In this guest post, Sam Harris gives us his tips for a visit to his local side, Chesham United.
In the Buckinghamshire town of Chesham is The Meadow, home to Southern League Premier side Chesham United, who have been in the seventh tier of English football since 2010.
For a club that has spent the majority of its time in the lower reaches of the non-league scene, Chesham United’s highest point came in 1968 when they reached the FA Amateur Cup Final, losing 1-0 to Leytonstone United at Wembley.
They have had reasonable success in the FA Cup as well, competing in the first round on eight occasions since 1966/67, famously beating League Two side Bristol Rovers in 2015 to make the second round for the first time since 1980. Here, they were knocked out by Cambridge United in the third round.
The match against Cambridge remains the club’s record attendance as a 5,000 capacity crowd packed into The Meadow.
Despite winning the Premier Division in 1992/3, the Generals have never played in the Conference as they were denied promotion as The Meadow did not meet ground criteria and within a year they had been relegated back to Division One.
Recent seasons have been a struggle for the Buckinghamshire club, a far cry from the three consecutive play-off campaigns from 2012 where they fell in the semi-finals to AFC Totton and Hemel Hempstead Town before losing to St Albans City in the 2014.
Although they are based in the South-East of England, the claret and blue outfit have spent a season in Division One Midlands where they played against the likes of Leamington, Chasetown and Sutton Coldfield although fellow southern teams Marlow and Aylesbury also joined them.
The latter ground-shared at The Meadow with Chesham initially in 2006 and, after a brief hiatus from 2009, they resumed ground-sharing with the Generals in 2017.
Notable players to feature for the Generals include Fitz Hall who made 21 appearances for the club under the tutelage of Bob Dowie.
‘One Size’ was then signed by Bob’s brother Iain, at Oldham Athletic for £30,000 in 2002, which remains the record transfer fee received by Chesham, and went on to play in the Premier League for QPR and Wigan,
Luther Blissett, scorer of a hat-trick on his England debut and the First Division top-scorer in 1982-83 for Watford, managed the Generals from February 2006 to April 2007, also making two appearances as a substitute.
Former Blackpool striker DJ Campbell also began his career at the Meadow, scoring 16 goals in 29 matches in the 2000/01 campaign before being sold to Stevenage Borough and eventually embarking on a career which saw him play in the Premier League for Blackpool, Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers.
Legendary Liverpool goalkeeper and European Cup winner Bruce Grobbelaar even turned up at the Meadow, making four appearances for the Generals in 1998 as he embarked on a nomadic career after leaving Anfield.
More recently, the striker Barry Hayles made 54 appearances for the Southern League side between 2015 and 2017, scoring 10 goals and notably assisting Ryan Blake’s goal to knock Bristol Rovers out of the FA Cup.
The experience at Chesham United
Adjacent to the Chesham Cricket Club, the Meadow does offer seating for 284 in the main stand opposite the Ryan Moran stand and behind each goal are terraced and offer a proper non-league feel which can offer the best atmosphere.
[credit: @KarlJLatham on Twitter]
Prices are reasonable with £10 for adults and £8 for concessions (over 65s, students with ID), £3 for under 18s and free for under 12s.
This was especially the case when I last visited the Meadow against Swindon Supermarine with the attendance and atmosphere swelled by the fact this was the first match the fans had attended for many months due to the pandemic. It was evident everyone was there just to enjoy watching live football regardless of the result.
The Chess Suite, the club bar, is also popular and offers pre-match and half-time refreshments.
Chesham’s crowd is often boosted, like many non-league clubs, on Non-League Day and on international breaks especially with fans of nearby Championship side Watford, like me, living in the towns in close proximity such as Amersham and Berkhamsted.
However, this has not been the case recently with Chesham not having played since an FA Trophy defeat to Torquay on 19 December 2020 and it is likely that the league will be declared null and void as no promotion or relegation would be at stake even if they did continue.
How to get to The Meadow, Chesham United
Free parking is available in the car park and there is also limited parking on the roads immediately outside the ground and alternate free parking on the gravel hardstanding area on The Moor and there are also payable town car parks within a five-ten minute walk.
The nearby train station is on the Metropolitan Line and is also a five-ten minute walk from the ground.