In 1997 after returning from the States where he’d been coaching women and youth players, Roger Spicer saw that Hitchin needed a girls’ football club. In 1999, Hitchin Belles Football Club first registered with the local league.
During the following decade, the club grew organically and became one of the largest all-female football clubs in the county.
In 2019 membership reached an all-time high and today we are proud to be running 18 teams and play our home matches at Ickleford Sports and Recreational Centre, St Christopher’s School, The Priory School and Hitchin College.
We have over 250 players across the age groups from our Mini Belles through to our Women’s Team, with the numbers growing each week, however we are always looking to expand our teams and offer a warm welcome to all new players and much needed volunteers.
We have earned a reputation for being a fair and friendly club and were delighted to be awarded the FA Charter Standard in 2010 in recognition of our high standards and road map to achieve further quality standards and have continued to pass the Charter Standard Annual Health Check each year thereafter.
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We aim to provide a caring, family environment where girls can develop their skills and enjoy football free from pressure or fear of failure. We will not tolerate poor behaviour, bad language or abuse in any form from coaches, players, parents or spectators. The club actively supports the FA’s Respect Campaign and through our proactive work in this field, were awarded the Herts FA’s Charter Standard Club of the Year (Runner Up) in 2013 and 2018.
We have been affiliated to the Hertfordshire FA since the club was formed. Our youth teams play in the progressive Hertfordshire Girls Football Partnership League and our Women’s team play in the Bedfordshire & Hertfordshire Women’s League in Division one.
Through excellent links with local schools we continue to attract new players, and several have represented our club at County level in Advanced Coaching Centres, player development centres and County representative teams. Many girls have gone onto play at Centre of Excellences and an ex-Belles player was called up for a National Training Camp. As a thriving grassroots club we hope to see many more of our players go onto to achieve and progress in the FA’s Women’s Pathway.
We have embraced Futsal and have represented Hertfordshire at the National Finals on many occasions. We offer additional futsal training, every Tuesday for over 100 players.
We encourage a strong social togetherness at the club and the off-field activities are a mark of our bond. We organise regular trips to the Women’s FA Cup Final and England matches. We celebrate each team’s efforts by holding team and club end of season celebrations and for the last few years we have attended a Butlin’s Football Festival on Bognor Regis and Club Camping at Henlow Bridge Lakes.
The future is extremely positive for Hitchin Belles FC as we continue to grow our brand and develop the female game in our region and 2019 sees the club celebrate 20 years of growing Women’s and Girls’ Football in Hitchin and the local areas and we celebrate this with a re-brand of our club badge. We certainly couldn’t have done it without the support from our wonderful set of volunteers, parents, local partners and sponsors and above all, the players, who are front and centre of this thriving club and we thank each and every one of you.
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