Comrades and Raiders in groundshare agreement

Berko chairman Steve Davis and Christian Armond, chair of trustees at Raiders, announced the agreement at the end of last week.

Berkhamsted FC will once again play in the Pitching In Southern Football League at Step 4 next season having finished as runners-up last season before losing out in the play-offs.

Raiders, while primarily a youth football club, also have a senior team playing in the Spartan South Midlands League Division 2 at Step 7 and they have been ground sharing at Kings Langley FC in recent seasons.

As the 2021/22 season ended, several meetings were held between the directors of both clubs to explore whether a groundshare agreement could be reached between the clubs.

These meetings were productive, with various areas of cooperation identified, and a formal groundshare agreement was signed between the two clubs.

The agreement allows Berkhamsted Raiders CFC to play its own home matches at Broadwater from the start of the 2022/2023 season.

Many of the players have been through the Raiders club programme from an early age and many are also coaches within the club too.

Attendances at Broadwater were up by 25 per cent last season, and both teams are hoping to see more supporters coming through the turnstiles to watch football in Berkhamsted.

Davis said: “We’re delighted to reach this agreement with Berkhamsted Raiders and are looking forward to hosting them at our Broadwater Stadium and building our partnership with our youth and senior teams.”

And Armond added: “It’s great to have our senior team playing in Berkhamsted, where they belong, and I’d like to thank Steve and the team at Berkhamsted FC for their positive and constructive approach in our discussions.

“I’d also like to say thanks to Kings Langley FC who hosted us for the last few seasons.

“We are keen to build our partnership with Berkhamsted FC and hopefully build pathways for our young players to get the opportunity to play for their hometown club.”