It’s been a somewhat sad and traumatic week for all of us at the club with the news that two of our players lost parents this week, on the back of our manager James Duncan’s father passing away earlier in the season. I am sad to report that Eoin Casey’s mother died earlier in the week and Zak Joseph returned home yesterday to find that his father had died suddenly. As well as being Zak’s father, Francis played for Chesham United in the 1995/96 season. Our thoughts are with both these players and their families in these very difficult times.
Last week we made the difficult trip to Salisbury with 11 players unavailable through injury, we were literally down to just 14 players…and one of them had tonsilitis! That adversity makes the score even more impressive, coming from behind to win 2-1, a result that keeps us firmly rooted at the top end of the table, hot on the heels of Weston-super-Mare and Truro, comfortably in the play-off places.
On the subject of injured players, Rod Collins has had a very successful Anterior Cruciate ligament repair and is convalescing with his parents for a month. On day two we have seen videos of him doing his exercises to be able to get back to fitness as soon as possible and we expect to see him running in preseason next year. Meanwhile Jake was at the ground for the first-half of our last game at The Meadow, hobbling around on crutches, but it was good to see him being mobile.
You may have seen the news about our Berks & Bucks Cup win again Aylesbury United being in vain. In short, we have been found guilty by the Berks & Bucks FA of fielding an ineligible player in the game and they have confirmed this week that they have removed us from the Competition with immediate effect. This was an honest mistake on our behalf that occurred due to a mix-up with regards to a player who was playing for another local side on a dual-registration basis and that we found out afterwards had played in an earlier round of the competition. We accept the County FA’s decision and wish Aylesbury the best of luck in the next round. I confess that earlier in the week I was quite angry about this, but subsequent news has put everything into perspective.
On a cheerier note, we have a new signing from Kings Langley, Ken Feyi, a mobile centre forward who goes straight into the squad for tomorrow’s tough game at Gosport Borough. We are travelling by coach to this game on the south coast and there are seats available for supporters at a cost of £15, leaving the club at 10.00am prompt. If you would like to travel, please let me know at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.
The date when we participate is to be confirmed, but I am pleased to report that the Pitching In Southern League will again be supporting Shelter’s #NoHomeKit campaign for the festive fixtures this year. Despite Covid-related postponements, last year’s campaign was a huge success, with hundreds of clubs getting involved, altogether raising over £500k for the cause. This is a fantastic initiative and one Chesham United will wholeheartedly be getting behind.
As the cost of living crisis worsens, homelessness and unsafe housing conditions are affecting all of our communities. Organisations like Shelter, who help anyone facing homelessness or poor housing, whilst also fighting the systemic causes of the housing emergency, have never been more important. With that in mind, we will be participating in the No Home Kit campaign, dedicating one home fixture across the Christmas period to the campaign when we will be wearing our away kit – ‘No Home Ki’t – for that fixture, and encouraging fans to get involved by swapping kits and donating. Watch this space for more detail.
You may feel that you have heard this before, and you will have done so, as it is an endless process that often feels like one step forward followed by two steps back, but a huge amount of preparation work has gone into the proposed move to a new ground. We are very close to putting in our next Pre-Planning Application, based on feedback from our first proposal. If this latest application receives a similarly positive response as the first one, we will then, I sincerely hope, be in the position of sharing more details and giving the whole project some momentum. I do appreciate your patience and tolerance on this matter, one that I know is of interest to all supporters.
We will be planning in the near future a ‘warts and all’ Meet the Board & Management evening. As you know, we have recently appointed three new directors who are bubbling over with ideas and enthusiasm, we need to share that with all of you and hopefully encourage more people to get drawn in by the buzz and join our growing team of volunteers.
Thank you as always for your support.
Peter Brown
