Last week I mentioned the #LetFansIn campaign, and what a brilliant response it received! At last we are able to welcome fans back to watch live football following new guidelines published. Fantastic news.
Your first chance to do that will be today (Saturday) when we travel to Ware FC to take part in a three-team tournament with the hosts and Royston Town FC. The competition will consist of 60 minutes games, starting at 1pm with our two matches scheduled to kick-off at 2pm and 3pm. This format is all part of the preparation for the start of the new campaign. Preparation that has been going very well so far, I was at training on Thursday night and could definitely see a step up in intensity.
So far behind closed doors we have played two pre-season friendlies, both games making full use of the squad with multiple changes so you cannot read too much into the results, but the boys had good run outs in a 2-3 defeat at Kings Langley and a 2-0 win at Uxbridge.
Our first home planned friendly is currently on 1st September when we will be able to welcome up to 300 fans to the game, and on Friday 11th September we host Banbury United, this game is being played on the Friday night as Aylesbury United are at home in the FA Cup on the Saturday – We are of course delighted to be hosting all of Aylesbury’s home games here at The Meadow again this forthcoming season.
In preparation for games we have now completed our Matchday Covid-19 Protocol document that we will be publishing soon. An extensive 14-page, 3,000-word, document that covers everything that needs to be considered when it comes to hosting a football match at The Meadow. It does feel very strange to have to go through so much detail to host a football match, something we have done thousands of times here before at The Meadow, but these are different times, and it is important that we re-assure everybody that your safety is our priority when it comes to re-opening the doors.
When you do step inside the ground you will see that the Popular Stand has its new roof fitted and vastly improves the appearance of the ground and we are now just waiting for the completion of the ramp from the ground to the clubhouse which will give wheelchairs much easier access to the bar area when the new season starts.
In terms of merchandise, the new kit has been ordered and paid for, we hope to have costs for replica shirts available shortly on a new online shop which will enable you to order directly from our suppliers going forward. The masks we previously had available sold very quickly so we have made another order this week, contact me at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk if you would like to order one.
In previous notes I mentioned my support for a Keep It Local campaign which reminded me of the great relationship we have with a number of businesses in town and thought it worth reminding people that the excellent book published last year, ‘Chesham United – The Journey To Wembley’ is available to buy from Waterstones or JPS Stationers in town, also available from JPS online here. The book by David Mortimer and John Hatch is an excellent read and comes highly recommended.
Thanks for your support
Peter Brown, Chairman
Chesham United Football Club
