Whilst results on the pitch have continued to be frustrating, it has been a positive week off the field with some decisions made in the board meeting on Monday to commit to investing in improving communications and engagement with supporters.
This starts with the news this week that we are partnering with Fanbase to improve our ticketing system. A big thank you to Ryan Woolnough and Mike Caidan who have been working on this project to present before the board and get us in position to make it happen quickly and smoothly. This partnership will provide supporters with a significant experience upgrade and provide the club across both our Men’s & Women’s teams with a platform and data foundation that will massively improve our digital capability.
The real benefit is that this will provide you with a faster and simpler ticket-buying process with convenient storage features in your Fanbase account or in your Apple or Google Wallet, for quick access on match days. The Fanbase platform will also enable you to access real-time content from all our teams in newsfeed and match centre features, improving our ability to engage with supporters in a more timely and informed way through the app and our other digital platforms.
You will be able to access Fanbase directly on your mobile device through the app available on the Apple and Android stores, as well as through the browser at https://app.fanbaseclub.com/ – please do use the app if you can. Tickets for our final three home league games (Welling, Farnborough & Slough) will be on sale via Fanbase from Monday, and you will see separate announcements about tickets for Alex Horne’s Comedy Football Trophy in May and the Treorchy Male Voice Choir concert in June.
We are really excited about this development, please do sign-up to Fanbase, opt-in to hear the latest news form us and let us know your feedback. This is just the first of many improvements to our engagement with supporters, and our supply partners. Also on Monday, we commissioned the partnership with a provider of a new and vastly improved website that will be much more user-friendly and be packed with useful information and interesting articles. This is being built on a new modern, mobile first platform – a proven web platform that is used by other clubs at our level, including the likes of Worthing and Dorking Wanderers.
We will be sticking with the current website for the remainder of the season, but like the pitch, once the season is over we will be ripping it apart and building a new one – watch this space!
On a more personal level for supporters to engage, we are at the stage of appointing our Supporter Liaison Officers who will be faces that any supporter can approach with questions, ideas, suggestions or complaints and this information will get fed directly to the Board where we can act upon the good ideas and provide the answers or feedback required – we want this to be a doorway to the operations of the club, there should be no barriers and I hope these new appointments will make that happen.
Back to the pitch and we have suffered two defeats since my last notes. Last Saturday we lost to an exceptionally good Worthing side that may well end up lifting the title come the end of the season, and then on Tuesday night we lost 1-0 at The Meadow in a tight game against Tonbridge Angels, a game in which it looked like neither side would score, but we made a costly mistake and were punished. Which is the way in this unforgiving league.
We have a chance to make it right tomorrow when we welcome St Albans City to Chesham. This is a game we have been looking forward to ever since the fixture list came out. Meetings between the two sides have always been fantastic matches watched by bumper crowds. In recent years they have been few and far between and we cannot wait to welcome them back to Chesham, along with what I hope will be a large and enthusiastic crowd. Both sides are on the lookout for points and will be going all out to claim the victory – this is one not to be missed. Kick-off is at 3.00pm but arrive early to beat the crowds. The clubhouse will be open and the matchday programme will be available to read whilst you await kick-off.
Elsewhere, the women’s first team had a thrilling game here at The Meadow last Sunday. It was a real back to the wall performance where Dulwich Hamlet hit the post and the bar. They also missed a penalty and had another saved by the Player of the Match Erin Radbourne in Chesham’s goal. However, great teams can soak up pressure and Gemma Fraser broke their hearts with a late 90th minute winner to take the three points. That puts Chesham on 18 points, now 15 points clear of the drop. London Seaward (with 4 points) have been relegated, and Ashford (on 5 points) have 6 games to catch up! It was a terrific afternoon in the sun!
Thank you for your support, I hope to see you at The Meadow tomorrow.
Peter Brown
