The Club does not have a Clubhouse or its own “home” ground. We play at ten locations around Berkhamsted, providing football pitches for U7 & U8 (5v5); U9 & U10 (7v7); U11 & U12 (9v9) and 11v11 from U13 upwards.
We work closely with the local schools to provide football pitches. Raiders takes on the costs and responsibility for both pitch maintenance and provision of goal posts and nets, which is of additional benefit to sport in the local schools. A set of goal posts and nets costs upwards of £1,500!
On a Sunday/Monday, our Facilities Officer, Ian Sayle, does the juggling act of locating pitches for our home teams. An online pitch booking system (Skedda: www.skedda.com) is used to make his life easier. Ian has the ultimate say in cancellation of matches. Notification of cancellation of matches is by phone call, text, e-mail or Twitter to the AGC or manager directly. Notification of a cancelled match will be prior to 9am. Managers can exercise their right to cancel a match if they feel that the venue is unsuitable to play.
The venues used by the club are as follows:
- Ashlyns School – 8 pitches plus BerkoAstro 3G
- Thomas Coram School – 3 pitches (accessible from the rear of Ashlyns)
- Berkhamsted Cricket Club, Kitchener’s Field – 7 pitches
- Bridgewater School – 7 pitches (Saturdays, Girls Only)
- Haslam Field (Berkhamsted School pitches on Shootersway) –2 Pitches
- Greenway School – 2 pitches
- St Mary’s School – 1 pitch
- Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead Hockey Club, Cow Roast – 1 pitch
- Wigginton Recreational Ground – 1 pitch
- Lagley Meadow (adjacent to Berkhamsted Sports Centre) – 1 pitch
You can DOWNLOAD maps of our playing locations from the Location Maps page,
Looking after our pitches
The rapid expansion of the Club means that we have over 80 teams….. and not enough pitches. Some of the pitches get fairly heavy use throughout the winter – so we need to look after them.
The rules:
- Raiders’ teams or opposition teams must NEVER warm up on the pitches.
- Post-match kick-abouts must NEVER take place on the pitches or in the goals.
- Use areas around the pitches to warm up the team, and tell the opposition to keep off.
- Games must NEVER take place on a pitch which is not fit for play. One game on a waterlogged pitch can ruin that pitch for several months ahead.
Berkhamsted Cricket Club – Kitchener’s Field
When using Kitchener’s Field, bear in mind that we have a responsibility to other users. The Cricket Club has invested £50,000 in nets and artificial wickets. KEEP OFF! The net area is out of bounds for footballers, and obviously so are the two cricket squares.