Hitchin Town FC won't be the same without big Len Leroux – who has decided to stand down from the club's management committee for family reasons.

Well-known Len served the Canaries loyally for many years in a number of roles, including as the club's safety officer and ground chairman. Len was also chairman of the supporters club.

Well-respected club servant Len – who proudly played a significant role during the successful Save Top Field campaign back in 2014 - has been hailed by many at the club, including managing director Andy Melvin, who paid warn tribute to the larger than life character.

"Len will be a very hard act to follow," said Andy, adding: "I'm grateful for all he's done particularly with regard to the ground. It has been a thankless task trying to keep Top Field compliant with all the new regulations but he managed to do this despite the difficulties presented by the ageing infrastructure".

Len was renowned for ensuring everyone - bar none – coughed up their tenner on the coaches that carried the club's loyal support to away games. Woe betide anyone who couldn't produce a crisp tenner to give to Len en route to an awayday.

Club secretary, treasurer and fellow club stalwart Roy Izzard also praised Len.

"I would like to pay my own tribute to Len," said Roy, who has been associated with the Canaries since the early 1960s and is believed to have seen more Hitchin Town matches than anyone on the planet, adding: "I first worked closely with Len during the Save Top Field campaign.

"We were both on the special committee that was set up and became involved in a lot of detailed planning.

"I remember we went to Hitchin police station to ask permission to hold our protest march.

"Len had to liaise with the police throughout. It says a lot for Len that the police praised our organisation of the protest and they were really helpful as Len complied with their wishes.

"Typical of Len he was happy to stay in the background but he was absolutely vital to the whole campaign."

Evocative Top Field presents challenges with its wood and aged buildings. But thanks to Len and his ground staff the north Herts club always gained the necessary ground gradings required by the league.

The club, which can trace its antecedents to 1865, and who took part in the first ever FA Cup competition in 1871-72, have earned a reputation for cup runs over the years.

Among the litany of stirring deeds featuring in club folklore are two memorable runs in the mid 1990s, including the Top Field outfit reached the FA Cup second round in 1995, after beating Bristol Rovers in the first round proper that season.

The club embarked on another emotional run to the first round of the world's oldest knock-out competition in 2018, when, after batting through four arduous qualifying rounds, they were drawn to host Solihull Moors in a match which was televised by the BBC.

Prior to the game, Top Field hosted the first round FA Cup draw from a raucous clubhouse, live on BBC2.

"The next time I worked closely with Len was the 2018-19 FA Cup run," Roy recalled, adding: "When I found out the FA wanted to hold the draw for the first round live from the Canary Club I had no inkling how stressful it would be liaising with the BBC.

"Len took the brunt of dealing with the BBC engineers, technical staff and health and safety advisors. The amount of red tape was phenomenal but Len again handled it with the minimum of fuss and the daw itself went off perfectly really putting the club on the map.

"Again when it came to the Solihull Moors game Len came in to his own. He had to deal with the police, the local authority, the Solihull safety officer as well as the BBC who were filming the game.

"Having seen the volume of paperwork that Len had to deal with in a very short space of time I can only praise him for how well he dealt with it and he had to take time off work to cope. Then on the day he was in charge of safety and stewarding and the best compliment I can pay him is that the police were full of praise for our organisation.

"So although Len will be missed he can take great pride in the part he has played in the club's progress over the last 15 years.

"He has earned his retirement and will be a difficult act to follow."

And so say all of us.

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