Welcome to the end of another working week, things certainly got hot this week, and I am not just talking about the air temperature (wasn’t that ridiculous?).
Yesterday we announced the online ticketing for an Alex Horne Taskmaster event at The Meadow on Saturday 17th September and within a couple of hours 1,000 tickets had been sold – it was crazy! This was inevitably followed by a number of questions about why we would be holding a gathering of Taskmaster fans at our club on a scheduled FA Cup weekend, for which the answer is very simple.
As fans of Taskmaster will know, the event that ends in a mass meet up in Chesham is planned a good year in advance, at the time of agreeing to the dates the 17th September was not due to be an FA Cup weekend. However, only in July of this year we were informed that the cup weekends have become a week earlier for the first time in 50 years, by which point there is nothing we can do about changing the dates, so have instead put some steadfast contingency plans in place. There remain the options of Friday and/or Sunday games on the FA Cup weekend, even if both ourselves and Aylesbury United make it through to that round.
Of course, we are a football club and that will remain our priority, but it is also important to understand that our football activity does not come close to funding the level of football we are currently playing at and therefore we always need to look for opportunities to raise the profile and income for the club. We are very lucky to have Alex Horne as a huge Chesham United fan and we appreciate the efforts he goes to support our town and our club, and we will do everything we can to accommodate the use of Chesham United Football Club.
On a similar note, the TV series Endeavour is returning to use our car parking facilities during filming in August, another excellent source of income that I am delighted I have been able to negotiate.
Thank you also to the four people that have donated large sums towards the Traveller sprinkler system for the pitch, it is very kind of you – if anyone else would like to contribute, please don’t be shy in coming forward!
Behind the scenes we have an excellent team of people working to find new opportunities for income and raising our profile and I and the board are so very grateful for this. Not all ideas come to fruition, but when they do it is fantastic to see the results.
It is similar to activity on the pitch. We pushed our midweek friendly at Berkhamsted back to Wednesday to avoid the sweltering heat of Tuesday, and instead played on a soggy horrible evening in a game where we experimented with players and systems, partly to try out new things in pre-season and partly enforced by players missing for various reasons. Let’s be honest, the outcome was not pretty.
Despite taking an early lead, we went on to lose the game 5-1 to our local rivals. Disappointing, but nothing to worry about as I think we were playing the game much more as a preseason friendly than our opposition were, but congratulations to them on their win. It was our first defeat of the preseason campaign, coming on the back of a 5-0 win at Bedfont Sports last Saturday.
This week we start our home preseason friendlies with a game against Hemel Hempstead Town on Tuesday and Wycombe Wanderers XI on Friday night. Tickets are available in advance at a heavily discounted price, starting from just £3, these can be purchased online here. It is cheaper to purchase a ticket in advance than cash on the night at the turnstiles. Those people that have purchased season tickets will be able to collect them in advance of the game on Tuesday.
We are still looking for stewards to help us out with these two games, if you can help, please do get in touch, your help would be hugely appreciated. Contact myself at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.
Before the start of this season, we will be holding an open training session at the club from 7pm onwards on Tuesday 2nd August, followed by a Meet the Board & Managers session in the clubhouse, these proceedings start at 7.30pm. Please do come along, enjoy a drink with your fellow supporters and ask the club any questions that you may have. The board and I are always happy to hear from any supporters throughout the season, at a match or via email, but this open session will enable anyone and everyone to get involved with discussions about the club.
Thank you for your support
Peter Brown, Chairman
