Tomorrow we travel to Bishops Cleeve in the Third Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. Despite the monsoon weather we have been having, there should be no issues with this game going ahead as Bishops Cleeve is on top of a hill (overlooking Cheltenham Racecourse) and they have a 4G pitch installed. However, as mentioned last week, this match is ALL TICKET and you will not be able to get into the game if you travel without. The capacity for the game is 1,500, so if you have not yet bought your ticket, please do so online here. Your away support in recent games has been a huge boost to the team, let’s replicate that again tomorrow.
Lasw weekend we travelled to one of the pre-season favourites to win the league, Maidstone United, and came away with a well-deserved point, albeit we left it very late to get the equaliser – the goal coming in the 96th minute! We have scored five goals in our last two league games and three of them have come after the 90th minute, you don’t want to be leaving our matches early! Having capitalised on a defensive mistake, we went in 1-0 up at the interval, but after the break, attacking their huge terrace of home supporters, Maidstone piled on the pressure and, amidst much jubilation, looked to have won the game 2-1 as we reached the dying seconds. However, the attitude, and willingness to battle to the end, of our team this year has been magnificent and they fought for every last ball and Joe Grant got the equaliser we deserved with pretty much the last touch of the game.
The whole matchday experience was another massive step up from where we have been in recent years. Maidstone are a club gearing up for league football and you can see that with their modern ground structures and very professionally organised regulations. With a crowd of over 2,000 and a modern stadium, there were times when it felt fantastic to be playing at places like this in league matches, but there were also times when some of the non-league magic was lost in the professionalism. A fantastic day out though, and another impressive performance on the road.
Nest weekend we are finally back at home, when we welcome Bath City in the league. This game will also see the launch of our ‘Community Thousand Can Challenge’ as we aim to provide local homes, families and the most needy with additional food items to help make their Christmas a little more special than it might otherwise be. The challenge is to collect 1,000 tins, packs of biscuits, bags of crisps and such suitable items at our home games between now and Christmas. Our recent home matches have attracted crowds of around 1,000 people, I am confident that the goodwill of our support base will get behind this campaign and turn up at our next couple of matches with items to go towards our challenge. Watch out for more details, but put simply there will be a collection point at home games, so remember to add those additional items to your next shopping list and let’s put the current success and increased profile of the football club to good use within our community.
Talking of community events, our popular Fireworks Night will be on Friday 1st November. As always we will have bars and food outlets open, plus of course there is plenty of covered terracing to watch the magnificent display from, so you can confidently buy your tickets in advance, available from the website. We have kept the pricing the same as last year, despite some additional costs, so please do support this event, a huge amount of work goes on by so many people behind the scenes to make this happen, to whom I am extremely grateful. We will again be placing large AO boards around the roads of Chesham, and we are getting many A3 and A4 posters printed – if you can help with distribution, please do get in touch.
Meanwhile, our women’s team have had two games since my last notes. They played Norwich City Women FC at The Meadow on Sunday. Norwich were unbeaten until they came to Chesham and so nearly lost that record but for a Norwich equaliser on 90 minutes to end a thrilling game 2-2. A valuable point for Chesham. Next up a mid-week trip to Actonians LFC where the terrific performance from Sunday evaporated with a very disappointing loss. They now prepare for AFC Wimbledon Women in the FAWNL Plate on Sunday having beaten Tottenham Hotspur Academy in the previous round.
Finally, a special mention to our club historian Giles Stevenson who has had an operation last week and is home recuperating – On behalf of everyone at Chesham United, we wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you back on the terraces soon Giles.
Peter Brown
