It's 'perfect timing' for delighted new Tudors boss Bircham

Lee Bircham is ready to give it everything he’s got for his hometown club after being appointed as the new manager of Hemel Hempstead Town.

Bircham arrives along with assistant-manager Steve Bateman and they have been rewarded with a step up to National League South after leading Berkhamsted to a superb season in the Southern League Division One Central last time out.

Berkhamsted were top of the league when the season was halted and ultimately declared null and void but Bircham and Bateman decided their time at the club was at an end.

They have now been given the chance to take over at Hemel as the club heads into a new era with the installation of a 4G surface at Vauxhall Road.

And Hemel boy Bircham couldn’t be more excited.

“I am absolutely thrilled to bits to be at Hemel,” the new Tudors boss said.

“It’s my hometown club, everyone knows that and it has a bit of extra spice when that’s the case.

“And there is a little bit of extra pressure because not only do you want to do well for yourself and the club, you want to do well for the town as well.

“It’s a no brainer for me. I moved here when I was a kid and this is my town.

“I have known the chairman (Dave Boggins) here since I was a kid and for all those reasons, this is fantastic.

“Coming out of the pandemic, I think there is a real community feel everywhere so this just feels like perfect timing.”

As far as leaving Berkhamsted was concerned, Bircham admitted that was a tough decision.

“It was a very tricky one,” he added.

“The chairman there, Steve Davis, is now a close friend of mine and it wasn’t an easy decision to leave.

“Once you do something like that with Berko where the resources aren’t as great as other clubs in the division and you get into that position but you don’t get over the line, you have to find it in yourself to go and do it again.

“I think it made it the right time for someone else to go in there. It was probably the right time for me and Steve to go and we have just been really fortunate that Hemel was a place that came calling for us.

“We are fortunate to have been given the opportunity but we aren’t just here to make the numbers up, we will be looking to do as well as we can for the club.”

It has already been a busy time for Bircham with a number of new signings being confirmed over the past week including the likes of Daniel Akubuine, Alie Bangura, Adeyinka Cole,

Jacob Cook, Ryan Kinnane, Daniel Webb and George Essuman.

And the Hemel squad will be being put through their paces this weekend.

“It’s very difficult but I like the six-week pre-season, it’s tried and tested and it’s what I was brought up on,” Bircham added.

“It keeps boys interested long enough. If you do any longer, you run that risk of them becoming bored.

“But, the flip side of that is that the players are champing at the bit for us to get started.

“The boys are on our case to do something so we are coming back in on Saturday. We won’t be going mad but we will get them in and do a few bits.”

Jake Howells, meanwhile, has been named as club captain for the forthcoming season after he had already agreed fresh terms at Vauxhall Road.