Tomorrow we host Salisbury at The Meadow for our final home game of the season and I urge you all to come along and give the team your support as we look to clear the final hurdle and secure our place in the end of season play-offs, which will be a remarkable achievement in itself.
Over the past few weeks I know I have not been alone in having dreadful thoughts that we might blow it in the final months when we went on a bad run of form that gave those sides below us a smell of blood, but I remained confident in our players and managers, I talked about us finding form again at the right time to go on a good run, and that is exactly what has happened with three straight league wins and ten goals scored in those games, including a very impressive 3-0 win away at Hayes & Yeading on Monday.
After the game tomorrow we have one more game away at Swindon Supermarine, the only team that can catch us and deny us a play-off spot, but if we beat Salisbury on Saturday we will be out of their reach before that game even starts, removing a lot of pressure from the final game of the season. That’s why we would really appreciate a big crowd tomorrow to celebrate what has been a tremendous season so far, and hopefully book our place for the next stage.
Credit for our position must also go to our groundsman Craig Ringsell. I have given him a mention before, but when you look at how many games some clubs are having to squeeze into the last couple of weeks of the season, we are really seeing the benefit of having a good playing surface and a minimal number of games postponed during the season, this has allowed us a relatively decent amount of rest time to build up for one or two potentially huge games. When you consider that we also host Aylesbury United on a groundshare, it makes the achievement all the more remarkable.
After a long season the play-offs now feel a reality, which will put us two games away from promotion to National League South, potentially in the same league as former Football League clubs Yeovil Town and Torquay United, and playing at the same level as Darlington, Kidderminster Harriers and even Scunthorpe United (who look in danger of relegation from the league above). That would be a huge step up for the club, costs will go up and we will need to increase our levels of professionalism, but that is what we are striving towards, that has been the goal since the first ball was kicked at the start of the season.
Ironically, a step up the pyramid would actually reduce our travelling, with more local derbies against well supported clubs like Hemel Hempstead Town, Slough Town and St.Albans City (assuming they do not get promoted this season), which will help to offset the cost increases. However, rest assured, as a Board we are aware of what will be needed, in particular in terms of playing budget, but we are committed to taking this club to the next level and sustaining a place in the league above where we currently play. We believe the benefits for the club, supporters and town as a whole will be huge, and are very excited to think that we could be just two games away from achieving that.
Equally important is the fact that we are not getting carried away and realise the odds of us winning the play-offs will be stacked against us, but that should not stop us believing. It may in fact help to relieve some of the pressure. The last time we got ourselves into this position was nine years ago when we had home advantage in the play-off final, a crowd in excess of 3,000 and we were clear favourites having notched up significantly more points in the leaguer throughout the season, but we lost the final 3-1 and have not come this close to achieving promotion since. We also know that on our day we can beat anyone in our league, but equally we know that if we are not on our game anyone is capable of beating us.
Whatever happens, there are exciting days and weeks ahead…that is assuming we can get through these last two league games with the outcome we need. You can play your part in that, starting tomorrow, I hope to see you there.
Away from the pitch there is still much to look forward to with the Alex Horne Comedy Football Trophy on May 13th and the Treorchy Male Choir coming to Chesham in June and a Sportsman’s Dinner with Ian Holloway booked for September, it is a great time to be a part of Chesham United Football Club.
Thank you as always for your support, I hope to see many of you at The Meadow tomorrow.
Peter Brown, Chairman
