Well, I guess I ought to start with the usual excuses of lagging behind with my blog - meetings, programme notes and fearing duplication, board meeting notes and, well, yes, hand on heart, the disappointment at missing out on the play-offs when at one stage it looked a certainty. We can console ourselves with the truth that we hugely over-achieved and we would have chewed anyone's arm off if they offered us this at the start of the season. Absolutely, definitely true, but where does that leave us for next season? What is your expectation?
I've as good as given up on the idea of keeping this blog as a chronological account, it's going to become a release of my feelings at any point that I get around to writing (this evening being Heather having taken my eldest son scuba diving whilst I have bribed the youngest to go to bed early with a dvd - as long as he does not tell mum - and a sneaky snack). At the moment my feelings fluctuate between huge pride, great excitement and moments of "why am I doing this?".
Last Friday we had our end of season celebrations. In recent years this has been a chance for the players and supporters to get together, have a few drinks, laugh and joke about the season, present some awards before disappearing for the summer. Great nights. Last week was the same, but with the addition of inviting the youth, reserves, ladies, mini's and youths along to share in the evening in a first attempt at uniting the club as more than just about the First XI. Yes, that is my passion, but there is so much more that makes this club tick...
I personally think the evening was a fantastic success. You are never going to keep everybody happy all the time, but, on the whole, a good night. Others may not agree. In fact I know that because on the night I got a huge amount of verbal abuse from one loyal and helpful supporter who showed no shame in publicly swearing at me because the presentations were not earlier in the evening, it wasn't an off the cuff complaint because he still felt strongly enough to leave a complaining message on my phone at 8.10am Saturday morning (and I won't even mention the letter that was sent to me by the same person the week before prior to a Board Meeting).
I'm hoping that was an exception, there are lessons to be learned. We publicised the night as starting from 7.00pm, perhaps we should have clarified that the presentations would not be until nearer 8.30pm, but the intention was that those that attended (and that included a fantastic turn out from the players) were there for the night, and not looking to get away as soon as possible - as players have been prone to do in the past. Apologies to those that were offended, but the reality is that, if I get my way, these kind of large scale joint ventures are the future.
On the night it was confirmed - although some paperwork still to be carried out - that Andy Leese had accepted an extension to his and John Meakes' contracts. There was still a year to run after signing a 2 year contract when we went through all the changes last summer, but a new contract felt right for several reasons, which I will explain...
There was huge excitement and uncertainty at the end of last season. Supporters were taking over the club, I took over as Chairman (just think of that for a second - you've been an avid fan of your team since you were 10 years old, and now you are Chairman?) and all our visions for the future of the club were weaving their way through the maze of reality. What is it really like to run a football club? We learned with every minute of every day, but one simnple truth was that when we met with Andy and Jon for the first time as a new board and they asked what our expectations were - in the privacy of the boardroom, we were blatantly honest. We wanted to avoid relegation. We didn't want the previous seasons work to go to waste. The two year contract was all about a two year project (a conversation repeated many times throughout the season, most memorably away at Cirencester post-match) targeted at establishing ourselves back in the Southern League Premier Division. I know some fans believed we could achieve more in our first season back, but, faced with all the facts, survival seemed a reasonable request.
Twelve months down the line and I feel that goal has been achieved, both on and off the field. Our crowds during the last few months of the season proved that there is still a passion for the club at this level and, if we can continue to market ourselves correctly, that can continue to grow. Of course there is the danger of the second season blues, a very real possibility, but what is the point of me sitting down with the manager and telling him that all we want next season is survival...what a lack of vision?
So, the new contract is about setting new goals. Subject to us being able to give the financial support agreed, we, as a club, collectively believe that it is time to push on and get ourselves in the mix for promotion. Full-time Truro City and Salisbury City have gone up, as I write this there is a possibilty that Hednseford may move up to the Northern Premier..that would remove 3 of the 5 sides that finished above us last season. What do we have to fear? It's a funny old game football; we took 6 points off Champions Truro (their promotion alone will save us over £2,000 on travel costs), but only took one off relegated Didcot Town - "If if's and but's were apples and nuts, nobody in the world wold starve".
The final whistle had hardly blown against Hemel Hempstead Town in ther last game of the season and we were already in contract talks with players for next season. I cannot give enough credit to the players, in particular to some of the senior ones who are sure to be the target of some bigger spending relatively local clubs; they have shown their loyalty, they share our vision and they are keen to talk about staying beyond next season and being a part of the future of Chesham United. In addition, we have players contacting us, believing in our quest, wanting to be a part of it...when you compare that to the sharks gathering waiting for blood to spill last season, that is a great credit to our club and all involved.
We are entering into what I call "silly season" when clubs start offering players unrealistic, unsustainable, but hugely tempting wages to move and join their clubs. You seriously would not believe some of the figures you hear banded around, £400, £500 plus nett...I'd be tempted, wouldn't you? I suppose it depends on whether you want continuity, certainty, guaranteed wages, support and ambition...I believe that our players believe in what we are doing, and want to be a part of it, even if they could earn a few more quid elsewhere. As supporters, we should be very proud of that.
So what does the Chairman do over the summer? It's busy busy busy I'm afraid, and I suppose he spends most of hist time trying to disguise that fact from his wife and kids! The reality is everybody wants to have a meeting and a chat over a pint, but in reality, there are only so many evenings you can get away with that and still claim that being Chairman "actually means I spend less time out as I have the ability to delegate"! The fact that everybody seems to want me involved meetings suggests that either a) I have failed to make our orgainsation structure work or b) I totally under-estimated the importance of the Chairman's role. I'm still not sure which yet.
Hopefully over the sumnmer I will become more regular with the blogging, there will certainly be things to tell you about.
Financially it is quite simple, we need to raise considerably more money and just about every meeting is about addressing that, there are exciting possibilites in the pipeline and there will be further harsh changes. We need new ways of generating income, and saving cash. There are some fantastic volunteers at the club and there are people that put in unbelievable efforts (the equivalent of full-time jobs) for minimal pay; within that there needs to be a balance that keeps everyone happy. How do you justify a volunteer that spends many hours a week having to organise payment to others that have done so much less, but getting paid for it? It's a dilemma you never consider as fans - if you don't have true volunteers, you have to pay for it.
We will continue to evolve off the pitch over the summer, of that I am confident. We will see changes to the way we operate, maybe some new faces and new methods. The goal will not change and we welcome all input from those that share the vision for all the club, from mini-league to seniors, from loyal fans to community groups...it is an exciting time.
Part of our evolution is creating the conveyor belt from the mini league to the First XI, I think we are closer to that than ever before. Steve and Ross taking over the Reserves have bridged that gap which had emerged between the hugely successful efforts of the Youth side under Gary and Paul up to the newly established Southern League Premier Division side. Suddenly the Reserves have become so much more than a financial burden.
It's probably no secret now that we have applied for the Reserves to join the South Midlands Division One, part of the pyramid rather than just a team in a Reserves league, that's because we want the Reserves to become an integral part of the club, getting your support, attracting the very best local players and being recognised for that in one of the best league's within this level of the Pyramid. Other club's do this, not many, but my gut instinct is that this is right for what we want to achieve and will mean we need to up our professionalism at this level, which is what we are about.
Oh, and just to clarify, anyone who thinks the intentions are to have a Chesham United Reserves team just one league below Aylesbury United is mistaking me for the person who used to write Chesham United Travels back in the early 1990's!! I will let you know as soon as I hear the outcome of our application!
Have a great summer - stay in touch,
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