November Reign

There was so much I needed to do tonight. I need to do some more work on the Appeal about that incident that I'm not to talk about anymore, I have proofing to do for work and I need to do some prep work for a meeting early next week with my Dad and Mike Warrick to review the cashflow forecasting; and that's without any of the household chores...but instead I felt a need to update the blog, it's been a while....

Well, that caused some interest...

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?

What a Week!

Well it's certainly been an interesting few days at Chesham United as our FA Cup train once again came crashing off the rails much earlier than any of us would have liked, against lower league opposition; the forum comes back to life and I'm surrounded by people that know better than the manager we employ; we bounce back with a stunning result against Hitchin on Tuesday night and I finish the week with a skin infection that has got into my bloodstream which, to quote the Doctor this morning, has left me feeling "lousy".

These boots were made for walking...

The whole idea of doing Chesham United Travels was to give myself a reminder of all the good and bad moments as they happen, a recollection of how I really felt at that moment rather than the tainted memory of time. If only I was doing it a couple of years ago, making a mental note of exactly how I felt for the last few miles of that last walk; the long, tiresome trudge along the Grand Union Canal to Leighton Buzzard.

Battling Against Expectations

Bank Holiday weekend and we have two games in 72 hours, as it happens against the bottom two teams, early season. After the tough start we have had, they are looked upon as games we should win, six points are expected...and it is that level of expectation that we are going to be battling against this season. And that's how it should be.

Halfway through those two games and we have three points after a very tough match with Swindon Supermarine at The Meadow, eventually winning 2-1 after trailing at the break.

Games Coming Thick & Fast

It's been a while since I posted, I had forgotten what it was like having two consecutive home games and having to do programme notes, but a quiet night in ahead provides me with an opportunity to catch-up. Beer poured. Stick the Battle of Britain film on the tv. What's been going on?

Holiday Chaos and Pre-season preparations

I've unexpectedly found time to update the blog thanks to another Calder family holiday twist of fate. Now I'm not going to moan as I've had some great holidays, but I don't recall holidaying being so tough when I was a kid. After last year getting stranded in Teneriffe with the ash cloud and then a week later being booted out of Luton airport when they cancelled our flight to Prague last minute at 10.30pm; having previously had a weekend in Edinburgh spoilt by a text from British Airways telling us our flight home was cancellend; and previous to that our once in a lifetime trip to Lapland involved spending 4 hours on the end of the runway at Gatwick, during which time they had to remove all passengers on a day trip as it was not worth them going (fortunately we were on a 3 day trip)... This year we deliberately chose not to fly anywhere, it's just not fun anymore, and we seem to attract bad luck.

Away trip to Torquay

At last I have something akin to the good old Travels days to write about - last weekend Colin Beton, my Dad and myself travelled the 219 miles down to Torquay for the Southern League AGM. Torquay I hear you cry! Yes, really, Torquay...

Close Season; But the wheels keep turning

Despite being close season, there is still plenty going on at and around the football club. We now know what league we are in next season (or who else is in with us more importantly), we know we have a Reserves side playing within the pyramid for the first time next season and we have done some re-orgainsation within the structure of the club to introduce a new committee to look after some of the major financial and commercial decisions of the company. As I say, busy, busy, busy...

Planning for an assault on the title?

May has continued to be a busy month, the biggest challenge over the next few weeks is keeping the interest going, and keeping people focussed on the club still. We may not have players wages to pay, but we still have plenty of bills to pay that will stretch the coffers, and we need to start building up the funds for the start of the new season.

...And the new season (preparation) begins

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?

Into the last month...

Apologies, I confess to having not got around to doing any programme notes for Saturday's programme against Bashley (we have clearly missed a trick this year, every other club in the league seems to be charging £2 for the matchday programme, whatever the standard, and with paper prices constantly on the rise, we should have followed suit). What with a Board Meeting to prepare for on Wednesday, and a game on Tuesday night, time just escaped me....Wow, April already, and we've just gone on our worst run since October - two defeats on the trot.

The Season Sparks Into Life

After the heavy snow around Christmas, then the fog rolling in to abandon the Halesowen game, you have no idea how sick I felt when I rolled up at 6.00pm on Tuesday night only to be greeted by Martin Woolnough announcing that we have a power cut...

It's Exciting, but some perspective required

Watching the images and video footage come out from Japan following today's earthquake and subsequent tsunami's threatening the Pacific, it's difficult to get worked up by the day to day running of a silly little football club. World tragedies have a horrific way of bringing some perspective to everything you do, I'll never forget watching the Twin Towers disintegrate as we went out onto the field to play a match at Kingstonian. When you see these tragedies, strewn out across tv screens and the internet - houses, buildings and vehicles being washed away; ships caught up in whirlpools; houses being burned to the ground in seconds and huge waves making their way inland, destroying all that gets in it's way...should I really be worrying about a trip to Didcot Town tomorrow?

A completely different ball game

Things continue to be good at Chesham United, on the field it has become more than just a good start to the season, play-offs are a realistic possibility now and we have to give some serious thought to the fact that we may be in with a shout of Blue Square football next season. Oh, and no idea why, I still don't really get it, but I've found the world of Twitter.

Battered, but not beaten for two months

Throughout Andy Leese's reign there has been a pattern of form dipping in the run up to Christmas, only for us to start the new year stronger and more consistent, picking up points that have seen us drive up the table.
Surely that would be different now we are in the Premier Division? After all there are clubs with much higher budgets, greater facilities, bigger crowds...hell, a couple are even full-time. So how come we are top of the form guide? Unbeaten since 11th December, only two goals conceded in 8 league games in 2011...

Clean Sheets & Fog

My old friend, Time, seems to have deserted me again as all good intentions of posting on the blog go out of the window, but now seems an apt moment to share further thoughts as we move into the second-half of the season (Heather is out tonight and I have just put the boys to bed after a bit of a "boys night in" scoffing pizza and watching Slipknot live at Download from 2009).

Happy New Year!

Wow, 2011 already. Frightening isn't it? Last weekend Stevenage beat Newcastle in the FA Cup and apparently it was twelve years ago wkhen they last met when Stevenage were a non-league side. Twelve years since we played 'Boro in the FA Trophy? (the week before they played Newcastle), an unbelievable eighteen years since we beat them 7-1 in the league...