It would be remiss of me not to start this week notes without a huge thank you. Firstly, to you, our incredible supporters travelling to support our team’s first fixture in the National League South at Eastbourne Borough. There was over 100 of you and your behaviour was exemplary, you are such a superb bunch of travelling supporters and follow our club principles of great fairness and respect to all.
Secondly, I’d like to thank our managers, coaching staff and the squad for their excellent preparation, performance and the way we all conducted ourselves as a National League South outfit, it says something when we feel slightly disappointed in the end at what could have been if not for numerous last-ditch blocks by Eastbourne, even the Eastbourne reporter for the Non League paper was effusive in his praise for us. Not bad for a first game at the level, now we just have to keep it up.
Thirdly, to the nearly 80 blood donors who came to the club on Monday and donated life-saving blood to our NHS. This is the first time, we have been involved with this and we are delighted that this will continue to happen now three times per year, the next being in December. The NHS staff certainly put in a shift, with many leaving their homes well before 8am and not leaving the club till 8.30pm and. This is another small step in us getting involved in our community.
Fourthly, to our “Doughnut Brigade” who worked very hard again as they do every Monday getting our ground into tip top condition for our first league home game of the season for this Saturday. There are lots of small changes that you may or may not notice up on the walls and perimeter fencing, which are new in place for the season, all of these are for your safety and enjoyment – so please take an extra few minutes to just look around and check these new signs when you come to the Meadow on Saturday.
We are also looking to put in some additional emergency lighting around the ground, to add extra lighting to the ground in the event of a total power failure during or after a match to aid in evacuation & exit from the ground, we will be approaching the Supporters Trust for some potential help with this scheme. More will follow as we move further forward with this.
And finally, when visiting the town please support all our brilliant sponsors with your business and trade. After all, without them it would be so much harder to run this club and our sponsors community give us a great deal of support throughout the season, so it’s only right that we support them as a club and through our fanbase. So please, buy a match programme which is now increased in size to 48 pages and is still only £3. This contains our advertisers and sponsors info and is our Chesham United Yellow Pages of sponsors, you will also see our digital sponsors appear on the scoreboard and of course, all around the pitch & perimeter fencing as well as on our website.
In other news around the club this week, we were notified by the league that our August Bank Holiday Monday fixture at home to Torquay, has been chose by The National League TV streaming platform to be shown as one of their five Step 2 fixtures in that broadcast window. Please keep an eye out for more info in the run up to the game on how you can watch us on this service – if for whatever reason you are not able to make it to the Meadow, which is and always will be the best place to watch the Generals.
We will have the familiar voice of Chris Walker, known to those who listen as Motty’s Mic providing commentary and there is a lot of preparation that we will be putting in over the coming week to make sure we are ready for our debut on the platform. The bad news is that this will mean no radio commentary for that particular game and others chosen later in the season for NLTV, but the good news is that the League provide a lot of support through the platform so I am sure it will be a slick & smooth operation where you can get the best of both worlds – live pictures and Motty’s commentary – it will almost be like sitting next to him in the stand. We are also hoping to work with our local radio stations so that our future games can be reached via traditional radio as well as the internet radio site that Motty uses.
A plea once again for supporters to please purchase match tickets in advance if you can, prior to all home games – this really does speed up the process at the turnstile for both us and you as supporters – digital/online ticketing is an almost universal option now in the National League South so will also get you as supporters used to the process if you are joining us on our away days. Of course, on matchdays a visit to our club shop is a must with this season’s home and away shirts still available at the price of £47 for adults, and £35 for kids, as well as hoodies, Champion T-Shirts celebrating last year’s triumph and all different types of hats for whatever the weather.
And of course, we encourage you to arrive early for a beverage and food from the Chess Suite, to Bills Diner, to the Tea Bar and Mavericks in the Popular Stand side of the ground, it will help you have a much more enjoyable event all while supporting your local non-league side. The turnstiles will be open from at least 13.15pm on Saturdays & Bank Holidays and from 6.15pm for midweek fixtures.
Finally, let’s all get down to the club on Saturday and support our team in the second match of our adventure in the National League South this season. Our visitors, Borehamwood, were a couple of years ago challenging in a Wembley playoff final for promotion to the EFL and will be a massive test for us, with them also being full time players (just like Eastbourne), but with your great support as our 12th man you can help us over as we look to put our first win on the board in the National League South.
Thank you all
Peter
