One Down, Forty-one To Go

Ok, so we entered the new season with high expectations, destined to be smashed on the rocks. Deep down most of us hoped to come away from Sutton Coldfield with a hard fought victory, one of those classic smash and grab games won by a single goal, rebounded off the backside of the centre forward who doesn't have another sniff at goal all match.
Deep down, most of us will have happily accepted a point from the opening game. Better than last season, strong opposition....first game of the season, we could have very convincingly talked it up to be a good result.
Deep, deep, down, and I mean very deep down, nobody, and I mean nobody, could have expected us to walk away from Saturday's game with a 5-0 victory. FIVE - NIL.

Sutton Coldfield 0-5 Chesham United

- Top of the league already -

Now I admit I'm prone to getting a little carried away (no matter how hard the wife tries to flatten my hopes with punches of realism), in fact I think football supporters should get carried away because that is what makes it so bloody enjoyable, and that's what makes it the addiction it can be; enjoy the good times, live the dreams, there are too many bad times around the corner and the dream is soon shattered.
So, what of the day? What of the game? Back to the old days of copious lager and boisterous boys outings? er, no, not exactly.
I travelled to the game by car (so much quicker!) with my Dad, Ben (my youngest, aged 4) and this week we gave Len Vockins a lift to the game - as I did to Cinderford first game last year, we prayed for better weather this time around!
Despite all the horrors of finding ourselves in a Midlands division, the journey to Sutton Coldfield was not bad at all, less than an hour and a half from Boxmoor, time for Ben to catch up on his sleep.
We also tried to predict the starting line-up for the game, spot on apart from one, we had Josh Cooper for Kevin Cotton - thought ours might be a bit more attack minded!!
At the ground we had a couple of sociable pints, in the smaller Members bar as there was a wedding reception due in the main bar - "we asked for an away game today, but never got it". At this point I passed Ben his packed lunch to tuck into which he devoured in minutes, apart from one big mouthful of yogurt that ended up on the sleeve of the bloke next to him - I was going to offer him a wipe, but he seemed engrossed in conversation so I just let it be!
We watched the game from up in the stand (I remember from last year when it hailed, a great view), concerned at first that Sutton Coldfield seemed to have most of the possession in the first couple of minutes....then came the goal. Keeper tries to clear it, it rebounds off Danny Burnell and into the back of the net. There it was, that smash and grab goal, more or less off the backside of the striker. Now we just had to hold on for another 86 minutes and go home happy.
Then came number two, shortly followed by Danny's hat-trick - all before half-time. In fact, before the break, Danny had hit his fourth and we were in dreamland, the home side looked distraught.
Having a half-time cuppa in the Boardroom, so different to the days of a quick pint, the home officials reflected on a game against Romulus last year when they came back from 0-4 down, I don't think they really believed they were going to see a repeat today. I slurped my tea down and exited the makeshift Boardroom, felt a little out of place in what looked like a stop off from a Saga coach hoilday!!!
The second-half was always going to be an anti-climax, certainly in terms of goals scored, but we continued to carve out chance after chance. Darryl Cox could have had a hat-trick and Adam Parker missed a sitter, in fact we had to wait until the 90th minute for the fifth goal (and even after that Danny could have completed the double hat-trick!).
A truly awesome start to the season, Danny takes the plaudits, but all round the team were superb. In non-league I've never been convinced by playing three at the back, ever since Histon completely slaughtered us under Steve Bateman, but Andy Leese seems to have it working superbly for us at the moment. We never really looked troubled at the back, created so many chances going forward and scored five goals, what more could you ask for?
For the journey home we added Sammy Winston to the passenger list as he needed a quick return to get to work. It felt a little awkward happily discussing a 5-0 victory, whilst in the car you have a striker that never left the sub's bench. In fairness to Sammy, he was really pleased for the team, frustrated to not get on, but on the other hand, as a supporter, you would want that from any player wouldn't you?
We got back to Hemel just before 6.30pm, a great journey home, the only slight flaw was Ben throwing-up as we navigated our way through the M1 roadworks.....a Chesham away win concluding with a vomit - just like the old days!

Wind Taken Out of The Sails

Fairly typical of life as a footy fan. I think to myself one day, "I know, I'll go back to keeping an account of life at Chesham via blog". OK, so I thought that because things were going well on the pitch. A poor start, we were in the play-offs now though, only lost one game since Christmas.

