This week saw the release of our league fixtures for the forthcoming season and it really brought home what a step up we have made and what an exciting season we have ahead of us.
Our first home league game in National League South will be on Saturday 17th August against Boreham Wood. To give that some perspective, just 14 months ago when we were losing a play-off semi-final at Bracknell Town to miss out on promotion from the Southern League, Boreham Wood were also losing in a play-off semi-final, against Notts County in the hope of getting promoted to the Football League. I personally cannot wait to welcome them to Chesham to kickstart our home campaign. Of course, there will be those of us around that remember playing Boreham Wood in league games previously, and many people still talk about the FA Cup match where a very later Chris Townsend equaliser took the tie to a replay at Chesham, a game we went on to win 9-1! A great example of how the non-league pyramid in this country operates with movement up and down the leagues available to everyone.
Before all that we open the season away at Eastbourne Borough, another side that operate with a full-time playing squad. A tough start you could say, but this is where we want to be competing and it will really give us a taste of what is to come, and that is before we talk about a huge local derby at St Albans City on Saturday 24th and a Bank Holiday Monday home tie against former football league side Torquay United – all before the end of August!
There will be many great games ahead, and preparation is well underway with pre-season friendlies. On Tuesday night we travelled to Uxbridge and put in a convincing display to win 5-1. A performance that looked much more than just the first outing of the season with a new squad, we are in a good position so early into pre-season, which is very pleasing. Tomorrow we welcome National League side Wealdstone to The Meadow for a 1.00pm kick-off – please note the early kick-off time, I hope as many of you as possible can come along to the game and see the hard work that has gone on on the pitch, and around the ground. We will have a pre-season programme on sale at the game which includes an overview of all the new clubs we will be playing this season, and a detailed profile of the new signings made this summer, be sure to arrive in good time to pick up your copy. Admission for this game is included in your season ticket, or you can purchase via the website or on the turnstiles – Adults £10, Concessions £8.00, Next Gen (18-23 year olds) £6, Under 18s £2 and Under 12s free.
As well as our new signings and retained players, the likelihood is that there will be players in the squad over the coming friendlies that are just named as ‘Trialist’. This has become a common practice in recent years which I know is really frustrating to supporters, and I share that frustration, but there are times when clubs have players literally trialling out, or playing one-off games, and managers do not want other clubs to know what players they are looking at or what systems they might be looking to play. Football has become a very detailed game nowadays with every little advantage being sniffed out to improve your chances of success, and this is another example of that.
Chesham’s women are also up and running with pre-season. They welcomed St Albans City to Chiltern Hill Academy on Sunday and recorded a very solid 4-2 win and they travel to Swindon Town Women this Sunday for game 2. They have 5 pre-season games, the highlight being Wycombe Wanderers at The Meadow on August 4th. Their season starts on Sunday 18th August with fixtures released next week.
Sadder news this week was the passing of Tony White, a stalwart supporter of the club who many of you will know from around the ground and also during his time as Editor of The Bucks Examiner. I know for many of you reading this it will be difficult to comprehend, but there was a time not so long ago, when the internet did not exist and all of us had to rely on newspapers to find out any news. Tony and his team in Germain Street provided a fantastic service to our town and I am sure I am not the only one who used to look forward to picking up a copy of the paper each week for the local news, and typically turning to the back pages where the coverage of Chesham United was always excellent under Tony’s leadership.
Tony also served on supporters’ committees at the club and was involved in the Chesham Twinning Association for many years and was a past President of the Rotary Club of Chesham. In retirement his great love was jazz and he wrote articles for the Bucks Examiner on the local jazz scene until it disappeared. Tony will be missed by many, and we will be showing our respect prior to the match v Wealdstone tomorrow. The funeral will take place on Monday 29th July at Chiltern Crematorium at 3.15pm, followed by the wake which will be held at Chartridge Park Golf Club.
I have been away this week in Portugal recharging the batteries and enjoyed a last night out there with fellow director Chris Kay and his wife, Sam, where we had a wonderful evening sitting down and talking about the direction away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday activity. Whereas I am not going to start suggesting we have every board meeting abroad, it was good to have that blue sky time to look beyond the here and now and discuss future plans for the club. It made me realise what a good position we are in right now, what a excellent board of directors we have, a great management team, a strong structure of youth and women’s football and superb supporters that have embraced what we are doing and are an intrinsic part of the journey. These are good times, let’s enjoy them together and hope they are just the beginning of even better things.
I look forward to seeing you at the game tomorrow, don’t forget it is a 1.00pm kick-off!
Thank you for your support
Peter Brown, Chairman
