Last week I spoke of how pleased I was with how things were going on the pitch. Despite results not always quite falling our way, I was optimistic that it was just a matter of time until we were picking up the points we deserved. Seven days later we have earned six points from two away games with our managers winning the Vanarama National League South Managers of the Week award – well-placed optimism it would seem!
Tomorrow we are back at The Meadow looking to pick up our first home points of the campaign. Our visitors are Aveley, who like us did not get as many points oN the board as they may have deserved in the opening games, but have really bounced back in their last couple of matches with two excellent results against full-time opponents, a draw away at Torquay despite going down to ten men (we know that feeling) and then beating Dorking Wanderers who, by their own admission, are looking to walk the league this season. It is going to be another tough match, please do get yourself along to the game, bring your friends and family, your support really does make a difference. If you have not been to a game yet this season, I think you will be really impressed by the level your local club is playing at this season.
It has been a busy start to the season and the reality of playing a lot of football is taking its toll on the playing squad, we were down to the bones for Tuesday nights trip to Salisbury, but we demonstrated the importance of having depth in the squad to come away with the three points after a fantastic defensive performance and some outstanding goalkeeping, particularly in the second-half, which was a delight to watch because defending is going to be every bit as important, more so in fact, than attacking if we are going to be successful in this league. It is an old cliché in football that luck evens itself out over a season and whereas there have been home games when I feel as though we have been robbed this season already, we definitely got away with one on Tuesday. Salisbury will be justifiably scratching their heads as to how they lost that match.
I would like to say a big thank you to Hendon Football Club for agreeing to the dual registration of former Chesham player Ronny Mfinda for this match, we were desperately short of playing personnel and it just goes to show what a fantastic footballing community non-league is. We have several players that are not far off returning from injury and we will have a couple back from suspension and weddings ahead of tomorrow’s game.
There was more good news on the injury front with Zak Joseph having had his operation this week and things are not as bad as we feared they might be, and we hope to see him back on the training pitch in the not-too-distant future. This is great news and justifies the board’s decision to pay for this operation, with the help of the CUFC Players Injury & Rehabilitation Go Fund Me page. A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to this cause. We are still a long way from our target of covering the extra costs the club has incurred in supporting players with injury and rehabilitation so if this is something you would like to support, you can contribute here. As a reminder this covers things that we do not fully budget for, but to me it is important that if players get injured whilst wearing the Chesham shirt, and it affects their livelihood, although they are obviously insured, if we can do anything extras to speed up their recovery or help their home life, then I wan us to do that. It is important that players know they get looked after when they sign for Chesham United.
Last Saturday was a different story, we dominated the match at Welling, created countless charges and could have scored more than the three we did. It is a sign of how the club is progressing when our managers are disappointed having conceded a goal away from home in National League South having won the match 3-1.
Next weekend the FA Cup starts for us, a round later than previous seasons following our promotion, and we have been drawn away to Cray Valley PM who are enjoying a very good start to the season in the Isthmian Premier Division and, like us, reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup last season, earning a high profile draw at Charlton Athletic before losing out in a replay. This will be another tough game, and your away support at this match will be much appreciated. We know how much momentum last year’s FA Cup run gave us in our promotion season and we will be looking once again to progress as far as possible in the world’s greatest cup competition.
After that we are back on the road in league action with a trip to last seasons FA Cup First Round opponents, Maidstone United (£10 members & U18s, £15 non members). The Supporters Trust are arranging coaches to this game, and Weymouth away on 19th October (£15 members & U18s, £20 non-members), full details can be found on their website at www.custrust.co.uk or in tomorrow’s matchday programme. There are also a few seats available on the Team Coach which we would love to fill, please contact secretary@cheshamunited.co.uk
A quick mention of the matchday programme, this season we have bumped it up to 48-pages and having had a sneaky preview I can tell you that tomorrow’s edition is a great read with the editorial team going out of their way to pack it with content including an interview with a couple of Aveley supporters and an article from a supporter of our FA Cup opponents, Cray Valley PM, giving us an insight of what supporters can expect next Saturday, as well as your regular articles and updates. Make sure you arrive in good time tomorrow to pick up your copy.
Don’t forget, if you are not a season ticket holder, you can beat the queues by buying your matchday tickets in advance, on our website now you can purchase tickets for all of our home league games for the season, and if you keep an eye on social media you will see that the same applies for our away matches, often with extra discounts for buying in advance. Also going on sales soon, and please put the date in your diary, will be tickets for our popular Fireworks Night on Friday 1st November. Our cost for the fireworks has gone up slightly this year, but we are freezing the entrance fees at last years prices as we know how much the families if Chesham enjoy the event and we want to keep it affordable to all.
Chesham’s Women’s team have had a couple of games since my notes last week, both against very good teams. On Sunday they travelled to Cambridge United and then on Thursday night welcomed Watford FC Women to The Meadow in the League Cup (a team that were in The Women’s Championship last season). Both ended in defeat but the loss in the cup means Chesham now welcome Tottenham Hotspur Academy to Chesham on the 15th September in the Plate competition. Next up the women host AFC Sudbury on Sunday afternoon at home. It’s a 2pm kick-off.
Finally, a reminder that, along with our kit manufacturers, we have a winner from the five new white shirt designs for the third shirt for this season which will have all the sponsors names and logos on it and will be worn during the season in live matches. The final design has been decided by you our supporters, and the winning shirt is:
Thank you all for your votes, what a great number of you who took part and voted. The new shirt will be available to order from our club shop over the weekend when by the end of the week we will place your order to the manufacturers who anticipate a 5-6 week delivery.
Thank you for your support, I look forward to seeing you at The Meadow tomorrow
Peter Brown
