This weekend we play host to Bracknell Town in the FA Trophy, after our disappointing exit from the FA Cup this year we are all excited about getting back on the road to Wembley in this prestigious non-league cup competition. Last season we had an excellent run that saw us eventually knocked out at home to National League side Torquay United, unfortunately that game had to be played behind closed doors because of the pandemic, but we look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to The Meadow tomorrow.
The past week has been a mixture of promise and frustration on the pitch. A defeat at Weston-Super-Mare felt unwarranted after the performance the team put in, but an excellent goalkeeping performance by the home side kept us out and we had to make the long journey home pointless. On Tuesday night, at home to Beaconsfield, we never really got going until the last fifteen minutes when we came back from 0-2 down to earn a 2-2 draw with an injury-time equaliser – Great scenes of celebration at the end, though I think we would all have preferred the celebrations were for a winner!
More disappointing on Tuesday night was someone seemed to think it was acceptable to break into a couple of vehicles in the players car park whilst the game was on. We are fortunate that we do have CCTV footage, unfortunately we do still live in an age when some people think they can get away with this sort of thing but the matter is now in the hands of the police to investigate. Please, if you are parking in the club car park, or anywhere for that matter, do not leave anything visible if at all possible.
Please remember (remember) our Fireworks Spectacular this coming Friday, 5th November. Once again, we will be pulling out all the stops to put on the very best of displays – It promises to be a fantastic evening for all the family with tickets still frozen at the 2015 prices, covered terracing available to guarantee an excellent (dry) view with hot food and licensed bars available. Click here for tickets: https://cheshamunitedfc.ktckts.com/brand/match-tickets
I am hopefully that our new outside bar will be fully functional in time for this event. The new facility by the bottom turnstiles at the Cricket Ground End will be launched with its name ‘Mavericks’ in recognition of our stalwart who has spent many years as an unsung hero clearing up the terraces at The Meadow and carrying out repairs in preparation for matchdays. This is just a small acknowledgement of our thanks to Maverick, please do pop along and raise a toast in his honour on the night.
On Thursday evening I know that the Supporters’ Trust held their AGM at The Chess Suite and despite, what can only be described as a very poor turnout, there seemed to be some very open and honest conversations. I will not steal their thunder by commenting too much, but following the appointment of a new Chairman in Ryan Woolnough I am hopeful that we can draw a line in the sand and move forward working much closer together with a good, transparent, dialogue between the two parties.
As a Chairman I am always willing to listen to supporters’ views, positive or negative, if it is done in a constructive manner this can only be a good thing as we all just want the best for our club. I am available on matchdays wandering around the terraces or I will always respond to emails sent to chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk. Some of the best ideas often come from a random comment sent out of curiosity, or in some cases frustrations, so please do get in touch.
With Ryan now taking on a new role that is going to keep him busy, we are very much on the lookout for more help with some of the other elements he currently looks after, in particular social media, post/pre-match manager and player interviews, the matchday programme and the website. If you would like to find out more about getting involved in any of those areas, please do get in touch, even just for a non-committal conversation. I am pleased to say that we are making progress with conversations about filling roles within our aspirational new structure and I hope to be able to present details of that in the near future.
In other news, I am pleased to say that our gateman George Adams is recovering well in hospital, albeit complaining of being bored, but that has to be a good thing! I am also delighted with the matchday hospitality food being supplied to our guests in the boardroom on a matchday by the fantastic Lee Bulpit – No longer do I catch visiting officials looking enviously at Bill’s Diner wishing they were over there rather than in the boardroom! We have been receiving excellent feedback, a big thank you to Lee.
A final thought to leave you with, we want you to start thinking about designing our kit for next season, both home (claret, blue and white) and away (yellow and black) so get your creative juices flowing and see what you can come up with!
Thank you as always for your support, it is appreciated. Onwards and upwards.
Peter Brown, Chairman
