I know the bubble will have to burst sometime soon, but we continue to enjoy an incredible start to the season as we maintain our 100% record in the league. Last weekend we travelled across the border into Wales to play Merthyr Town, who had also won six out of six in the league, and returned with a very impressive 3-1 win, watched by a crowd of over 1,300 and a result that leaves us sitting pretty at the top of the league.

As I say, we know it is early season and we will lose a game soon, a fact that our guest speaker, Ian Holloway, kept reminding us of last night at our wonderful Sportsman’s Dinner. The former Blackpool and QPR manager was in fine form sharing stories and answering questions, in fact I am sure if we had not had to ask him to stop as the clock pushed towards midnight he would still be there now relaying story with such passion and enthusiasm!

A big thank you to those that made the event happen and run so smoothly, and a thank you to Alex Horne who kept the night on track and helped to raise funds for the club with some great auction prizes and encouraging all the tables to participate in games and raffles. A huge thank you also to Tanya Fisher and the bar staff who had the clubhouse looking in great shape and kept all attendees well refreshed through out the evening, as well as dashing back and forth like purple thunder from the fish & chips van outside to get everyone fed. A fantastic team effort, thank you everyone.

We are back in FA Cup action tomorrow (Saturday) as we travel to Farnham Town. Our opposition have also enjoyed a 100% start to the season, albeit they are the equivalent of two leagues below us, we will certainly not be taking the game lightly as they are a progressive club and a potential banana skin. As always, your support will be much appreciated. Thank you for the Supporters’ Trust who are organising coach travel to the game, for those of you that are making your own way to the ground we have been given the following advice regarding parking: visiting fans are asked to park away from the stadium car park. The Millennium Centre across the road (GU9 7XX) has spaces, as does the Pay and Display council car park by the Waitrose (GU9 7PY).

It does feel like a long time since we had a home game now, with our next home game being next Saturday when we welcome Winchester City to The Meadow, that is of course unless we draw our FA Cup game and have a home replay next Tuesday – keep an eye out for results and social media for that possibility. The lack of home games has given us time to plan in some of our matchday activity and I am delighted to say that on 14th October we will be launching our Primary Schools Penalty Shoot-Out competition which will take place at half-time on the pitch. The first competition will be Chesham Bois v Brushwood, followed three weeks later by Elmtree v Our Lady’s, and then on 18th November it will be Waterside v Chartridge, with Thomas Harding having a bye through the first round.  Thank you to all schools for taking part, I am sure you will have a fantastic day at the club, win or lose. Thank you also to David Walker for making this all happen – another great step on our quest for greater community engagement.

Unfortunately I am again on the look out for a volunteer, our matchday chef has now got a full-time job and unable to provide the food for the players and boardroom on a matchday – if this is an area you can help with, please do get in touch at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.

Thank you as always for your support, I hope to see many of you at Farnham tomorrow and I hope that those of you at the dinner last night are not feeling too tired today!

Peter Brown, Chairman