Deep breath, and relax…for a couple of days at least! Last weekend we secured our place in the end of season play-offs with a composed 3-1 win over Salisbury, meaning that sixth placed Swindon Supermarine are unable to catch us in the league, even if they do beat us in our final league game of the season at their place tomorrow.

The facts are that we are guaranteed to finish the season either fourth or fifth (we are currently fourth) and will therefore face an away play-off semi-final next Wednesday at either Truro City or Bracknell Town – one is obviously a lot more travelling than the other for a midweek game, but we will be fully prepared whoever our opponents will be. The likely other semi-finalist joining us in the play-offs is Poole Town (although Swindon can catch them with a Poole defeat, a Swindon win and a big goal difference swing) – one of us is just two wins away from being promoted to National League South for next season, that really does get the excitement building.

At this point I would also like to pass on my congratulations to Weston-super-Mare who have won the league and guaranteed promotion. Worthy and fully deserving champions who have been consistent throughout the season. We can take pride in the fact that we took four points off of them this season, including a win down in Somerset, so we really should have no fear going into the play-offs.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we travel to Swindon for our final league game, and then it is into what I hope will be two massive games, your support would be hugely appreciated.

I am pleased to say that the Supporters’ Trust is looking at organising coaches to the semi-final next Wednesday and the committee has been discussing options with a local coach company. The match is a 7.45pm kick-off with the cost for seats as follows:

Truro City (@ Plymouth Parkway FC) – £25 for Trust Members & Under 18s, £30 for Non-Members – Approximate Departure Time – 14:00

Bracknell Town – £10 for Trust Members & Under 18s, £15 for Non-Members – Approximate Departure Time – 17:30

Departure times will be confirmed as soon as possible once we know the exact opposition with payment required in advance, available to purchase from the Supporters’ Trust online shop. These will be on sale as soon as the opponents are known. However, to help with the planning, please register your interest in coach seats by emailing info@custrust.co.uk.

Saturday’s win did come at a cost, in particular the injury to goalkeeper Dante Baptiste who was already on loan as cover for our regular goalkeeper, Sam Beasant, who is out injured. This has left us very short in this position, but we appreciate the support of the league in granting us permission to make an emergency signing, which we have done and we have a goalkeeper signed and available – details to follow.

Preparations for the Alex Horne Comedy Football Trophy on 13th May are well underway and hopefully you will have seen the poster on social media with some of the names we are expecting to be playing on the day, these include familiar comedy names such as Charlie Baker, Mark Watson, Maisie Adams, Greg James, Tommy Mooney, Hugh Dennis, Annie McGrath, Jim Daly, Ed Gamble and Lloyd Griffith – it promises to be a great day for the town and the club. Click here for your ticket options.

As we reach the end of the season, I would like to thank everyone that has helped and supported the club over the course of the season. It is hugely appreciated, but we do still need more volunteers. For the past couple of games I have been doing the cooking in the kitchen, we have great facilities and supportive suppliers to help keep the costs down on purchasing the food, but we really need somebody who can take on the cooking and be in charge of the kitchen on a matchday. If you are interested, we are prepared for this to be a paid role, please get in touch by emailing chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk

We are also looking for volunteers to do odd jobs around the ground over the summer in preparation for the new season. I would really like to be able to set-up a group for retired supporters, or any local people, who can attend at a regular time every week – Wednesday afternoons for example – to do maintenance jobs, but also it can act as a social gathering, a chance to meet with other people, which I know would be good for everyone’s well-being. Again, if anyone is interested in this, please do get in touch.

Thank you as always for your support, I hope to see many of you at Swindon tomorrow.

Peter Brown

Chairman