The game of football can be a cruel one and we witnessed that in the FA Cup last weekend. After a disappointing first-half at home to Bracknell Town we managed to claw our way back from 0-1 down to lead 2-1 going into time added on. Even at the end of the six minutes of added time we were still ahead but conceded at the death in time added on in added on time.
This did at least put us in the hat for the draw on Tuesday, but by the end of Tuesday we were well and truly out of the competition after a 3-0 replay defeat. In the first-half we held our own, but after the break we just did not seem to come out of the dressing room and alas, our FA Cup dream is over for another year.
On a cheerier note, what an amazing day we had here at The Meadow when the Taskmaster crew came to town to organise The Gathering, a big thank you to Alex Horne and his team for putting on a great fun day for the town, and all the people that travelled from all over the country to attend, some 2,000 in total.
What this did prove is how the club is capable of holding large community events, which I hope we will do more of in the future (it is just a shame that it won’t be hosting a big FA Cup tie this season).
We do of course have our highly regarded Fireworks Spectacular here on Friday 4th November. Despite the spiralling costs of hosting the event we have looked to keep any price increases to a minimum and will not be compromising on the length and quality of the display, this will remain at the usual high standard. Tickets will be available soon priced at Adults £8, Under 18’s £6 or you can buy a Family of 4 ticket for £25. We have a small team of organisers involved working through a plan with designated roles and responsibilities, I know they would appreciate it if we were able to do more delegation of these responsibilities, please do get in touch if you would like to be involved in the organisation of this hugely successful event.
As well as advanced sales like last year, tickets for Fireworks Night will also be available on the night, but I recommend buying in advance to beat the queues, although we will be having a cash only turnstile open which will move faster than the one where people are paying by contactless. Talking of which, I do appreciate that the queues are longer on a matchday because of the card payments, we are on the lookout for an additional turnstile operator, but in the meantime if I could urge you to arrive at the ground a few minutes earlier than normal, that will help us to manage the entry to games. Tomorrow we face Merthyr Town, I know there will be a number of supporters travelling from Wales, so please arrive in good time and enjoy the pre-match either with a drink in the clubhouse, a burger from Bills Diner or warm refreshments from the Tea Bar in the Popular Stand.
I hope you are able to come along and enjoy the game this weekend, no National Anthem sung by me today I’m afraid, but hopefully the football will provide all the entertainment. Those of you that were at the game last Friday may have heard my rendition of God Save The King as I took on the role of tannoy announcer as well for the night – if you missed it, the national media, including The Sun, picked up on it and shared a video on social media and their website. It caused some amusement, as a royalist the anthem is something I am very proud of and it created some more good publicity for the club.
A very quick update on other activities that I hope to be reporting on in more detail in the coming weeks;
We are still looking to adding more fresh faces to the Board of Directors at the club, so if you have a niche and are prepared to work with us you will be more than welcome.
The new floodlights are being installed next Monday, 26th September. The fitting will take three days so should be fully operational from Wednesday evening, weather permitting, otherwise guaranteed before the weekend!
We are in ongoing conversations and constantly chasing up information and responses to be able to share more information about the proposed move to a new ground very soon.
A huge amount going on, albeit a disappointing week on the field, but what is it they say in these circumstances, at least now we can concentrate on the league?
Peter Brown, Chairman
