Notes from the Chair
Following on from last week’s shirt sponsor announcement, I hope you all got to see the launch of the new kit for the 2020/21 campaign over social media earlier this week. We have once again gone for a predominantly white shirt with claret and blue markings, but for the new season we will be wearing claret shorts which I know lots of people complimented on the odd occasion when we did wear that combination last season.
The new shirts also give us the chance to clearly show the logo for our new charity partner, Bucks Mind, and we will also feature the NHS logo as a way of saying thank you for the incredible work they have done for our country during this pandemic. These will of course sit alongside our main shirt sponsor, Shanly Homes. I hope we will have replica shirts available for supporters to buy in the not too distant future.
Elsewhere this week I had a very productive meeting with the youth section in which we have explored all the ways that we can work together and look to create a clear footballing pathway for the talented young kids of Chesham to progress and have an opportunity to play for our First XI. I know for many years the club and the youth section have looked to develop the best possible partnership without fully achieving that goal, but I am optimistic that we can make this happen.
As I have said previously, once we have a new ground and better, more spacious, facilities we will really be able to take this forward and make the youth section an integral part of the club, but in the meantime we will continue to offer the best support that we can, including this October we will be running a half-term soccer school with the management and some players from the First XI kindly giving up their time.
Finally, you may well have seen the #LetFansIn Twitter campaign that has gained momentum this week as clubs and supporters up and down the country begin to question why it is that we can cram our beaches with sun-worshippers yet as a club we are not allowed to have a few supporters well spread out around the terraces to watch a pre-season friendly. It does seem a little bit crazy, especially when you consider that we are allowed to open up our clubhouse and let everyone in for a drink. Difficult and strange times, but it does seem that there is an element of those making the decisions not fully understanding how clubs at this level operate, how important the finances from hosting games is and also how important watching live sport can be to the mental well-being of some people in our community.
All that said, we will of course continue to follow guidance and hope that the #LetFansIn campaign can have some affect and we will safely have supporter back on the terraces sooner rather than later.
Thanks for your support
Peter Brown, Chairman
Chesham United Football Club
