This weekend sees the launch of our ‘Thousand Can Challenge’ as we look to collect 1,000 food items to pass on to local families that may not be able to afford some of the luxuries we all enjoy this Christmas. Our goal is to collect 1,000 items from supporters that attend matches between now and Christmas, starting with Bath City tomorrow. We are looking for anything suitable that will bring a little extra cheer at Christmas – it might be boxes of sweets, mince pies, Christmas pudding, food tins, bags of crisps, Christmas crackers…anything that you are willing to add to your weekly shopping list. There will be clear places to drop your items off when attending matches inside the ground, so please, pop to your shops on the way to the game tomorrow or add a couple of items to your weekly shop and let’s show the community of Chesham that our supporters really care about the town.
As mentioned earlier, tomorrow we face Bath City at The Meadow, our first home game in nearly a month as we look to establish ourselves as a top-half team in the National League South. All of our leagues games so far have been exciting tight affairs, often with last minute drama, so please do get yourself along to the game and add your support to the fantastic growing crowds we have been getting over the past year.
Tomorrow also marks the 250th game in charge for our managers James Duncan and Michael Murray. They came to us when we were bottom of the Southern League (step 3) and today we find ourselves in the top ten of the National League South (step 2), so I guess you can say they have done a pretty good job! The truth is I have been delighted with what they have achieved, they are so professional and articulate in all that they do, they are a pleasure to work with. As always you have challenges over the years and as a Chairman you will always get people coming up to you at some point saying you have made a wrong choice, or it is time for change, but JD and Muzza have proved that they are right for the job at Chesham and have taken us to a new level on the pitch. I am genuinely excited about where they can take us as a football club.
For the record they have won 138 of those 249 games so far, drawn 53 and lost 58. In that time we have scored…no actually, I won’t go into any more detail on all of that because we have loads of stats on their time in charge in tomorrow’s matchday programme, so be sure to pick up a copy at the game. Priced at just £3.00, it is an excellent read.
Last Saturday was a little less exciting than our recent league matches as we played out a 0-0 draw away at Bishops Cleeve in the FA Cup. It was a game that we were favourites for on paper, but the home side, having already knocked Torquay United out of the competition, put up a real fight and we must do it all over again in a replay at The Meadow, which will take place next Tuesday. The game was scheduled to be played this Tuesday just gone, but the torrential rain put paid to that, with our visitors having a more than two-hour journey to make, we needed to make the decision early to avoid any wasted travel time, and sure enough a pitch inspection from a local referee deemed it unplayable. Definitely the right decision as the rain did not stop for the rest of the evening.
The reward if we do win the replay is a home tie against former Championship side, Yeovil Town. This match will take place next Saturday, so do watch out for details because a bumper crowd would be expected. For some older fans it will no doubt bring back memories from 1982 when we faced Yeovil in the FA Cup First Round Proper at The Meadow, next weekend would be the 4th qualifying round, with the winners going into the First Round where League One and League Two sides join. Kick-off on Tuesday will be 7.45pm for the replay with Bishops Cleeve.
Elsewhere, Chesham’s women were on the road this week as they travelled to AFC Wimbledon in the FAWNL Plate. Playing in Tier 3 (Southern Premier Division) Wimbledon were the better side on the day but Chesham performed well despite a defeat against a very strong and organised team. Chesham will take the best of that performance into a trip to QPR FC Women this weekend. After that they prepare for a home tie at The Meadow in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup 3rd qualifying round against Montpelier Villa the following Sunday.
Tickets are now on sale for our Fireworks event on Friday 1st November – visit https://cheshamunitedfc.ktckts.com/brand/events to book your place. We will once again be putting on a spectacular display with terracing all round to ensure everyone gets a superb view of all that is going on, and we also offer vast covered areas making it a safe bet to book your tickets early knowing that you will not get wet if the weather did decide to be unkind!
Thank you as always for your support – I look forward to seeing many of you at the game tomorrow.
Peter Brown