You know the moment Joseph ran 50 yards and kept the ball out even though we were going to lose anyway.... that was when it started, everything since then just fell into place. Destined to be.
Our play-off final against Middlesbrough at Wembley on Saturday 23 May will now kick-off at 3:30pm.
Should the outcome of the ongoing appeal process result in Southampton contesting the final against the Tigers, kick-off will revert to 4:30pm.
Supporters who have successfully purchased tickets will receive their digital match tickets once the club are permitted to send.
The club remains in regular dialogue with all relevant stakeholders and will communicate further details, including ticket release and Tiger Travel information, once final confirmation of the fixture has been received.
We would like to thank our supporters for their continued understanding and patience. We cannot wait to see a sea of black and amber under the arch this weekend.
#hcafc
Martin - you say that @KemiBadenoch's proposal to cut Plan 2 student loan interest is "too late for most" - that because most graduates never clear their loans, reducing the interest rate won't change what they actually repay. I think you're right on the maths. But I think your alternative - raising the repayment threshold to £40,000 - solves the wrong problem.
The graduates who never clear their loans are not the victims of this system. They're its beneficiaries. A low earner who borrows £53,000 and repays £25,000 over 30 years before the rest is written off has, effectively, received a £28,000 education grant from the taxpayer. That's not an injustice. That's literally a subsidy.
You seem to want to give these graduates even more relief by raising the threshold, which amounts to a targeted tax cut for people who are already net recipients of public money. While it is a progressive cost-of-living relief measure, it has nothing to do with actually fixing student loans.
The actual injustice sits with middle earners. A graduate on £45,000 who ends up repaying £132,000 on a £53,000 loan - that's where compound interest does real damage. These are teachers, engineers, mid-career NHS staff. Not rich. Just earning enough for the interest to snowball, but not enough to escape quickly. They repay two and a half times what they borrowed. That is the scam.
Kemi's proposal targets exactly this group. Capping interest at RPI means these graduates clear their loans years earlier and save £40,000-£50,000 in lifetime repayments. On the other hand, your threshold increase proposal would redirect the same budget toward people who were never going to repay in full anyway.
Basically, the choice is between fixing a genuine structural penalty on aspirational, middle-earning graduates, or handing a broader but shallower subsidy to people the system already treats generously.
I think @KemiBadenoch has the better instinct here. The loans that "feel like a scam" are the ones where you pay back far more than you borrowed - not the ones where the taxpayer quietly absorbs the loss for you.
Student Loans: the furore is over Plan 2, but new starters (Eng) are on even worse Plan 5!
My last two posts have been about Plan 2 student loans (Eng & Welsh students who started Uni 2012 to 2023). Those who started since Aug 2023 (Eng) are on Plan 5, which is even more expensive for most...
As while the interest rate is lower (set at the RPI rate of inflation as opposed to up to RPI+3%) you start repaying at income of just £25,000 and you repay for up to 40 years.
The combination of this means it's predicted many middle earners will repay in total 40% or 50% more than those on Plan 2 for the same degrees.
And that's before we get to the fact that the English household income assessment for maintenance loans has been frozen since 2008. So students start to lose entitlement from family income of just £25,000/yr (if it'd risen with inflation it'd be around £35,000 to 40,000).
That means, for example, a child of a single parent who is earning little above min wage won't get the full living loan, never mind dual earning parents.
And don't get me started on the issue of 'parents partner moves in'.
The problem is the system is so complex very few understand it, including quite a few politicians I've met, And of the politicians who do understand it, they tend to use confusion marketing, to make the lifetime cost more expensive while focusing on superficial headline changes (eg Plan 5 change focused on lower interest).
The govt's Student Loan Plan 2 repayment freeze in April 2027 must be reversed. It isn't moral.
I'm concerned that my debate with Kemi Badenoch this morning distracts from the most immediate problem. In April 2027 Rachel Reeves will freeze the Plan 2 student loan threshold until 2030 which by then will increase graduate repayments by £300/yr more.
This is effectively a unilateral negative breach of the student loan contract. Students were told the threshold would rise with average earnings. No commercial lender would be allowed to do this. The govt shouldn't do it either.
Changing the terms of future students loans is a political decision - people may not like it but it is transparent. Negatively changing the terms of contracts already signed, and long in place, is a breach of natural justice.
Kyle Joseph has come on leaps and bounds in the last month or so! 💪🏼
His work rate has always been top… we are now seeing him play with confidence and he is producing some real moments of quality.
What an assist 🔥 adding goals and assists to his game is HUGE for us🤝
#hcafc
Darko Gyabi appreciation post - an outstanding piece of business.
Wise head on young shoulders, great believer in faith and positivity. I’m sure his character and energy rubs off on the dressing room - great young player 🌟
🟠⚫️💪🏼
#hcafc