But not so good when preparing a football pitch for the new season! With that in mind we have organised for an additional water tap to be installed on the side of the main stand which will power a new water traveller to help with watering the pitch. These things do not come cheap, and we are investing thousands into the pitch to provide the best possible playing surface and to avoid finishing the season on a damaged pitch like we did last season. Now we have done that, we will probably have a summer of non-stop rain!
Tomorrow, we will again be down at the club carrying out basic tidying and maintenance work. A big thank you to Mark Lacey who last weekend painted and refreshed the turnstiles all on his own, we are expecting more volunteers tomorrow, if you can join them, it would be much appreciated. Primarily we are looking at weeding, painting toilet walls, white lines along the side of the Popular Stand and JD and Muzza have asked if the goalposts can be repainted (no funny comments about trying to make the goal easier to see for the strikers please). The paint for this has been ordered and should be at the club for tomorrow. I know that some of the supporters coming down are also seeing it as a good opportunity for a catch-up having had no football for a few weeks, so please do join them – many hands will make light work.
You will have seen the new shirts for next season either on social media or at the Alex Horne Comedy match, these are now available to order from the online shop, or we have plenty in stock in the club shop at the ground. If you are down tomorrow we can look to open up for any purchases, or if you would like to pop down at any time, contact me in advance and we can arrange a time for the shop to be open – chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk.
On the field, the squad is back in training as we await the announcement of the league fixtures that we will be expecting in early July. Our first pre-season friendly is just a couple of weeks away when we travel to play Beaconsfield, with our first home friendly taking place a couple of weeks later when we entertain Oxford City on Saturday 26th July. Tickets for the pre-season games will be on sale via the website very soon, entrance to the home friendlies is included in your season ticket, or prices on the day will be £10 adults, £8 concessions, £5 18–24-year-olds, £2 for Under 18s and free to all under 12s – keep an eye on the website anf social media for details on these.
Since the last update, we have continued to strengthen the squad with the exciting additions of Alfie Young and Gio Rasulo. Alfie joins us from Worthing, bringing experience at the top of the league and strengthening our defensive options, while Gio arrives from St Albans City with a wealth of experience and a strong pedigree in midfield. Both players have shown great enthusiasm about joining the club, and we are confident they will play key roles in the season ahead.
You may have seen this week that the National League has announced a landmark multi-year agreement with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, securing them as the new title sponsor across all three divisions from the 2025/26 season. This significant partnership marks a new era for the league, with Enterprise bringing strong brand recognition and a shared commitment to supporting communities and grassroots football. The sponsorship will be officially titled the “Enterprise National League,” underscoring the league’s ambition and the value it places on long-term strategic partnerships, one that will benefit all clubs involved, so great news for the league and well done to everyone involved in the deal.
As a club we are looking to organise coaches for supporters to travel to away matches to enable even more supporters to join our tremendous band of travelling supporters to away matches. The cost for coaches is likely to be £20, arriving in good time for you to have a full day out and enjoy a great experience with fellow supporters. To make this work we do require a level of commitment, so please let me know that you are interested by emailing me at chairman@cheshamunited.co.uk. And if there is anyone out there who would like to take on the role of organising the coaches, naturally I would love to hear from you.
Finally, I have spoken often in these notes about our Players Injury & Rehabilitation Fund which we raise money for via the GoFundMe page (click here to visit), at some point early in the new season we will be organising a quiz night specifically to raise funds for this very important cause. I hope many people will support what should be a fun night.
Thank you for your support, I hope to see you tomorrow.
Peter Brown
