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image = [[Image:Chest_Badge.gif]]|
image = [[Image:Chest_Badge.gif]]|
fullname = Chester City Football Club |
fullname = Chester City Football Club |
nickname = ''The Seals'' |
nickname = ''The Seals''/''The Blues'' |
founded = [[1885]] |
founded = [[1885]] |
ground = [[Saunders Honda Stadium]]<br />[[Chester]] ([[Sealand, Flintshire]])|
ground = [[Saunders Honda Stadium]]<br />[[Chester]] ([[Sealand, Flintshire]])|

Revision as of 10:28, 22 August 2007

Chester City
File:Chest Badge.gif
Full nameChester City Football Club
Nickname(s)The Seals/The Blues
Founded1885
GroundSaunders Honda Stadium
Chester (Sealand, Flintshire)
Capacity6,012
ChairmanStephen Vaughan
ManagerScotland Bobby Williamson
LeagueLeague Two
2006–07League Two, 18th
For the Local Government District of Chester, see Chester (district). For the smaller central city area, and principal settlement of this district, see Chester. For other uses of Chester, see Chester (disambiguation) or Chester City (disambiguation)

Chester City Football Club is an English football club from Chester, currently playing in League Two.

The club was first elected to the Football League in 1931 (replacing Nelson F.C.), having previously played in the Cheshire County League. But it took 44 years for the club to achieve its first promotion, when it reached the Third Division and progressed to the semi finals of the League Cup. Chester have had somewhat of a yo-yo existence, gaining the nickname 'The Elevator Crew'. Chester's spell in the league's third tier did not last long, although they did make a comeback in 1986. Chester's highest finish - eighth in the Third Division - came in 1989, but in 1993 they were relegated back to the basement division of the Football League.

Chester City F.C. were promoted back to Division Two at the first attempt, but were relegated again after just one season. Financial problems towards the end of the 1990s ruined Chester's chances of promotion, and in 2000 they were relegated to the Conference after 69 years of Football League membership.

Chester returned to the Football League in 2004 as Conference champions under the management of Mark Wright, who controversially quit just before the start of the new League Two season. The legendary Ian Rush then spent a season in charge before being replaced by Keith Curle, who didn't last long before he was replaced by the returning Mark Wright. He has since made way for Bobby Williamson.

Ian Rush began his career at Chester on leaving school in 1978, breaking into the first-team a year later. He was their key goalscorer until being sold to Liverpool for £300,000 in the summer of 1980. 26 years on, he is still the most expensive player to have been sold by Chester, and easily the finest talent ever to emerge from the club. Kevin Ratcliffe, the former Everton captain, managed Chester from 1995 to 1999, while the legendary former England striker Cyrille Regis ended his career with Chester from 1995 to 1996.

Chester played at Sealand Road until 1990, when they sold their ageing stadium and began a ground-share with Macclesfield Town. Two years later they moved into the new Deva Stadium.

History

Starting out

Chester City FC in Action

The club was founded as Chester FC by the merger of Chester Rovers and Old King's Scholars in 1885 and initially played their home games at Faulkner Street. Chester's first-known game was a friendly defeat against Earlestown on September 12 1885, with their first competitive match ending in a Welsh Cup loss to Crewe Britannia two months later.

After a few years of playing only friendly and occasional cup matches, Chester joined the Combination League in 1890. In 1898 the club moved to The Old Showground, but were forced to leave a year later when the ground was destroyed to make way for housing (leaving the club unable to regularly compete). In 1901, however, they moved to Whipcord Lane. Again their stay was only brief, as they moved out in 1906. Their new stadium on Sealand Road, called simply The Stadium became their first long-term home and provided them with their first league success, as they won the Combination League in 1909. In 1910, Chester moved to the Lancashire Combination League and stayed there until after World War I, when they became founder members of the Cheshire County League (which they won many times in the 1920s). However, it was after finishing runners-up to Port Vale Reserves in 1930-31 that Chester's most momentous moment in this period occurred - as they were elected into the Football League for the first time.

