On behalf of everyone at Chesham United Football Club, I would like to express my condolences to the children of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and their families. Although at the age of 96 this day of sadness was always going to come, I do not think any of us could really have imagined the sense of loss we are feeling today as we take our time to mourn, and also remember the incredible life of our Queen.

Her legacy will be her selflessness, her deep sense of duty, her fortitude and the love for her people. If any of us come close to matching any of those credentials, we will be better people for it. As we join the nation in mourning her loss, we also take the time to thank her for the lives she has enabled us to lead and the inspiration she gives us for the future.

It’s been a week of hugely disappointing and frustrating news (the big understatement of this week) is the fact that our Academy will not be running this year. News that we received at very short notice from the SLFA which has left a very bitter taste in our mouths. Yes it is a financial loss to the club, significant at that, but it has also meant that all of our existing students have had to find new clubs to study at, at very short notice.  The reason for the closure of the Academy was out of our hands, it was purely down to their poor recruitment and what can only be described as a certain level of incompetence and poor organisation on their behalf that has left us in a very disappointing and embarrassing position.

As it stands, I have started conversations and we are working towards having a new Academy in place for next season, for those affected by this I can only send my heartfelt apologies.

To complete a hat-trick of bad news, you may well be aware by now that our game at Weston-Super-Mare tomorrow has been postponed whilst the nation mourns. We of course understand and respect the decision, but that does now mean that we face the possibility of having to head to Somerset on a Tuesday night later in the season, unless we can get the game re-arranged for the free Saturday in the calendar in March.

To finish on a positive, we are looking forward to hosting Taskmaster next weekend with a huge crowd expected. You will have seen that our FA Cup game v Bracknell Town has been moved to the Friday night, which does mean that we will be asking for volunteers to help with clearing the ground at 8.00am on Saturday morning just to tidy up any mess after the cup game. Similarly it would be great to have volunteers on Sunday morning to clear up whatever is left behind from having 2,000 people in the ground for the Taskmaster event.

As always, your support is much appreciated.

Peter Brown, Chairman