Another season on the horizon

With the Olympics dominating the nation's sporting interest as Team GB unites the country in the kind of jubilation that we all anticipate ahead of a major football tournament (only for England to let us down), pre-season has fallen to the back of the mind a little. It's weird, with all the euphoria and success of the Olympics games in Britain, it is almost embarrassing to stand up and be a football fan as every day the front page of the newspapers features another sportsman that has given true blood, sweat and tears for a sport that they have been totally driven to by passion and a desire to do proud for their nation. It's not about the money. We have athletes in tears fearing that they have let the nation down when they miss out on a Track & Field final, or "only" pick up a silver medal...

...But soon the football season will start.

For Chesham United pre-season is well underway, and continues tonight with another friendly at home to Harrow Borough. To be honest, it is the type of friendly that was not expected to attract much of a crowd, and the way the Olympics on BBC has gripped the nation, I expect the crowd might be even smaller than first expected.

A stark contrast to Saturday when 1,283 people flocked to The Meadow for a friendly against a youthful Arsenal XI. It was all about the occasion, and not the football, but as it happened we got tonked 2-6 by a side that made playing the game look so ridiculously simple.

Starting for Chesham United was former Premiership player, Barry Hayles, as he did in the 3-1 win at Berkhamsted last Tuesday night (scoring twice). Based on reports from the game the press interpreted that as meaning that Barry Hayles had signed for the club which by all accounts has led to some embarrassment because at no point was it announced by Chesham that he had signed. As has now been widely covered in the national press the player is leaving his options open as he ties up loose ends with his former club, Truro City, who by all accounts are once again in a right old financial pickle. I've just read on the St Albans website that Barry Hayles will be playing for St Albans City tomorrow night in a friendly against his former club, Stevenage - The Saints have been very pro-active in the market place seeking out a striker for next season as they look to be building a strong side for a promotion push, clearly using  some financial clout to build a team (I know from when Danny Gordon was with us earlier in pre-season the sort of money he was looking for, one can only assume he pretty much got that when he signed for St Albans).

I think we have a tough season ahead, but see no reason why we cannot be part of the title chasing pack again. As always there is a lot of noise from clubs looking to be in the promotion mix, but until the season starts, nobody really knows... What are Kettering going to do? There is talk of a huge playing budget, then you talk to someone else and they don't fancy their chances of surviving the season! There is no doubt that they have a lively and controversial character in George Rolls at the club. There was a huge amount of condemnation of him when he was suspended from football for five years after breaches of Football Association betting laws. "How can he not know the laws?" everyone cried, but it is not as obvious as you might at first think.

For example, did you know that I, as a Director of Chesham United FC, am forbidden from betting on any competition that Chesham United participate in because as an interested party I may be able to influence the outcome of the result. And yes, that does include the FA Cup Final. It does seem somewhat completely bonkers and nutty, but that is the case...and I didn't know that until I attended one of the Southern League's regional meetings earlier in the year.

Back at the club things are starting to sort themselves out, it seems a little weird having a much smaller Board of Directors; I actually believe that can make things easier to get sorted, although I still find it incredibly frustrating that one of the Directors (you guess!) just does not use email or the internet at all. I sympathise with those that hate the idea that we are always constantly accessible to the world with smart phones, laptops, Twitter and Facebook, etc - I even admire and am envious of those that manage to survive without the need to be constantly embracing social media or answering emails, but it would be nice if Board Meeting notes and reports were read, even as an exception to the normal rules.

I am still so relieved to not be Chairman, I have to be honest. There are times I miss it hugely. Even just over at Berko last week seeing Brian and Roger talking to Andy after the game, it was my first pre-season match after a holiday and I just got hit by this feeling of "that used to me". Please - no sympathy though, by the time we reached Saturday we were hit with all the normal stuff like an unhappy Kit Man and a bar running out of beer and I was soon tapping Brian on the shoulder whispering "Over to you Mr Chairman!".

It is good to feel involved, and I do appreciate the fact that I get to go to Board Meetings and have a say in the running of the club I so dearly love; although at last week's Board Meeting I was chuckling to myself thinking of how supporters must imagine board meetings are, compared to the reality... I think this little smirk came as the meeting started to reach 30 minutes of talking about washing kit and the colour of tape that goes around players socks. I bit my tongue. And then I bit it once again when we moved onto the finances of the club and at one stage the management accounts (last years's ACTUAL figures) were referred to as "pie in the sky"....Mmm...deep breath...1 ...2 ...3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10.

To be honest, it is a massive relief that there is not the feeling that we need to be reviewing every penny spent and every penny that comes in...but I'm still going to do that, even if not everyone is interested.

Behind the scenes my role over the last month or so has been to pull the programme adverts and cover together, and bring a new Bar Manager to the club. The former is relatively easy, it is something I am used to doing, but it just becomes a matter of finding the time and chasing up the artwork. For the Arsenal game I also found myself temporarily back in the programme editors hot seat. I really enjoyed putting the programme together, but I had forgotten how long it takes and what a massive commitment it is to take that on for a season. I am eternally grateful to Steve Doman for taking on the role.

The Bar Manager is much trickier. Although the situation from May that caused huge embarrassment around the club was kind of rectified, the scars remained and ultimately Colin Beton took the understandable decision to hand his notice in after seven years. Finding a replacement is not easy and although he was originally due to finish in mid-July, the club is hugely appreciative that Colin has stayed on to help us through until a replacement is ready to start. I am delighted to say that - all being well, wind in the right direction - that replacement will start on Monday 20th August.

It might be a surprise to many to learn that our new man came about through an introduction from our turnstile operator, George Adams. I met up with the guy a couple of times, discussed the sort of role and package that had been in mind and now I think we are very close to being all systems go for a couple of weeks time. Again I go back to the times around Christmas when the future of the club was being discussed with another party, the kind of position that we have created came about from discussions with these guys. It may only ever stay a personal thing, but I am so pleased that some of their thinking and ideas, one person in particular, are making it to the table.

There is no doubt that the handling of things in May soured what has been an excellent seven years with the current bar set up, but I hope over time it will be the good times remembered and not the bad. On Saturday Colin and Sally Beton were officially made Life Vice Presidents of the football club, a position given to those that have given exception service to the club over the years - nobody can argue that they do not fall into that category.

Around the ground there have been bits going on, tidying up and improving. I have to take my hat off to Roger as he has really mucked in and got his hands dirty getting jobs done, and saving the club money along the way. If you were there on Saturday you will have noticed that the crush barriers have all been painted, and the damaged door under The Pop stand has been fixed. Inside, the dressing rooms have had a huge amount of cleaning up, repairing and painting done to them and the plan is to keep this work building throughout the season.

Well, that's me, back in the habit of blogging. I intend to keep it going through the season, but now I must head off for the Harrow Borough friendly... To be honest, I haven't had a chance to get bored of them yet having missed the first three away games whilst on holiday in Weymouth, and I'll miss this weekend as my boy and I head of Derbyshire to go four nights camping at a heavy metal festival - here's hoping we have some dry weather!