Hertford Town

Hertford Town FC are a non league club from the county town of Hertfordshire, which is located around twenty miles north of central London. The club were formed as Port Vale Rovers in 1908. A general demand for the club’s recognition as the Town Club resulted in the Association granting permission to change the name to Hertford F.C. and amalgamation with Hertford United as Hertford Town eventually resulted in 1904.

Two further clubs; Blue Cross and Horns joined up in 1908, with Hertingfordbury Park being adopted as ‘The Blues’ home ground. At this point Hertford joined the Herts County League, where they remained until 1959 when they moved to the Delphian League.

Town were at their peak as the title was lifted in 1960-61 ans 1961-62. They would have made it a hat trick after winning the East Division, but they lost the play off with the West champions. Following that defeat the league was disbanded, leading to Town joining the second tier of the Athenian League, from where they were soon promoted.

The 1972-73 season saw the club play in the Eastern Counties League for just one campaign before becoming founder members of the Isthmian League Division Two. Over the years Town suffered several relegation's as the league expanded and re-organised as well as a couple of promotions. However, 2005-06 saw one demotion too many as The Blues found themselves at Step Five in the Spartan South Midlands League.

Pablo Ardiles, son of World Cup Winner Osvaldo, played for the club and became manager in 2008. He departed with Marvin Samuel coming in during the 2012-13 campaign.

Hertford Town FC will compete in the Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division in the 2013-14 season.

My visits

Monday 10th August 2009

I arrived in the charming county town of Hertford by bus on a day of groundhopping around Hertfordshire. It was such a welcome relief to find such a lovely place after the blandness of my previous visit to Welwyn Garden City. Hertford has many historic buildings around its centre including many tempting pubs.

After losing my bearings for a few minutes, a friendly local soon sent me in the right direction to West Street. The road tapered away into a country lane which had a marked footpath which led to Hertingfordbury Park, home of The Blues.

The club have spent their entire history at the ground and it did show signs of its age. However, this also means it had oodles of character. While I wasn't sure how easy it would be to manoeuvre a coach along the lane, this added to the charm of the location. A set of stables and riding school backed onto the ground. I got in by removing a breeze block which kept the gate closed. The main entrance was in a corner of the ground. To my right stood the Stable End covered terrace. The far side had a few steps of terrace and a wall in front in the centre that could possibly had a roof over it in the past? Behind the far goal consisted of a hard standing area and grass. Along the near touchline was a majestic old Main Stand which contained a press area with the changing rooms underneath, accessible by the rarity of a players tunnel. The ground had obviously seen some grand days in the past. A clubhouse stood next to the stand. The pitch perimeter fence was brand new after the club had to replace the old brick wall at great expense owing to safety requirements.

On my travels I often come across an arena that is plain that just about meets the required grading for the league it serves. Very occasionally I find a real gem like Hertingfordbury Park. Long may such venues reign for many years to come!

Hertford Town 2 Stotfold 1 (Tuesday 13th August 2013) Spartan South Midlands League Premier Division (att: 101)

My night shifts were at an end so I wanted a nice relaxing evening; ideally at the club I’d visited without seeing a game. After much perusal of the Non League Paper, Hertford Town stood out. After doing my admin work on behalf of the Joint Owners of Scarborough Athletic, I set out by tube and train to arrive at Hertford North at just gone 6pm.

I already had a soft spot for the town from my previous visit, and the railway sation typified this, with its neat appearance. A ten minute walk saw me entering The Millstream pub. This fine local served me a pint of the locally brewed McMullens IK, while two gents brought back many happy memories as they chatted about doing the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb.

From there I was off past the brewery and round the corner to The Old Cross. This former shop had been converted into a comfortable real ale house, which also specialised in Belgian beers. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth every penny as I sampled some Maldon Gold and then the pubs own brew; Gertcha.

With time getting on I crossed under the dual carriageway and went up West Street to visit The Black Horse. This was another pub that once served run of the mill ales, but had been converted into one selling several guest beers. It was also refreshing to see that the pub advertised showing all cricket games. The friendly manager served me a good pint of Portobello Star to send me on my way to the ground.

I entered Hertingfordbury Park after paying £6 as well as buying a programme for an extra quid. It was a beautiful evening and the playing surface with the fine old stand beyond it looking a picture. A small club shop was open between the clubhouse and the stand. Music was being played over the PA system and an enthusiastic fan made announcements before later taking to blowing his Vuvuzela. It had all the signs of a well run club, perhaps punching below their weight. After a lap to take some photos and take in the scene, I purchased an excellent cheeseburger for £2.70 and settled in the seats above the pitch.

The game was scrappy, with both sides misplacing far too many passes. On thirty five minutes, the stocky Blue newly signed left back Rickelle Christian went on a marauding run all the way into the Stotfold box. He went down under a seemingly harmless challenge, with the dread locked referee Mark Tweed pointing to the spot. It seemed a harsh call, although no players complained too much. Mark Summers slotted the spot kick into the bottom corner of the net.

Town boss Marvin Samuels sat just behind me. He seemed a really nice jolly bloke. However, he was getting a little tetchy as the ref played a lot of stoppage time before the break. Samuels suggested that his hair was in his eyes? The manager’s worries came to pass as Stotfold’s excellent number nine Ricky Young scored with a superb long range shot which left The Blues keeper Harry Ricketts stood motionless.

At the interval I went into the vibrant club. While there was no hand pulled ale, a fine selection of bottles was available. I plumped for Mann’s Brown Ale at £2.70. In an ingenious move to allow drinks outside, a plastic glass was placed inside a large paper coffee cup. I sat right above the player’s tunnel to enjoy my refreshment.

Neither side took the initiative in the second period, although Hertford did produce some decent forward play. Summers should have restored the lead but scuffed his shot, as the Stable End fans made plenty of noise and sung their hearts out. Meanwhile I had a couple doing a passable impersonation of Waldorf and Statler behind me. It was a really nice environment to watch a Step Five game.

The game would be ultimately decided with a real goalkeeping blooper, which reminded me that I would be at Wembley the following evening to see Scotland in action. On sixty eight minutes Charlie Smith sliced his cross towards goal. George Darlow in the visitors net collected it at the near post, and then dropped it into his own net to the raucous cheers and laughter from behind him. The look on his manager Steve Young’s face said at least two words!

I was by now concentrating hard on Twitter as three of my four predictions were home and dry. I needed a Maidstone goal at Carshalton to complete my accumulator as the game was currently 1-1 with a few minutes remaining. The final whistle went as Hertford’s loyal fans celebrated, and at the same time Maidstone netted the winner. I let out a loud “get in”, which must have looked like I was a Town fan!

The Blues heroes took the time to go over to the Stable End and applaud their vociferous fanatics. It epitomised all that I liked about the club. I wandered off back to the station, and not even a diabolical pint of McMullens Cask in the woeful Bridge Inn spoiled my mood. It must of been a bad pint as I left most of it!

My sleeping pattern caught up with me as I slept most of the way back to Kings Cross. I was back at home in Kingsbury in time for supper at 11.30pm. I reckoned on returning to Hertford one day, even if it will be after I’d visited lots of new places, but I was already looking forward to it.

If only every groundhopping adventure could be as good as that one.