After a very enjoyable 2023, 2024 got off to a great start with a crowd of 862 witnessing our 4-0 win at home to Harrow Borough on New Years Day, a result that kept our place at the top of the Southern League Premier South. If only the season could finish now, and we take our place in the National League South!
There is a long way to go, but we find ourselves in a fantastic position to push on for the remainder of the season and achieve our objective of promotion. Being top comes with added pressures. Last season we kept very much under the radar with our journey to the play-offs, never realistically looking like we were going to win the league so we didn’t have the target on our backs that we have now. People are starting to talk about us as favourites which is nice in many ways, but if you are talking purely about playing budgets we are certainly not at the top, which is a huge credit to our management and playing staff. I am proud of what they have achieved and look forward to what they can do for us over the remainder of the season.
Your support at the Harrow game was fantastic, if we could achieve that at every home game it would be amazing. The players react positively to the additional support and it creates a great atmosphere around the ground. We have a couple of away games before our next home match on the 20th January. Tomorrow we travel to Didcot Town and then next Saturday we are away at Hungerford Town – a side that are very much climbing into the promotion mix and will definitely have their own eyes on promotion at the end of the season. Didcot will also be a tough game tomorrow, don’t be fooled by their lowly league position, we saw what they are capable of earlier in the season when they came to The Meadow and were fully deserving of the draw they earned. If you can join our growing band of away supporters, it would be wonderful to see you at our away games too.
The Supporters Trust are running a minibus to Hungerford, leaving the Meadow at 11am to arrive in Hungerford and The Borough Arms public house which is just a 10-minute walk from the ground. The bus costs £10 for Trust Members & Under 18s, and £15 for Non-Members. If you want to book, then contact Ryan Woolnough on 07528 378981 or see him at tomorrow’s game against Didcot
There is however football at The Meadow this weekend with the Ladies playing host to Worthing in a league game on Sunday at 2.00pm. I highly recommend taking in some of the Ladies game, you will be impressed by the quality of the football and they are a key part of our football club, deserving of your support.
I must apologise for the Mavericks Bar not being open on New Years Day, we had a gas leak in the bar area which prevented us from opening. As well as on the terraces it is great to see more and more people visiting the clubhouse where Tanya and our bar team do a magnificent job. Like so many things at the club, most people only see the front end of what goes on, but behind the scenes there is a huge amount of time, skill, effort and commitment that goes in to making the clubhouse operational. It does also remain a very significant source of income for the club and is a key part of our planning budget, we genuinely could not do what we do without our magnificent bar staff – thank you.
The clubhouse is not just about matchdays, we have arranged for the NHS to be able to use the premises for training purposes and we have a film crew using the boardroom as a base for a mini film being made locally. I mentioned last week that our defibrillator had been used at a recent incident, I am glad to say that the recipient of the use is recovering at home now after being admitted to Stoke Mandeville. It makes me so pleased that we had the defibrillator installed, and I am pleased that we are able to offer our facilities to the NHS for training – there really are some things much more important than football.
We are also extremely excited and privileged to be hosting in The Chess Suite the first gig of the Horne Section ahead of their 2024 UK Tour. “Unruly, ridiculous, and surprisingly satisfying” is how the band is described, fronted of course by our very own Alex Horne. The show will also include a support performance from the incredible Rebecca d-Lacey, a classically trained theatre singer. Tickets will be on sale soon priced at £30, raising money for the club.
Finally, it wouldn’t be my weekly notes without a plea for help, albeit a little unusual this week. Does anyone know where we might be able to get our hands on a flagpole, ideally free of charge. For years we used to have one at The Meadow by the side of the stand and we are keen to be able to once again fly the flag for Chesham and the town – if you can help, contact me directly at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.
Thank you for your support.
Peter Brown, Chairman
