The Hertfordshire County Football Association, also simply known as ''Hertfordshire FA'', is the governing body of

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in the county of

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The Hertfordshire FA was founded accidentally in 1885 after the existing teams (then numbering around 20) agreed to hold a meeting to discuss their position, and ended up affiliating.

History

In the early 1880s there were already 20 clubs operating in

and with interest continuing to grow, the Secretary of St Albans FC, Mr R. Cook called a meeting in 1885 which was to have been held at

The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

's Headquarters, then at 51

High Holborn High Holborn ( ) is a street in Holborn and Farringdon Without, Central London, which forms a part of the A40 route from London to Fishguard. It starts in the west at the eastern end of St Giles High Street and runs past the Kingsway and ...

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

but on arrival they found the offices closed. An alternative venue was found for the meeting at the nearby The Farringdon Pub in

Holborn Holborn ( or ), an area in central London, covers the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Camden and a part (St Andrew Holborn (parish), St Andrew Holborn Below the Bars) of the Wards of the City of London, Ward of Farringdon Without i ...

. In its first season 20 clubs affiliated and numbers substantially increased year on year. Today the number stands close to 2,500 teams. Key dates in the development of Hertfordshire County FA are detailed below: 1885 – Association formed with 20 member clubs 1894 – Under the guidance of Mr.H.W. English, a master at Hitchin Grammar School and Secretary of the Association from 1894–98 a scheme to control the Association's affairs by a council was introduced. The initial scheme, albeit developed and improved still forms the basis on which the administration of the Hertfordshire FA is conducted today. 1901 – Huge difficulties facing the association until a man of the moment, George Wagstaffe Simmons stepped in. During Wagstaffe Simmons 18 years as Secretary the Association's fortunes were transformed. When he took over there were less than 40 clubs with funds available under £20. When he handed over to his successor the membership had grown, over 200 clubs affiliated and had assets of £500-£66- an enormous sum on money in those days, coming at the end of The Great War. 1924 – Wagstaffe Simmons appointed Chairman of the Hertfordshire FA Council and also represented the Hertfordshire FA on the Council of The Football Association, positions he held until 1951. During his time with The FA he became Chairman of the International Selection Committee and established reputation, not only as an eloquent speaker on all subjects relating to the game, but as authority on its laws and admissions. 1935 – County Association reaches its Golden Anniversary with a Jubilee Banquet and Concert held at the Holborn Restaurant. During the evening Mr. Wagstaffe Simmons was able to say 'I do not suggest that the Hertfordshire FA Council is perfect, but it's not far off'. Proposing the toast to the Hertfordshire FA was Sir Stanley Rous, Secretary of

, who ten years prior to his appointment to football's top job was a member of the Hertfordshire FA Council. 1951–61 – During this period Hertfordshire's population increased by 34% which caused huge problems in relation to playing fields and recreational facilities. The association applied to The FA for financial aid, without which the necessary work could not be undertaken. 1960 – The association celebrated its 75th anniversary and at the Dinner Sir Stanley Rous, now a knight of the Realm, proposed the toast to Hertfordshire FA. In 1985 Sir Stanley completed an amazing treble when he was guest of honour at the association's centenary celebrations held at Watford Town Hall. 1961 – Sunday Football was brought under the control of the Hertfordshire FA and its rapid expansion introduced many new players to the game by hundreds. 1998 – Hertfordshire County Youth F.A. becomes part of the Hertfordshire FA. 1999 – Hertfordshire FA becomes a Limited Company, one of the first counties in England to take this step. Managing director Ron Kibble announces that the association's nomadic existence was finally over when we bought the Lease of Letchworth Football Club Ground through the hard work of Mr Kibble, Eric Hand and Cecil Hudson. New County FA Headquarters were opened in

Letchworth Letchworth Garden City, commonly known as Letchworth, is a town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It is noted for being the first garden city. The population at the time of the 2021 census was 33,990. Letchworth ...

. Hertfordshire have many people who served their county year after year, some being Ernest Scott, W.R. Watson, George Wagstaffe Simmons, Percy Poulter and Arthur Aldridge.

Organisation

Hertfordshire County FA has a team of staff that look to safeguard and develop football within the county. Based at The County Ground in

, both the Governance and Development teams work together in improving the football experience for all within

. *The Governance Team – deals with Discipline, Competitions, Referees, Affiliations and all general enquiries regarding the administration side of grassroots football across the County. *The Development Team – deals with Charter Standard, Coach Education, Women & Girls, Disability, Small Sided football, Facilities, Funding and working with key partners to develop more opportunities to Get Involved in the game.

