HEMEL HEMPSTEAD is quite literally home for chairman Dave Boggins.
For his garden backs on to the National League South club’s stadium.
And the 71-year-old has even built himself a special gate so he can be at work within 14 SECONDS.
Boggins laughed: “I’ll soon be able to walk home on my Zimmer frame!
“I took over the club in 1997 and bought the house two years later.
“There were five huge evergreen trees at the bottom of my garden and I fixed hinges on two of the trees and installed a gate into the ground.
“But last year we got the trees removed and built a fence with a private gate.
“It’s handy to be able to pop in and out during the day. It saves me a ten-minute round trip each time. I can get from the club shop to home in 14 seconds.”
On Saturday, Boggins can enjoy a day off as Hemel travel to League One side Wigan in the FA Cup.
When they are at home he doubles up as the club’s CHEF — serving up hospitality grub while also cooking the post-match meals for the home and away teams.
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Sometimes he even triples up by working as their parking steward!
And when the full-time whistle blows he makes sure to bid all fans farewell as they leave through the exit.
Boggins told SunSport: “Last weekend I served steak and Guinness pie, and it went down a treat. And the players got chicken curry, rice and some pastries.
“I’m a chef by trade — for 20 years in Ireland before coming to England and working for Barnaby’s Carvery, serving up roast meats and veg.
“So when I came here I wanted to put some of my skills to use to help the club, so I did all the food.”
Hemel does have a parking attendant but Boggins covers when he is on holiday or sick. He said: “Someone has to do that job, so why not me? I’m happy to do it.
“Working is in my blood — and it helps the club.”
And his engagement with fans is endearing, always taking time to speak to them and thanking them for coming as they leave at the end of games.
You will be hard pressed to find any Premier League owner who does that.
He said: “I have perhaps been a rare breed but I like to be involved and in the middle of it all.
“I want people to know who I am and to know them.
“Fans spend good money coming to this club and when they’re going home I want to thank them.
“Without them spending their hard-earned cash supporting us the club wouldn’t be here.
“It’s important that we appreciate that.”
Boggins’ granddaughter Gracie runs the club shop on matchdays and does glass collecting in the bar.
And his daughter Stephanie does everything from arranging clubhouse functions to paying the bills, working on the turnstiles and behind the bar as well as serving the players’ food. Boggins’ wife, Emily, also helps out!
To say that Hemel Hempstead, nicknamed The Tudors, is a “family club” would be an understatement.
Manager Lee Allinson’s dad, Ian, is also head of football operations.
Ian Allinson is well known to anyone who remembers football back in the 1980s — plying his trade in the top flight for Arsenal and Luton.
The father-and-son team took over last November and steered the club away from relegation trouble to finish mid-table.
This season they are sitting fourth, six points behind leaders Hornchurch but with two games in hand.
Allinson Sr made 83 appearances for the Gunners between 1983 and 1987 under Terry Neill, Don Howe, Steve Burtenshaw and George Graham.
The former winger, 68, who also clocked up 346 games for Colchester, has been involved in non-league for years — managing the likes of Baldock, Stotfold, Corby, Barton Rovers, Harlow, Boreham Wood and St Albans.
He said: “The team were fifth-bottom when we came in.
“Lee is a young manager at 41, even though he has also managed for ten years already, and I just came in to help him out as much as I could.
“When I managed St Albans, he was my assistant, and I was his No 2 at Hendon.”
Allinson Jr is thrilled to have taken the club to the first round, and victory at Wigan would put them into the second round for the first time in history.
He said: “The team is built on work ethic, which matches the chairman’s DNA.
“Facing Wigan, who won the FA Cup in 2013, is probably the best draw we could have got at this stage of the competition.
“It’s just a shame that the TV companies have decided not to broadcast it live — former FA Cup winners against a non-league side seems like a good game.
“That would have also brought in another £50,000, which for clubs at our level is invaluable. But it’s going to be an honour to play them. We’re massive underdogs but we’ll give it all we’ve got.”
