It might have been a disappointing day for Hitchin Town on the pitch, but Saturday also marked a further heartwarming milestone in the regeneration of grand old Top Field.

While Mark Burke's Canaries crashed out of the FA Cup following a 3-0 home defeat by visitors Cheshunt in the second round of the world's oldest domestic knock-out football competition, off the field, the Fishponds Road outfit are flying high.

The weekend match marked the official opening of the new club shop, aided by the remarkable success of the Canaries crowdfunding appeal last year during the pandemic.

With Hitchin's future in doubt due to the lack of match day fans as Covid raged, the club launched an appeal for funds intended to upgrade the ground and secure its future.

In the first weekend alone more than £10k was raised to make an astonishing total of more than £60k when the campaign ended.

The club posted on their official Instagram feed: "[Saturday] saw the opening of our new club shop and office.

"Part funded by our fans' generous Crowdfunding support, we've replaced the old buildings with a beautiful new structure.

"While lots of folks were involved,, a huge shoutout is due to Paul Sprague who managed this change form day one.

"This included the removal and dismantling of the old, the sourcing of the new and then the fit out. It's tops - [what a] legendary volunteer!"

While the side might not be where their talents fully deserve in the league table right now, with the Canaries sitting 17th in the Southern Central division consisting of 21 sides, off the pitch they are soaring high.

They've even got a nice line in beer, called Hop Field at Top Field as we reported last week.

And since April the club have been offering their new range of Hitchin Town merchandise online and the response has been fantastic.

Club secretary and Hitchin stalwart Roy Izzard said: "We are so pleased that everyone has welcomed our selection from home shirts to mugs and made them all a huge success.

"We're excited to open our brand new Top Field Club shop. Initially we are offering all of the items currently available online as well as a couple of additional items.

"We intend to launch further products and will share these with [everyone] in the coming weeks."

Burke's Hitchin travel to AFC Rushden and Diamonds prior to a trip to Tamworth on Tuesday, September 28, before hosting Stourbridge at Top Field on Saturday, October 2.

Roy urged fans to pop into the shop, adding: "Please call in at future home games and pick up an item to help show your support for the Canaries and also help support the club."

Items on sale include:

Replica Home Shirts

Hoodies

Scarves

Mini Footballs

Pin Badges

Within the club shop they also have a large selection of old programmes from across non league and league football. At just 10p each these offer a fascinating insight into football over the decades.

They also have a selection of second hand football books. [Ed's note: Including Layth's two books!]