Affiliated leagues

Youth leagues

*Hertfordshire Girls Football Partnership League *Herts Youth Inclusive League *Herts Youth League *Mid Herts League (1968) *Royston Crow Youth Football League (1971) *Southern Counties Floodlit Youth League *Watford Friendly League (1970) *West Herts Youth League

Adult Saturday leagues

*Herts Senior County League *West Herts Saturday League

Adult Sunday leagues

*Berkhamsted Sunday Football League *East Herts Corinthian League (1993) *Hertfordshire 1961 Sunday Football League *Herts Vets Super League *Hitchin Sunday League (1977) *North West Essex Sunday League *Watford Sunday Football League

Small-sided leagues

*Herts Women's Walking Football League *Ultimate Football League

Wheelchair Football

*South East Powerchair Football League

Affiliated member clubs

Current clubs that are affiliated to the Hertfordshire County FA are: * Baldock Town * Barnet *

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

* Boreham Wood *

Berkhamsted Berkhamsted ( ) is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, in the River Bulbourne, Bulbourne valley, north-west of London. The town is a Civil parishes in England, civil parish with a town council within the borough of Dacorum which ...

* Berkhamsted Raiders *

Bovingdon Bovingdon is a village in Hertfordshire, England, south-west of Hemel Hempstead, and a civil parishes in England, civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum. Situated close to the Buckinghamshire border, it forms the largest part ...

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

Codicote Codicote ( ) is a village and civil parish in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. It lies south of Hitchin, its post town, and north of Welwyn. Codicote was a small market town between the 13th and 16th centuries. The ...

* Colney Heath * Hadley * Harpenden Town * Hatfield Town * Hemel Hempstead Town * Hertford Town * Hitchin Town * Hoddesdon Town * Kings Langley * Letchworth Garden City Eagles * Leverstock Green *

London Colney London Colney () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Hertfordshire, England. It is located to the north of London, close to Junction 22 of the M25 motorway. It is around south-east of St Albans city centre (and within ...

* London Lions * Oxhey Jets * Potters Bar Town * Royston Town * Royston Town Youth Football Club * Sandridge Rovers *

Sarratt Sarratt is both a village and a civil parish in Three Rivers District, Hertfordshire, England. It is situated north of Rickmansworth on high ground near the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The chalk stream, the River Chess, rising just n ...

* Sawbridgeworth Town * St Albans City * St Margaretsbury *

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

* Tring Athletic * Tring Corinthians *

Ware WARE (1250 AM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a classic hits format. Licensed to Ware, Massachusetts, United States, the station serves the Springfield radio market. The station is currently owned by Success Signal Broadcasting ...

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Welwyn Garden City Welwyn Garden City ( ) is a town in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. It was the second Garden city movement, garden city in England (founded 1920) and one of the first New towns in the United Kingdom, new towns (designated 1948). It is ...

* Wormley Rovers

Leading Women's Clubs

Arsenal Ladies Arsenal Women Football Club, commonly referred to as just Arsenal, is an English professional women's association football, women's football club based in London Borough of Islington, Islington, London, England. The club plays in the FA Women' ...

* Colney Heath Ladies * Royston Town Women * Stevenage Ladies * Watford Ladies * Wodson Park Ladies

County Cup Competitions

The Hertfordshire County FA run the following cup competitions: * Hertfordshire Senior Challenge Cup * Hertfordshire Senior Centenary Trophy * Hertfordshire Charity Cup * Hertfordshire Charity Shield *Hertfordshire Intermediate Cup *Hertfordshire Junior Cup *Hertfordshire Sunday Senior Cup *Hertfordshire Sunday Intermediate Cup *Hertfordshire Sunday Junior Cup *Hertfordshire Veterans' Cup *Hertfordshire Women's Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U9 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U10 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U11 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U12 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U13 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U14 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U15 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U16 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Boys U18 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire 7 v. 7 Girls U10 *Hertfordshire 9 v. 9 Girls U14 *Hertfordshire U10 Girls 7 v. 7 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire U11 Girls 7 v. 7 *Hertfordshire U12 Girls Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Girls U12 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Girls U13 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Girls U14 '9 v. 9' Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Girls U14 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Girls U15 Challenge Cup *Hertfordshire Girls U16 Challenge Cup Source

List of recent Hertfordshire County Cup winners

Note: the 2019/20 Finals were not played due to Covid-19 and some of the cups were awarded jointly as follows: * Herts Senior Cup - Hemel Hempstead Town and St Albans City * Herts Senior Trophy - Wormley Rovers and Oxhey Jets Reserves * Herts Charity Cup - Hemel Hempstead Town and Berkhamsted * Herts Women's Cup - Stevenage Women and Watford Ladies U23 Source

2018–19 County Cup winners

Source

External links

Hertfordshire County FA Official Website

References

{{County Football Association County football associations Football in Hertfordshire Sports organizations established in 1885