Into the League

After a summer of excitement, Chester played their first Football League match against Wigan Borough in Division Three North on August 29 1931 at Sealand Road. Chester won 4-0 but the result was to be declared void after Borough resigned mid-season from the league. Therefore the first Chester Football League result to stand was a 1-1 draw at neighbours Wrexham four days later. Chester quickly adapted to the League and finished an impressive third, with the remainder of the 1930s seeing the club challenge for a place in the second tier. Their highest placing was in 1935-36, when they were finished runners-up to Chesterfield (in an era of just one promotion spot).

The period also saw Chester win the Welsh Cup for the second time after beating growing rivals Wrexham at Sealand Road in May 1933 and successive Football League Division Three North Cup wins. Unfortunately, the side was to be split up by the outbreak of the Second World War. Although the 1946-47 brought a third place finish and another Welsh Cup triumph, grim times lay ahead. No top half placings would be achieved until the lower divisions were merged in 1958, when Chester were placed in Division Four. They would still have to wait another six years until they finished above halfway in a league table.

Moving Up - At Last

Chester's fortunes began to take a turn for the better after the surprise appointment of South African Peter Hauser as manager in 1963. He was to provide an entertaining period for the club, as they challenged for promotion from Division Four. The most memorable campaign was 1964-65, when all five forwards managed 20 goals (a unique achievement) as Chester managed 119 in Football League games alone. Sadly though the club missed the promotion boat, and the following season saw them slip from a near-certain elevation after failing to recover from the broken legs suffered by full-backs Bryn Jones and Ray Jones in the January 1 win over Aldershot.

Apart from missing out on promotion by just a point in 1970-71 the next few years were largely disappointing. Chester kicked off the 1974-75 season as the only Football League team to have never won promotion - they finally broke their duck by finishing fourth in Division Four and pipping Lincoln City to promotion by the narrowest of goal averages. Ken Roberts had the honour of being the first Chester manager to win promotion in the Football League, although much credit went to inspirational coach Brian Green.

That season was perhaps more remembered though for Chester's incredible run to the League Cup semi-finals. After beating Walsall, Blackpool and Bobby Charlton's Preston North End, Chester hosted Football League champions Leeds United in round four. On an incredible night, goals from John James (2) and Trevor Storton gave Chester a 3-0 win that is regarded as one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history. The magic continued in the next round, when Newcastle United were defeated in a home replay to set up a semi-final tie with Aston Villa. Chester once again performed admirably but suffered heartache, as Brian Little's late goal in the second leg at Villa Park sealed a 5-4 win for eventual cup winners Villa.

The Success Continues

Chester began to consolidate their position in the Third Division and enjoyed runs to the FA Cup fifth round in both 1976/77 and 1979/80 under Alan Oakes. They achieved their best position since the lower divisions were re-organised in the late 1950s by finishing 5th in 1978, missing out on promotion (in the pre play-off era) by just two points. Chester were also one of just two sides to win the short-lived Debenhams Cup, a competition competed for by the two sides from outside the top two divisions to go furtherest in the FA Cup. They beat Port Vale 4-3 on aggregate in 1977 to win their first English national trophy. Chester also continued their giantkilling exploits by knocking First Division Coventry City out of the League Cup in 1978-79 and Second Division leaders Newcastle United from the FA Cup a year later.

The period also saw the emergence of the club's most famous player and record sale, Ian Rush, from the club's youth set-up.

The Yo-Yo Period

Sadly, after Rush departed in 1980, the goals dried up for Chester and they were back in the basement by 1982. Two years later they finished bottom of the entire Football League but were comfortably re-elected. By this point the club was known as Chester City, having added the suffix in 1983.