That very afternoon we go and throw away three points, at home, to a side that we had beaten a week barely a fortnight previous. Fair do's, Rushall Olympic are anything, but a poor side, which made the fact that we gave them a two goal lead within the first six minutes all the more disappointing. For the rest of the game, particularly second-half, we looked by far the better team, but could not come back and ended up losing 1-3. Adam Parker, suspended, was sorely missed, but Eugene Ofori continues to impress scoring his 7th goal in 6 games for the club.

The defeat saw us slip out of a play-off place, not out of reach, but so frustrating to be droppingso many points at home (33 of our 55 points thus far have come away from home). However, it is good to still have something to play for at this stage in the season, and we still have the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup Final to come in May, against Wycombe Wanderers.

Off the field we are approaching the stage of the season where finances run very tight and you are faced with the temptation of uploading the budget to push for that play-off spot, but how far do you push without stretching beyond your means? Fortunately, for another year, we have a Chairman that is prepared to make up the shortfall personally, but is that the way for the club to move forward? The simple answer is no, and certainly that is the belief of Mr Manchester and we need to wake up to this fact sooner rather than later.

Over the past 2 years the club has changed beyond recognition, financially more accountable, better on the field and certain areas treated more professionally and more honestly. These changes were intentional, and they were intended to help make the club more self-funding through local businesses and local income. The intention was never for the Chairman to step in and constantly pour money in to cover up the cracks that exist. Maybe, for the future that we all believe we have a right to, we do need a Chairman that is prepared to invest vast sums of their personal wealth for little return, but I can't see where he is coming from, can you?

What we must avoid, at all costs, is over stretching ourselves and kidding supporters that we can cope with higher financial demands, but in reality, simply build up a huge debt that will one day come back and kill the club, be it debt to a single individual or any trade creditors. Let's not forget, the club is still carrying around a mortgage sized debt that is a drain on resources and every bit of income we generate to get us through a season, a sizeable percentage of that goes towards paying a bank loan that effectively subsidised some of the good times enjoyed in the past......albeit a distant past.

On Saturday we - snow permitting! - travel to Berkhamsted for a league game, that will hopefully act as a morale booster. 1 of Berko's 7 points this season came at The Meadow, a relic of our poor start to the season and frustrating home form. Being a local derby wee cannot assume it will be an easy win, Rushall Olympic needed a penalty to win there 1-0 in the week.

I hope the game is on, a few lads are arranging a beery day. I haven't cleared it with the wife yet, but I'm planning to walk to the game along the canal (I live in Boxmoor, near the Hemel end of the canal) and participate in a couple of jovial beverages. I think we could all do with a moral lift as a couple off field inconveniences take their toll - no need for great details, but let's just say that there is a price to pay for having youngsters at home games, particularly when they have a bit of a mouth on them and have just moved into the teenage attitude age bracket.

Chesham United Travels Re-Revisited

Why bother?
As the years have passed not only has family taken over as a priority (well, I do have to say that), so has technology. The days of waiting to the end of the season to publish my memoirs as life as a Chesham fan are gone, the internet and the worlwide web have taken over the way football supporters communicate. The fanzine is dead, long live the Blog!

So what is Chesham United Travels all about? Well, I could go on for days answering that one, but the reality is that I now have kids screaming in my ear wanting to get on to the computer which restricts my time, which, in itself, answers the question. The whole idea is to keep a recollection of events as a Chesham supporters as they happen. Seasons and memories tend to blend into one. If we get into the play-offs this year people will forget how we felt early season, losing the first three league games and challenging Malvern Town and Berkhamsted for bottom place.....even giving Berko one of their 7 points at The Meadow.
Travels is a very personal view of life watching football.

The difference today, compared to 15 years ago when I first started, is that today I carry the responsibility of being a Director of Chesham United Association Football Club as opposed to being a frustrated supporter with very strong views of how the club, not the team, should perform. With that responsibility comes an expected etiquette, and where I used to enjoy pondering the issues and speculating over the current issues, today I'm in the know.....and that knowledge can be dangerous!

Chesham United Travels was also about fun, going out enjoying a few beers at football matches and rolling home at unearthly hours in a manner that I can never remember the following morning. Back then it might have been dangerous if we had a website forum, but such a thing never existed, hence I used to publish my memoirs at the end of the season in the form of a fanzine style book. Today, I still enjoy my beer and from time to settle down with a bottle of wine in front of the computer having my own little rant, getting more and more personal as the wine flows. Predominantly I keep these as emails directed at people who understand my frustrations and the meaning behind my words. Occasionally I have been known to start a rant on the forum, but stopped short of hitting the "post" button........

.......Let's see now if I can use this blog to release those thoughts in a contained, yet interesting, manner....