Happy New Year to you all! After a frustrating December leading up to Christmas we have had a successful festive period, following up the Boxing Day draw at Slough Town with a 1-0 win over Hemel Hempstead Town on New Years Day.
A big thank you to everyone who attended the Hemel game, and an extra special thank you to our band of volunteers that not only helped to get the game on, but put up with some pretty horrendous weather conditions throughout the afternoon. It seems our decision to go for a 1.00pm kick-off was a good one, by 3.00pm there would likely have needed to be a pitch inspection with persistent rain throughout the afternoon.
We had a good crowd of just over 1,000, but with better weather conditions I am sure it would have been a lot more. For those that were at the match, I appreciate it was quite cosy huddled into the covered areas around the ground, although that did help to create an excellent atmosphere. It has been a longtime since we have had a local derby against Hemel Hempstead and I know that football is all about local rivalry and banter, however, it is disappointing to once again have reported to me complaints about the language and behaviour of a tiny minority of people that risk spoiling it for others.
I do not want to spend too much time on this because overall we have a fantastic family matchday experience at The Meadow with a good balance of vocal support, witty banter, supporters enjoying beers in front of the clubhouse and kids able to safely stroll the terraces without parents living in fear of what they are up to. But as Chairman, with ultimate responsibility, I must make it very clear that we simply cannot tolerate foul and abusive language. Of course, the odd word slips out, but when it goes beyond that, we will be left with no choice other than to clamp down. I’m not trying to be a party pooper, but please put yourself in my shoes – the recipient of complaints from fellow matchday attendees.
On an even more serious matter, we are investigating a complaint of racism from a supporter after the game against Hemel Hempstead Town. There is simply no room for racism or any form of discrimination at the club, in football more generally or indeed in the wider world. I would like to think that we have reached an age when we can all respect and appreciate different political and religious views without the need to resort to offensive behaviour. I believe it was just one individual and an isolated incident. We have a description of the individual; we know they were wearing a club hoodie (which will narrow it down) and we will be dealing with the incident once we can identify them!
Again, I apologise for drawing on the small negatives from what was a fantastic day, a day that I wanted to celebrate along with everyone else at the club, but unfortunately had that interrupted by having to deal with complaints. Frustrating and embarrassing. Please, for the sake of the 99% of supporters that make Chesham United a great place to come, let’s nip these small incidents in the bud once and for all.
As I mentioned before, the win came on a wet and windy day with the pitch taking a heavy battering from a game that at times became scrappy. There were very few chances in the first half, but one moment of good football saw Joe Grant put us 1-0 ahead, and from that moment on we looked to be in total control. We dominated the second period with Hemel restricted to perhaps one long range shot in the entire match, whilst at the other end we were unable to add to the first-half goal. But one goal was enough to win the match and secure a valuable three points, keeping us comfortably in mid-table and away from the relegation scrap. Not that we are complacent about how easy it is to fall into that, but four points over Christmas has given us great confidence going into the rest of the year.
On Saturday we travel to Farnborough, another side we know well from our Southern League days. They have established themselves well since being promoted to National League South, contending at the upper end of the table, and will again provide us with a tough match to get anything out of. As always, your support is invaluable at these away games, and I thank you in advance those that are planning to make the trip.
Elsewhere around the football side of the club we have started negotiations about entering a team into the National League Under 19’s competition. This is a league only available to National League clubs and will be another foundation in our plans to create a pathway through from our excellent youth set-up into our senior squad.
Chesham’s women are also back in FAWNL action again this weekend with the visit of Cambridge United Women to The Meadow. It is a 2.00pm kick-off against a team that found some form before Christmas. With a 4-point gap over the bottom two we will be looking to push further into safety over the coming weeks as we play AFC Sudbury away the following weekend and then welcome QPR at home. Your support at these games is always appreciated.
I think that is it from another busy week. On Monday we have an extended Board Meeting where the Directors of the club will discuss in-depth the current status of the project to move to a new ground, re-visiting the reasons it is needed, again making sure we have explored all the options at the existing site and making sure that we have everything covered as we push forward into what could be a decisive period of our club’s history. To allow time for this, we have postponed the management meeting that we usually have on the same day with representatives from the Ladies, Youth, Supporters Trust and soon to be formed Foundation – these meetings will resume next month as it is important that all sections of the club are represented in the key decisions for the club.
Thank you as always for your magnificent support, and I hope to see many of you in Farnborough tomorrow.
Peter Brown
