out come the tin foil FA Cup effigies.
Glory
But what’s really vital to clubs like Hitchin, and indeed Leatherhead, is the very generous prize money now on offer from the Football Association. That win at Leatherhead brought the total snared by Hitchin to £55,000 and with the prospect of a tidy share in a bumper gate in round one, plus TV money that may come the club’s way, the Canaries – and all Round One participants from non-league – will have a head start on 2019-20’s budget.
The FA Cup has also reminded us, that while
many things change, the heart of non-league football remains very constant. In 1995, when Hitchin beat Bristol Rovers, the captain was Mark Burke, the chairman Terry Barratt and treasurer Roy Izzard. While some people from that era have either moved on or sadly died, these three individuals are still immersed in the club’s affairs, Burke is now manager and deeply involved in the club’s financial management, Barratt – a man who shuns publicity - is the club’s longest serving chairman, and Izzard, who is now secretary-treasurer, has seen more than 3,000 games. At the same time, Hitchin have recently benefitted from an influx of a younger and more diverse group of people that are moving the dial in embracing the community while using social media to broaden the club’s appeal.
But, importantly, institutions like Hitchin could not survive without the die-hard stalwart fans who travel across the country watching clubs that rarely get the chance to bask in the glare of the spotlights. The FA Cup provides that little bit of gilding that can elevate a club from a minority-interest entity into a national TV curiosity. One newspaper, a couple of years ago, said the competition was drifting towards irrelevance – try telling that to the fans of Haringey Borough, Metropolitan Police and
Hitchin Town this week!