It’s been another good, and busy, week at Chesham United with six points picked up from the two home league games played, and a chance to complete a hat-trick of home wins when we welcome Basingstoke Town to The Meadow tomorrow at 3.00pm. please do come along and give your support.
Last Saturday’s 2-0 win against Gosport Borough was an important statement against one of the leagues high-flyers and it reminded everyone, ourselves included, that we are one of the teams to watch this season. We do seem to do well when Gosport visit The Meadow, as their Chairman said to me after the game, he knows they probably won’t get anything out of the game when they come to Chesham, but he gets a warm reception and a good glass of wine, so he always enjoys the trip. I do love non-league football!
Tuesday night was a tough encounter against a Sholing side that dominated for long periods and scored a ridiculously good goal, but fortunately another double strike from Ricardo German was enough to give us a 2-1 win and three points, despite being nowhere near our best, which is very pleasing.
It is also pleasing because we were in danger of becoming engulfed in negativity on the back of a couple of defeats which was starting to have an effect. I know we live in a world of social media and free speech where anyone can say almost anything they like without any regard for the consequences, but I am determined that as a club we stick together through the tough times, as much as we join together and celebrate the good times.
I was recently honoured to attend the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the War Memorial in Chesham to remember those made the ultimate sacrifice, including men who represented the two Chesham teams that later became one, the Chesham United we have today. I was reminded of a story from a book by Ernest Gordon giving his personal account of life in a Word War II Japanese prison camp building what became known as the Death Railway portrayed in the film Bridge over the River Kwai.
Conditions in the camp were appalling and the death rate so high that the allied prisoners became almost like animals in their desperate struggle to survive. They thought nothing of stealing food or water from prisoners close to death. It was every man for himself. But in the midst of all this horror, something remarkable happened. Men began to change. They stopped stealing and started giving. The selfishness of the struggle for survival gave way to kindness towards others. It all began with the death of a Scotsman named Angus McGiliivray.
As the news spread round the camp everyone was astounded. Angus McGillivray was a big, strong man and everyone presumed he would be the last one to die. But it wasn’t his death that shocked the prison camp, but the reason for it. Angus’ regiment, the Argylls, had a system where every soldier was matched with a buddy each was charged with taking care of the other. Angus’ buddy became very ill and was about to die. When Angus discovered that someone had stolen his buddy’s blanket he gave him his own. When his friend’s food was stolen Angus would give him his. In time his buddy fully recovered.
And then to everyone’s surprise Angus suddenly collapsed and died. The doctors soon found out that he had died from exhaustion and starvation. The cause of McGillivray’s death is what brought about the transformation of the prison camp. News spread of the real reason behind his death. They decided to get together and use their talents to help each other. One was a violin maker, another a orchestra leader. Another a-cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had a university, an orchestra, and a hospital. With what is going on around the world, heaven forbid we find ourselves in those circumstances ever again, but I do believe we can learn and draw inspiration from the story.
This week myself and Ray Trafford have been very busy around the club sorting admin and maintenance issues, and dealing with the constant stream of replica shirt orders, packing and delivering. We turn our hands to odd jobs and give our time, but we desperately need more volunteers to help things run smoothly. We need buddies. If you have any spare time on your hands during the week and would like to do odd jobs, however small they might seem, it will be hugely appreciated and if we had a small team of maybe retired supporters, I’m sure we could make it a fantastic social occasion for you to get together with buddies and chat as you potter around. You don’t need to be highly skilled, just willing and able, and although we are not looking to build a university, an orchestra or a hospital, I am sure we can do some wonderful things around the club that will benefit our fellow supporters and community as a whole.
Please, if you would like to help out during the week, or just find out more about what goes on and see if there is a role you would like to do, contact me directly at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to our groundsman Craig who has been very busy in recent weeks, it is not just the First XI games that he has to prepare for with Aylesbury United still groundsharing here and of course we have our magnificent Ladies team representing our club, with home games played on a Sunday. If you have not attended a Ladies match here at The Meadow I highly recommend it. Then next home game is against AFC Sudbury on Sunday 3rd December and remember that if you are a season ticket holder this also gets you into the Ladies league games free of charge so please do come along and offer your support, I guarantee you will enjoy your afternoon.
I hope to see many of you at the game tomorrow, at half-time we will have the latest round of our primary school’s penalty shoot-out as we welcome the children from Waterside and Chartridge – I hope the kids and their families enjoy their day and maybe become regulars here on a Saturday afternoon where we always strive to create a family friendly matchday experience. Please do give the penalty takers, and the goalkeepers, your support during the interval.
Thank you as always for your support,
Peter Brown, Chairman
