I am writing these notes after our two top of the table games with Hanworth Villa and AFC Portchester when at last we got some football to watch and enjoy.
James Conner the Chairman and all the officials and staff at Hanworth made us very welcome last Saturday and I thank them all for making sure all our board members and supporters had a day to remember. James father was the founder or the club I understand and they have certainly come a long way since breaking into step 4 in the 2021/22 season. The installing of their state of the art 3G pitch was a sure sign that this is a club on the rise and one I’m sure that will push us all the way this season.
I think we all feel starved of football and it was great to see the Leatherhead family out in force. Not only the regular faces but a number of our sponsors made the trip to see the boys in action for the first time in Feb, and only the 4th time in 2026 ! It created a fantastic atmosphere around the ground.
As for the match itself, well it really lived up to its billing and the 3-3 made for an exciting afternoon for both sets of fans. For ourselves it almost felt like a defeat to concede the equaliser in the 95th minute but I think, reflecting the morning after the game, it may well prove to be a valuable away point at the seasons end. I personally thought for the last 15 mins of the first half and the opening half hour of the second we played some outstanding football and looked like we could score every time we went forward. To concede twice having been 3-1 up probably reflects the lack of game time the boys have had of late which will hopefully fix itself as we enter a period of Tuesday/Saturday fixtures on the bounce.
On to AFC Portchester and I could see from the reaction of our supporters how important the impressive three goal away victory was to all of us. Portchester were on a 9 game winning run and it had the makings of a real banana skin which, had we lost, would have given the chasing pack encouragement. As it was it was a real statement win and Ian and the team deserve congratulations for a solid professional performance.
The rain has just not stopped for weeks and is reflected across the league with game after game falling victim to the weather. We are getting close to a situation where we may have to take action if we are not to end up playing Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday at some point and myself and the board are exploring every option to ensure this does not happen. Watch this space if we get any more cancellations over the next few weeks.
Hopefully, weather permitting we today welcome the officials and supporters of Hayes & Yeading. We hope we get the game on and that you all enjoy your day at Fetcham Grove.
UP THE TANNERS
John Dean
Chairman
3 responses
Thank you John for your “Chats from the Chair “, it all shows the inclusion of the board and fans is a real winner which shows we are on the same path & in unison with Ian and the team, membership is growing and fan support is growing. Tuesday night at Portchester with at least 100 fans travelling that far proves it. It was great to see David there
COYT
On a 5 month holiday in Brisbane at the bottom end of the world, but still get all the match coverage, replays of the goals, interviews etc. Great stuff lads.
COYT
Club communication is pretty good at the moment. I’d just like be able to pick up stuff (especially postponement news) from Blue Sky rather than X/Twitter.
Obviously is not for me to say that people should use Blue Sky rather than X, but at present the club rather forces people to use X.