Welcome to Dads on the Pitch!

Welcome to our new website. Since 2013 until May 2023 we have raised over £109,000 for the charities and local boys and girls youth football clubs as well as some very important good causes.

Each year a group of (mainly) dads from Hertfordshire take part in some charity football matches at various  league stadiums.

We started out in 2013 with a game at Vicarage Road, home of Watford FC. All money from that game was shared between Action for Kids and Bushey & Oxhey FC. We were joined on the day by Olympic Boxing Gold Medallist and now World Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua ,as well as football legends Neville Southall, Mark Wright and Luther Blissett . 

2014 saw us play 4 stadium matches. Games at Stevenage, Reading and Watford all featured ex professionals including 9 internationals in the Watford game including European Cup final goalscorer Alan Kennedy. Other highlights included a goal from 61 year old Argentina legend Ricky Villa and a wonder-goal from ex Spurs hero Micky Hazard, both at Stevenage. The series ended with a game at Leyton Orient where a hat trick from Barrie Ungaretti was the highlight. The money in 2014 was shared between Action for Kids, Bushey & Oxhey FC and Garston Ladies FC . 

2015 saw us again raise money for the 3 beneficiaries from 2014 plus we also raised money for children's charity Dreamflight. Our first game was at Vicarage Road on 17th May and was a 10 goal thriller including a hat trick from Paul Murphy. This was followed up with a 15 (or 16) goal thriller at Colchester United FC where Barrie Ungaretti became the first player to score 2 hat tricks in Dadsonthepitch games. The final game was at Carrow Road , Norwich FC where a lot of the dads braved an 8am start on a Sunday morning. Highlights included a Mark Forrester penalty save , as well as quality goals from Andy Hemington, David Webster and debutant Jake Watt.

2016 saw us play 2 more matches. The first was at Stadium MK , home of MK Dons on the 14th May. An entertaining 4-2 victory for the Blue team with goals from Jose Faldes, Jack Webster, Paul McLaughlin and David Webster. The 2 White goals were scored by Paul Little. The second game was at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland . The date for this game was changed by Sunderland to 11th June due to England not allowing anyone to use the pitch prior to their lately booked fixture. Disappointing as not everyone could make the new date. The game was full of goals including a penalty from Andy Hemington and a debut goal for Khaled Salem.

The rest of 2016 and 2017 saw us raise money for 5 charities, 2 were local Watford charities. The Peace Hospice and Watford Mencap were added to Dreamflight, Action for Kids and Children with Cancer UK. 

2017 saw games at Peterborough United and MK Dons and also the introduction of Ladsonthepitch matches at MK Dons where 2 junior matches took place.

The 2017/18 season saw our 2 main charities as Action for Kids and Dreamflight , as well as raising funds for The Bobby Moore Fund , Herts Inclusive Theatre and Watford Mencap. We also raised money for 3 year old West Ham fan Isla Caton who is being supported by The Bradley Lowery Foundation and finally Breast Cancer Care. The great news was that we raised more money than any previous year as we passed £15,000. Our games were at Charlton Athletic, MK Dons and Stoke City where our Scala Financial Services sponsor owner Scott Patmore scored in all 3 games whilst captaining his team to 3 successive victories. Once again 2 junior matches took place at MK Dons.

2018/19 saw us play 3 games in May , starting at Southend United, before going back to Carrow Road, home of newly promoted Norwich City, before finishing off at Brighton on the same day Watford were playing Manchester City in the FA Cup Final . Our 2019 charities were once again Action for Kids, Dreamflight, Herts Inclusive Theatre, Watford Mencap and Mind, whilst once again we were raising money for young Isla Caton via the Bradley Lowery Foundation. We have also raised money for Nikki’s Wishes and QPR Tiger Feet, a Down syndrome football team for kids and young adults.

Whilst COVID hit the country hard in 2020, it meant we were unable to play any games but 2021 restrictions were lifted just in time for us to book Sheffield Wednesday, Luton, Crystal Palace, Berkhamsted and West Brom and our biggest game to date at London Stadium home of West Ham where we were joined by Mark Ward and Alan Dickens, as well as young Isla Caton. At Berko we were joined by football legends Alan Kennedy, Tommy Mooney and Luther Blissett. At West Brom we were joined by Lloyd Doyley.

2022 saw us have games at Wycombe Wanderers, Southend United and Hertford Town raising money for Breast Cancer Now. we finished the year with a friendly against Bovingdon Vets which raised just over £1,000 for the British Heart Foundation.

2023 saw us warm up for a stadium game with another friendly against Bovingdon . The stadium game at Wycombe Wanderers was an exciting affair with 14 goals scored including a hat trick from young Gab Kolnikaj. This raised another £1000 for the British Heart Foundation which will be added to our total from the Hemel Hempstead Town FC game in July where the Foxes will play the Eagles.

Our overall amount raised for everyone recently passed the £120,000 total and we are so grateful to our current sponsors Joseph Scott Estate Agents , Billy Hai Plumbing and Heating and Autographs and Memorabilia.