HARVESTERS FOOTBALL CLUB

In August 1987, having put slips advertising football training, through doors on Jersey Farm, twenty-two boys of various ages turned up at Cheriton Close open space wanting to play football. They were greeted by John Green, Sandridge Parish Councillor and Margaret Southgate. Training and friendly matches were organised and Sandridge Parish Council donated the first football strip – white shirts and blue shorts. Alan Brooks and Willie Martin became involved organising football for the boys which was played at Cheriton Close where parents marked out the pitch as well as cut the grass with domestic lawn mowers. On 7th February 1989, the first committee meeting was held as interest from local boys was increasing all the time. Harvesters Football Club was born - being named after the local housing development being built on Jersey Farm. In 1990/91 Harvesters entered their first mixed aged team of Under 11s in the Bushey Friendly League wearing our current club colours of yellow and blue . The home ground was Cheriton Close and the boys changed in the garage of 62 Villiers Crescent. The following season a second team was formed. The club continued to grow and by 2003 Harvesters entered twenty-one teams into the Watford Friendly League (the new name for Bushey Friendly League) and two teams in the Hertfordshire Girls Football League. The first girls team was started in 2002/03. Matches were held at various locations prior to Harvesters getting its own ground at Smallford and venues included St John Fisher, Sandridge and Skyswood Schools as well as Sandridge Rovers. Links with Sandridge Rovers have continued and the Under 18s use the facility at Sandridge as their home ground. In 1993 one football pitch at Oaklands Lane, Smallford was hired from Herts County Council. At the start of that season Harvesters had two football pitches under licence, being re-negotiated annually. A club spirit developed as teams were now regularly playing at the same location. By the beginning of the 1995/96 season we had re-negotiated the license and had four football pitches at Smallford. By June 1996 the club was in negotiations with the County Council to obtain a lease for the ten acre site in order that the club could develop further. Eventually, after very lengthy negotiations, on the 25th September 1997 the club finally received a ten year lease. During the negotiation stage work had started on the site to build car parks with a great deal of assistance from “A Plant” and parents. Numerous working parties were set up, goalposts and fences erected, the roads repaired and with a generous donation of hedging from Herts Groundwork Trust, over 600 shrubs were planted. Fortunately owing to careful financial planning, the club was in a reasonably good financial position to take on this massive project. With the support of a number of local companies, substantial parent donations and grants from Sandridge Parish Council, St Albans District Council and our own funding, work was started in 1997 to transform the derelict farm building into the clubhouse under the guidance of Mark Woollett. The plan for the building was to provide four changing rooms, a community room, a referees room and a kitchen. It was also planned to paint the exterior of the clubhouse, fix external signage and lay a patio along the complete length of the building. After an enormous effort from parents, friends, players and relatives, eventually in August 1998 Les Ferdinand officiated the opening of the building in front of five hundred spectators. Almost immediately another target was created in that toilets were now urgently needed. This time under the guidance of Mark Pontin, a septic tank was installed as well as two toilets. In August 1999 the toilets were officially opened. By June 2000 the walls and floors in the toilets had been tiled. The wall tiles including the club colours of yellow and blue! Also, a container was installed to store pitch furniture. In 2003 with the benefit of Football foundation funding the All Weather pitch project was undertaken. This fantastic addition to the club facilities was officially opened by Arsenals’ Lee Dixon, which meant that for the first time training could take place all year round at Smallford. In August 2004 the club underwent another major change with the retirement of Alan Brooks as chairman and Margaret Southgate as club secretary. Together they had worked tirelessly for seventeen years to create the club we are now and all members past, present, and future owe them a great debt of gratitude. During the 2004/2005 season, the club continued to make tremendous strides forward on the pitch the highlights of which were the Under 15’s reaching the County Challenge Cup Final (for the second successive season) and the Under 12’s going one step further and becoming the first team in the club’s history to win the trophy. In May 2005 the Football Development team started Harvesters Inclusive – a Disabilities football project providing organised football for boys and girls primarily with Learning Difficulties. Under the guidance of Steve Fletcher, Harvesters Inclusive currently has over 40 children in 5 teams and is already the largest youth Disabilities football club in Hertfordshire. In June 2006 the boys under 16 team won the St Ives Tournament and our unique girls U16’s reached the final of a boys festival in Feltham. Harvesters Football Club is affiliated to the Hertfordshire Football Association, Watford Friendly League, Hertfordshire Girls Football League and is a registered charity. The club is represented at League level by Alan Brooks who is the Vice Chairman as well as the Discipline Secretary of the Watford Friendly League. In November 2001 the club received FA Charter Development Standard status and in October 2003 the club received the FA Charter Standard Community Club award being one of only ninety-nine clubs in the country to have achieved this standard. In June 2004 the club was awarded Hertfordshire FA Charter Standard Community Club Of the Year and Steve Chittenden was awarded Hertfordshire FA Charter Standard Club Coach Award. This year the first ever girls teams reached County Cup finals at Letchworth , the Under 12's 14's and 15's each lifted the cup.