We have a huge weekend ahead at The Meadow, starting tonight when the magic of the FA Cup returns to Chesham for our Second Qualifying Round match against Bracknell Town, kick-off at 7.45pm.
For those that may not follow non-league football that closely, the FA Cup starts in early August with a couple of Preliminary Rounds before the first of four qualifying rounds, in which Chesham United begin. In the last round we beat a team from two leagues below us 5-2, tonight we face Bracknell who are in fact in our league. A win tonight would put us two wins away from the First Round Proper and the chance to be drawn against a league side from Division One or Two – it really is a fantastic competition.
Under the floodlights on a Friday night we are hoping for a good crowd and an excellent atmosphere to support the team. Earlier in the season we won 3-0 away at Bracknell Town in the league, but that result did very much flatter us and we know that we are in for a tough game tonight.
So, why a Friday night? Because tomorrow (Saturday) there is another major event at the football club as the Taskmaster Gathering takes place, organised by one of our best-known supporters and star of the show, Alex Horne. Over 2,000 tickets for the event sold out in a matter of hours and we are now all busily organising the event to ensure everything runs smoothly, a massive thank you to our volunteers that have given up their time to assist with this unique event which we are honoured to be hosting.
The weekend of action concludes on Sunday with Chesham United Ladies hosting Milton Keynes Dons at the Meadow, with a 2.00pm kick-off, please do come along and offer your support.
This week, in amongst the two home games, we had our latest monthly Management meeting with representatives from the Ladies, Youth and Trust along with other members of the team to help map out our plans over the coming weeks and months as we look to match the current success on the pitch with an improved presence in our community. We have a number of exciting events in the pipeline in addition to our usual Fireworks Night and planned Sportsman’s Dinner (details to be announced soon); sorry to bang the same old drum, but all of these things do take a lot of organisation and require the help of volunteers. To ease the burden on the same familiar faces we are keen to add to our band of willing helpers. If you have time to spare, or would like to get more involved, even if you are not sure where or how just yet, contact me at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk and I can put you in touch with a relevant member of the management team to work alongside.
One area we did touch on in the meeting this week is accelerating the sale of player kit sponsorships, available for just £50. We usually hold back selling these too early in the season as squad changes inevitably happen in the early weeks, but the team is looking fairly settled now and you will see a more proactive push for these kit sponsors going forward, so if you want to sponsor your favourite player and have your name in the programme and great photo opportunities, do get in touch.
It has been a busy week, and an even busier weekend ahead, the FA Cup is such a magical competition and it has the potential to create many wonderful memories if we can progress through a few rounds, I hope to see many of you at the game tonight as we continue our march towards Wembley!
As always, your support is much appreciated.
Peter Brown, Chairman
