A Hitchin Town living legend is gearing up for a well-deserved testimonial this week - while helping a great cause.

Canaries club secretary and legendary stalwart Roy Izzard is celebrating 50 years service with the Fishponds Road outfit.

To mark such incredible loyalty, Premier League near neighbours Luton Town will be sending a team along to play Hitchin at Top Field on Friday night.

Hitchin Town said: "The night will not only celebrate Roy's time with the club but also highlight the relationship the two clubs have had throughout his time here.

"There will be numerous ex-players from both clubs attending and paying tribute to Roy."

But that's not all. Generous Roy wants to support a charity close to many Hatters' fans hearts.

Roy takes up the story.

"I was very honoured and humbled to be awarded a testimonial game to mark my 50 years service to Hitchin Town FC," says Canaries' humble servant Roy.

"I certainly did not want to take any proceeds from the game for myself and I wanted the club to benefit from the match receipts.

"But I also wanted to help a charity as well. As the game is against Luton Town I felt it would be a good idea to support a heart charity as Luton captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest in their league game at Bournemouth.

"Tom thanked the players, staff, doctors and paramedics who saved his life. Because of this and the fact that I suffered a mini-stroke myself a couple of years ago I have decided to try and raise money for the British Heart Foundation."

The BHF is the largest independent funder of cardiovascular research in the UK. For over 60 years BHF has pioneered life-saving research that has helped halve the number of deaths from heart and circulatory disease in the UK.

Tom himself recognised the value of the BHF in the following quote: "I cannot stress enough how important it is for as many people as possible to know CPR. It literally saves lives, like mine.

"Please check out the British Heart Foundation website for basics or get yourself on a course. You just never know when you might need it"

Popular Roy adds: "As well as buying your tickets and donating via the collection buckets at the ground on the night I have also set up a Just Giving page so those who may not be able to get to the game can make a contribution."

https://www.justgiving.com/page/roy-izzard-testimonial-supporting-bhf

Roy Izzard's testimonial: Friday, March 8. Kick off 730pm

Tickets are available to purchase at the link below

https://hitchintownfc.ktckts.com/event/hit2324f01/hitchin-town-v-luton-town-xi