HITCHIN TOWN | A FAMILY AFFAIR

An opportunity too good to turn down for Donnelly

There are very few other jobs that would have tempted Brett Donnelly away from Stotfold.

The 40 year-old has taken the club from Step 6 to Step 4 in successive seasons, consolidating their place in the Pitching In Southern League Division One Central, their highest-ever level, this term.

It’s a project that he was fully invested in, until the call came from his local club, Hitchin Town, in their hour of need.

A run of 12 consecutive defeats had seen them plummet down the Pitching In Southern League Premier South table, leaving them perilously close to the drop zone, and prompted long-serving manager, Mark Burke, to step aside after just over a decade at the helm.

“To leave Stotfold was the hardest decision that I have ever had to make in my football career,” Donnelly admitted. “I was working at a fantastic, up-and-coming club, for a great Chairman with a team that we had built over the past few years.

“Everything was progressing really well and then the call came from Hitchin Town.

“Being a Hitchin lad with strong family connections to the club and having had four spells as a player there, it was tough for me to turn the opportunity down. It’s something that may never come around for me again.

“A picture of my late grandad still hangs behind the bar; my dad, brothers and uncle played here too and I have been around the place since the age of two or three and still live only a stone’s throw away from the ground.

“To play for the club made me proud but to lead the club as manager for the first time on Saturday was so special for me and my family.

“It was an amazing day and to be able to end that run of defeats with a hard-earned draw against a good side and big club in AFC Telford United topped things off nicely.

“We were really good in the first half and deserved our lead. The equaliser that we conceded was poor, but we fully deserved to take something from the game and now we have to be able to build upon it.

“We have to give the supporters something to cheer about; these players are no mugs and I have every faith in them to get us away from danger. It’s a young group, but they are very upbeat. They’ve maybe got stuck in a bit of a rut and needed a new voice and new ideas to come in.

“This club is established at Step 3 and we’ll be doing everything we can to keep us there.

“Either my strong connections to the club will give me extra breathing space if things don’t go to plan straight away or it will make matters worse because I will be surrounded by family and friends having a go and telling me what I should be doing!”

A Good Friday home clash with League leaders, Needham Market, is Donnelly’s next assignment.

IMAGE: Hitchin Town FC

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