Well, it's fair to say that the whole Dunstable Town debacle seems a distant memory now as we continue to be unbeatable at home, away form is not yet delivering in the same way, but we are there or there about's in the league; in fact, were it not for THAT game against Redditch, we would have moved up to second in the league - got to be happy with that?
I suppose for the purpose of what the blog started out as - a diary of memories as they happen, something to look back upon - I ought to touch on the incident at The Meadow that resorted in Sky Sports New being on the phone Saturday night and subsequently bringing the cameras down the club the next morning and even bringing the cameras over to Hemel on the way to interview myself whilst watching my son play tag rugby for Camelot (ironically that morning, against Chesham!)... And to think when we first got promoted, I agreed a bonus to the playing budget just for getting our name in the league table on Sky Sports News!
For those either living in Outer Mongolia or reading this sometime in the future, the story goes that we were 1-0 up v Redditch, playing very well, had just been awarded a penalty early in the second-half; a second yellow card was coming out for the Redditch player Josh McKenzie and he allegedly loses it, knocking the referee to the ground. Now, read this next bit slowly as it is probably the only time I will ever say this, at this precise moment I sympathised with Arsene Wenger because, well, "I did not see the incident!". Genuinely, I did not. My excuse is that I was doing the Twitter update and was busy tweeting the fact that we had a penalty... I looked up, and the ref was falling to the ground; he gets up, blows the final whistle and 20 minutes of bedlam ensues.
I have spoken many times about my concern about getting stewards in the ground, but I have to say that those involved with the running of the club, and the Supporters' Trust were brilliant. It was like the alarm going at a fire station and everyone jumping into action, picking up a yellow bib on the way. For a few of us our first instinct was to head to the dressing room area where history has taught us that sent off players have a tendency to not be very happy and it has been known for the door to be smashed off its hinges from time to time... hey, guess what? Glad we were all there.
Back on the pitch disputes were breaking out. I could see that Andy Leese was (understandably) not happy. Although not normally one to express an opinion in times of controversy (?) I thought it best to get myself out on the pitch and steer him away from any discussions, which were being very well-handled by Jon Meakes and Adam Parker. After the game had been announced as abandoned, further controversy followed when it was announced that the game was suspended and a decision will be made. I may be wrong, but, from what I was hearing, I think that was little more than wishful thinking on our part and I don't think there was ever going to be a decision to restart the game, but that is just my interpretation.
By now the police were on the scene, the officials were locked in their dressing room with stewards outside planning a swift exit for them from the ground; the Referee's Assessor spent a lot of time with the officials as well and talking to him after the game he confirmed that there was no way the game could go on because of the high emotions of the incident and the fact that there was a danger of further flair ups if the game continued (?).
Eventually I left the ground, planning a quiet night at home, a Chinese Take-Away with the family and a bit of X-Factor (Damn, did I really just confess to that?). I made a point of wishing Mike Elliott well for the Beer & Blues Evening in The Chess Suite that night, explaining that being a lager drinking heavy metal fan, it was not really my cup of tea; Mike kindly agreed that I was not really their "target audience". Anyway, back home, all started normal. Until I received a text saying that Stan Collymore was talking about the incident on Radio Five Live, then the Bucks Free Press called, then Three Counties Radio wanted an interview and just before we ordered the Chines my Dad called to say that Sky Sports News have been on the phone and wanted an interview! It felt kind of weird saying "Well tell them I'm about to have a Chinese with the family so they can call after 9.00pm". At this point I am fully aware that I am quite vociferous about the fact that I dislike the way professional football has gone living within the wallet of Sky Sports, but, hey...
Sure enough, about 9.30pm the phone went and it was Sky Sports. There was concern from them about getting involved because at the time nobody knew what was going on down at Chesham Police Station so there was a need to be careful, but was I prepared to do an interview on camera? Well, ok, but I'll be watching my son play rugby in the morning. "We'll call you in the morning". 8.30am, the phone rings: "Can you give me the address for Camelot Rugby Club, we'll send a reporter down with a cameraman...". Fair to say I got a few funny looks from the other parents at Camelot. The cameras then made their way over to Chesham where Colin Beton talked them through the incident, on camera, on the pitch...And there we were, later that afternoon, little Chesham United all over Sky Sports News! Meanwhile, I can only sympathise with what must have been going on at Redditch United and how awful they must have been feeling and what difficult times they were facing.
I did feel guilty sometimes that we were getting all of this publicity, very positive for ourselves, as a result of a truly horrific incident that had seen a referee hurt and a club's reputation potentially damaged. However, we need to remember, we were the losers here. The majority of the crowd were our fans; confused by what was going on, disappointed to only get 53 minutes for their money. We were the ones 1-0 up, with a penalty, against 10 men, chance to go second in the league...can anyone really begrudge us milking a few minutes in the limelight?
