It has been a good week to be Chairman of Chesham United Football Club. There is always so much going on that sometimes you forget that the reason you started to get involved in the club in the first place was because of the football on the pitch and the joy of watching your local team win a match, being a fan. As a fan there are always ups and downs, but Tuesday night’s win at Weston-super-Mare was certainly one of the ups.
A Tuesday night trip to Somerset is far from ideal, it is asking a lot of our players who are only part-time and have other work commitments to fit in, but it is what we have to do if we want to continuing playing at the level we are at. On top of that, Weston-super-Mare are a very good side, unbeaten so far this season and one of the favourites to win the league – what could possibly go wrong! Well, on the day, the answer was nothing. We got off to a flying start scoring two early goals and went on to win the match 3-1 leaving us with a long, but very happy drive home.
This was our fourth away game on the spin, having previously been a bit disappointed by an away defeat at Harrow Borough and a draw at Winchester City, although we still have fond memories of the 4-0 FA Trophy win at Enfield prior to that. A mixed bag of results, but you are only as good as your last game, and our last game was very good so we will be hoping for more of the same when we play Poole Town at The Meadow tomorrow (Saturday). Poole are another very good side, just one place below us in the league, so your support could really make a difference if we can have a good crowd cheering the team on. We will have the bar open as usual, hot food on sale and a warm reception waiting for you – if you have not been to a game before, or for a long time, this will be a cracking one to come along and watch.
We will also be holding a raffle in the clubhouse this Saturday to win a large jar of sweets with the money going towards our Players Injury and Rehabilitation Fund, which currently stands at over £3,000.
The other thing that four successive away games does to you is make you appreciate the excellent facilities we have at Chesham and the hospitality we offer to all of our guests at the club. We take great pride in looking after our visitors and ensuring that they have a comfortable and enjoyable time. That is probably to be expected and you might wonder why it is worthy of a mention, but it is not always the case everywhere you go and it does make me tremendously proud of what we are doing at Chesham United. If you want to put that hospitality to the test, we do still have plenty of match and ball sponsorship opportunities available! Contact commercial@cheshamunited.co.uk.
I know that our First XI managers were desperately trying to get a player injury update ready in time for the programme going to print yesterday, I don’t think they hit the deadline, but I can share some updates with you on the playing front.
Ricardo German and Shaquille Hippolyte-Patrick were back involved on Tuesday night, Shaquille started after an injury against Enfield and was excellent. Ricardo was an unused sub, but we are hopeful his injuries are behind him. Sadly, Matt Ridley has taken a knock to his ankle and he could not play against Weston but may be fit for Poole, depending on scan results. Two that are back in the squad now that have been out since preseason is Steve Brown and Lewis Rolfe. Brown returned against Enfield and was excellent. Lewis Rolfe was back in the squad on Tuesday. He got some minutes on the Saturday and is now looking to get back in the team. Both returning is a big boost for the dressing room. On the flip side, Bradley Clayton has picked up a reoccurrence of the groin injury that he had previously in the season. We are hopeful he will not be too far away, but tomorrow will be too early for him.
This week we have also had a film company using our facilities, which is very useful additional income into the club funds. They did take up the whole car park so a big thank you to St Mary’s pre-school for being so accommodating on those mornings.
The Board have also had discussions about the option of bringing the kick-off time forward on Saturdays in the winter to save on the use of floodlights. However, with our new energy-saving lights in place we have agreed that we would much rather kick with the tradition of live football at 3.00pm on a Saturday, so that is what we will stick with for home matches.
Our online shop is proving hugely popular with a wide range of merchandise available, please note, to avoid disappointment, if you are looking for Christmas gifts, the last date to order for guaranteed pre-Christmas delivery is 4th November. Don’t delay, check out he shop here.
Now for a few reminders off our ongoing pitch activities…
The fundraising continues for our Players Benevolent Fund, including a Golf Day at Chartridge Park Golf Club on Wednesday 2nd November – a big thank you to the golf club for their tremendous support and donating so much to the event. Entry for the Golf Day, which I know will be great fun, is £50 and includes a bacon roll, coffee, 18 holes and a 2-course meal. To book your place contact press@cheshamunited.co.uk.
You can also book your tickets for our community Fireworks Extravaganza on 4th November here and we will also be hosting a Race Night in the clubhouse after the home game against Truro on Saturday November 26th – plenty to look forward to in the weeks ahead.
Thank you for your support, I hope to see many of you at the game cheering us on against Poole Town tomorrow.
Peter Brown, Chairman
