Criticism over Herts Senior Cup venue

Read Freddie Cardy's hard-hitting opinion piece on disquiet regarding a lack of direction from Herts FA

The Hertfordshire Senior Cup final is supposedly less than a month away, with Hitchin Town meeting either Berkhamsted FC or Watford U21 to fight for the silverware, but with just weeks to go there is still no indication of where and when the final will be, writes Freddie Cardy.

Despite the majority of other county cup finals taking place at the largest ground available to the county FA's disposal, the Hertfordshire FA chose the Lantern Stadium, home of Step three Potters Bar Town, to host last season's final. Fans were unhappy with the quality of the pitch and a cordoned off stand that had blown over in bad weather.

The pitch at Potters Bar's ground was continually waterlogged in the winter of 2021-22 leading to a number of postponements, with plenty of mid-season work put in to try and assist with its recovery.

With all due respect to the club and its volunteers, this was not an ideal venue for the final of Hertfordshire's premier cup competition, considering the other grounds that could have been used in the county.

When Hitchin Town travelled to Suffolk side Leiston for a league fixture last month I spoke to journalist Nick Garnham, who also has a role with the Suffolk FA.

The Suffolk Premier Cup had been hosted at Ipswich Town's Portman Road until the club requested that it be played elsewhere.

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Such was the extent of the FA's desire to keep the final at a large stadium, the Suffolk Premier Cup final has since taken place in an entirely different county, with Colchester United playing host across the border in Essex.

The majority of county Football Associations across the country take similar viewpoints, as Hitchin Town manager Mark Burke was keen to stress when he spoke to HTFC Radio ahead of his side's semi final with last year's winners Cheshunt. 

"I was talking to someone at the Herts FA and it's a shame that the Herts FA do not play their final at Watford. Luton is used for Bedfordshire, Hampshire use Southampton… and it's something to look forward to.

"And the response I got was that maybe the senior clubs don't value the competition, but my response to that is put it at a senior club (Watford) and then we might value it a little bit more.

"To really add value to that competition, I think [The Herts FA] really should have the final at Watford, or Boreham Wood or Stevenage."

Hitchin midfielder Stephen Gleeson joined me on commentary for the 2-0 semi final win against Cheshunt, and offered a similar view about the venue of the final. "Some players at this level will never get the chance to play at a stadium like that.

"What an experience that would be- even me at my stage, I would love to play at Watford or Stevenage.

"If you want teams to take this cup seriously, why not dangle that carrot of playing at a bigger stadium where teams will go and put stronger teams out and the games will be really competitive."

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For the semi finals to take place with the venue of the final still unannounced is something that has frustrated fans of the clubs still involved at this stage.

Perhaps a surprise win for Watford U21 against Berkhamsted tonight could help to bring the final to Vicarage Road, but at the time of writing it is impossible to guess where the climax of this competition will take place.

By Freddie Cardy

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