Another quiet week for news, although still plenty going on behind the scenes.
We are obviously absolutely delighted with the news that T’Sharne Gallimore has been called up to play in the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers for the British Virgin Islands. T’Sharne has developed brilliantly since joining the club and we are all very proud of this achievement, I believe the games are due to be played on Saturday 27th and Wednesday 31st March – keep an eye on our social media for further info on the games.
In terms of maintenance around the club we have recently re-floored the Managers office, a long overdue job as we had been in danger of losing them all together such was the size of some of the holes underfoot! We will be finishing the job with tiled flooring this week, a professional environment for James and Michael to prepare our push for promotion.
Elsewhere we will soon be looking for volunteers for another working party as we continue to tidy the ground by spraying all the terraces with weed killer then a week later, we will need helpers with garden tools, hoes and buckets to gather the weeds and place them in bins for removal. This we will probably need to re do in late June so we can have good clean terraces for everyone to return to next season.
When the season starts, we do have another vacancy to fill, we are on the search for somebody to use our kitchens and provide hot food for the players and boardroom on a matchday as per our obligations at matches, and to make a good impression with visiting officials and, more importantly, our guest sponsors. All costs for food will be covered, and we do not necessarily expect this role to be completely voluntary as it is a commitment to do this for all home matches. Anyone interested, please contact me directly at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.
We are currently working on lining up pre-season friendlies, I am very hopeful that we will be welcoming a strong Wycombe Wanderers along to The Meadow in July, along with a number of other games to get the players match fit. The squad will be resuming training on Tuesday 13th April for 6 weeks to get back into shape, they will then have a month off before returning in mid-June for pre-season training assuming the roadmap out of lockdown continues as we all hope.
As a club we are always looking for new revenue streams to help support everything we do on the pitch and within the community. I would like to gauge supporters’ opinions on a new opportunity that has potentially arisen for us to receive a five-figure annual income which would involve us sacrificing 12 of our parking spaces at The Meadow, including matchdays. I appreciate that as you get closer to kick-off parking can be a challenge on days when there are big crowds, although on dry days we can look to use the grass area at the top of the car park, and of course more of us have perhaps got used to doing more walking since lockdown and may choose to leave our cars at home where possible – with the added bonus of then being able to have a couple of drinks in the bar!!
In all seriousness though, it is an offer that we are considering very seriously, but I would not want to go upsetting supporters or putting them off from coming to games, they remain our number one priority; sometimes it is just a balancing act between compromises to be able to fund a better level of football and ensuring a hassle-free matchday experience. Let me know, I would love to hear the views of supporters.
Finally, I understand the Supporters’ Trust had a very enjoyable evening last Saturday with their Quiz and Beer Tasting event in conjunction with Rebellion Brewery. It is good to see a pro-active supporters organisation and I hope there will be many more events to come, especially when we are able to welcome people back to our own facilities at The Meadow.
Take care and stay safe