By Monday our involvement was unravelling nicely. Andy Leese had been asked to go on the Non-League Show on the radio. We talked about this several times throughout the day. Since the incident the Sky Sports cameras had interviewed the Redditch Chairman and had also filmed the player himself; the story was changing angles and it seemed ideal that after a weekend of constant media attention, a lot of good publicity and kind words, we could now slide into the background and await the outcome. I spoke at length with Andy about what our stance is for the media if he was to go on air and not be drawn into anything that does not involve us, but, as it happens, a mix-up with phone numbers (nothing to do with me!) meant he never did get spoken to on air.
During the day on Monday we put out a statement on the website to try and clarify the situation for supporters with regards to the status of the game. I believe the Southern League are meeting in a couple of weeks and we should know then if the game needs to be replayed or not. It really was quite amazing how the incident became such a huge topic of discussion, something you never prepare for when planning a day's events. Fortunately Brian McCarthy was in touch with the referee on behalf of the club and all seems well there and I have respect and sympathy for the officials of Redditch who were excellent on the day in circumstances that I just cannot even imagine happening to us; something so out of your own control, so out of the blue...really, what do you?
The biggest disappointment is that, had the game finished, and, as you would really hope, we had won, we would have gone into Saturday's FA Trophy match with Horsham second in the league. I had to miss the Horsham game, heading to Skegness for the weekend for my Father-in-Laws 70th birthday, but by all accounts it was a very easy win. I read that a lot of people were frustrated by the number of missed chances, but hey, these are probably not the same people that have to pay goal bonuses!! A convincing 5-0 win keeps up our 100% home record and we have been rewarded with another home game on Saturday November 5th, against Tiverton Town who came from behind to beat Aylesbury FC last night.
On the Wednesday before the Horsham game we had a Board Meeting that focused on finances, which includes that all important Fireworks Night at the club and the Sportsmans Dinner with John Motson which is proving popular. Never under estimate how important these sort of events are to the club, please let all your friends and family know that this is THE place to come and watch fireworks (as proved last year when all across the country people were getting rained on at displays whilst punters at Chesham enjoyed the comfort of covered terracing); and the John Motson dinner will be brilliant, at £45 it is not for everyone, but a successful evening will benefit all of us.
I've spoken before about our business plan, that still remains at the fore-font of everything we do, along with our annual budget, This is where people do not always see what goes on behind the scenes. Mike Warrick who has for the last few years done an excellent job of providing management accounts for the board has excelled himself with some new documents that involve all sorts of clever Excel stuff that makes sure we all know exactly what is going on and with the daily analysis that my Dad is doing in the office, working closely with Mike, we are in a phenomenal position in terms of understanding where we are at. That alone will not solve all our problems because we still need more money, but we can track where we are doing better than forecast or where we are doing worse than anticipated, and weigh them up against each other to see if an alarm needs setting off. This really has helped everyone to focus, and that was obvious in Wednesday's board meeting with some very sensible financial discussions being sparked from the management accounts circulated.
At times it is easy for us to feel like a bunch of blokes off the terrace, playing around with Microsoft Excel and basically dictating the future of Chesham United Football Club. Sometimes that is scary, sometimes that is amusing and sometimes it is bonkers. To sanity check our thoughts and visions Mike Warrick and I took our business plan to my predecessor, Charles Manchester, to have a look over and pick holes in. Not one to shy away from pointing out flaws in your thinking, we were delighted to come away from the meeting with a belief that we are getting things right financially.
Other things going on? We spent over a month tracking a player that eventually did not come to fruition. It would be wrong to name names or even the position as it can upset apple carts, but it would have been hell of a capture for Chesham United and the fact that the player spent so long contemplating the move is an indication as to how far we have come as a club in recent years. Although that particular door has shut for now, I'm not convinced it has been locked.
Off the field Mike Warrick and I have a couple of meetings scheduled with other interested parties in the club. At times like this we put together various documents as to how somebody might want to be involved in the club; without ever knowing the in's and out's of their interest this document can become several printed sheets of paper, ranging from a £50 matchball sponsorship all the way up to a £250-500,000 investment in facilities...just preparing the documentation fills you with excitement, and makes you realise what amazing potential we have as a club.
It's been a few weeks since I met with Ken and Jackie Ring from the youth/mini set-up so I probably need to follow that up sooner rather than later and I spoke again today with James Mathie from Supporters' Direct. I know that Giles Stevenson has been talking with someone he knows at Berkhamsted who is interested in setting up a Trust and have been looking for advice. On Monday I am meeting with James over at Berkhamsted to catch up on the situation with Chesham and then join a meeting with Berkhamsted representatives to see if we can help, in anyway, even just share our experiences.
It's funny. I spend huge amounts of time worrying about what we are doing at the club, and more importantly, why are we doing it? (I swear there are people in full-time employment that do less in a week than some of us do for the club voluntarily). Today I spent 30 minutes on the phone to Supporters Direct, explaining where we are at, what our obstacles are, and how we plan to overcome them. Within that conversation it became very apparent; you know what, I think we're doing a bloody good job. Not everyone will agree, but with the full facts laid out, I really believe we are. That could change. Very quickly. I'm fully aware that what is happening on the pitch is making life easier and that could change very quickly, but I think we are balancing ambition, expectation and reality well at the moment. At the end of the day, that is what it is about, Long may it continue...
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