Thanks to the signing of Stuart Rimmer (later to become record scorer) and astute management of Harry McNally, Chester returned to the Third Division in 1986. Three years later they narrowly missed out on a play-off spot as McNally worked miracles on a limited budget, but further bad times lay ahead. In 1990, Chester were moved out of their Sealand Road home and temporarily shared Macclesfield's Moss Rose ground. Despite regularly attracting tiny crowds, Chester defied the odds to avoid relegation from Division Three in both 1990/91 and 1991/92. They returned to the city, the new brand new Deva Stadium(now the Saunders Honda Stadium) in 1992 in the re-named Division Two after restructuring.

Sadly, Chester suffered a landslide relegation in their first season back in Chester, before winning promotion straight back as Division Three runners-up. Unfortunately, the shock resignation of manager Graham Barrow and the departure of several key players in the close-season of 1994 left Chester with a threadbare squad, and they were comfortably relegated back to Division Three in 1995. They would stay there for five years.

The Saunders Honda Stadium is notable for crossing the England-Wales border: while the pitch is in Wales, the main stand and offices are in England).

Return ticket

Amid crippling financial problems under owner Mark Guterman, Chester entered administration in October 1998. Despite their off-field problems, Chester comfortably avoided relegation from the Third Division under Kevin Ratcliffe in 1998/99 and their appeared to be fresh hope when Terry Smith became new owner in July 1999. Unfortunately, American Smith (whose background lay in American football) was to oversee a disastrous period for the club. He became manager after Ratcliffe resigned in August 1999 and managed just four league wins in as many months in charge. Despite improved showings under new boss Ian Atkins, Chester lost their 69-year long Football League status on May 6 2000 on goal difference after losing to Peterborough United.

The first season in the Nationwide Conference saw Chester finish 8th and enjoy various cup runs, but the campaign was overshadowed by continuing problems under Smith. By the summer of 2001, Chester were in grave danger of going out of business and the appointment of his friend Gordon Hill as manager was deeply unpopular with fans. Fortunately, the arrival of new chairman Stephen Vaughan in September 2001 was to herald a new period in the club' history.

Revived by Vaughan and new manager Mark Wright, Chester avoided relegation in 2002 and qualified for the Conference play-offs a year later. Unfortunately they missed out on promotion by losing a penalty shoot out to Doncaster Rovers.

They began the 2003-04 season as favourites to win the Football Conference. Thanks to the prolific striking duo of Daryl Clare and Darryn Stamp the goals flowed and they had a rock solid defence composing of players such as Scott Guyett and Danny Collins. Despite heavy pressure from Hereford United, Chester held their nerve to clinch the title and their return ticket to the Football League with a 1-0 victory over Scarborough. It was the club's first national league title.

Difficult Return

Chester were tipped to win a second successive promotion in 2004/05, but their season was to be a bitter disappointment. Mark Wright resigned the day before the season started, with Ray Mathias in caretaker charge for Chester's 1-1 draw at Notts County. By the end of August, Chester were bottom of the Football League but their fortunes improved under new manager, Ian Rush. Although Rush helped steer City to safety, the bland style of football played in his seven months in charge was not largely appreciated by fans and results became worse as the season wore on.

In April 2005, Keith Curle took over and delighted Chester fans with some entertaining and successful football. Unfortunately, a dreadful run between December 2005 and March 2006 saw Chester fall from fourth to bottom in Football League Two. Mark Wright surprisingly returned to the club and a run of five successive wins late in the season secured another campaign in the Football League. The 2006/07 season was largely forgettable, as Chester (following the loss of key players Roberto Martinez and Jon Walters) slumped into a lower mid-table position in front of dwindling crowds. Wright was sacked on April 29 2007, being replaced by Scotsman Bobby Williamson.

Williamson's first game in charge ended with Chester winning a friendly 5-3 at AFC Telford United on July 17 2007. His first Football League match at the helm ended in a goalless draw with Chesterfield the following month.

New Training Venue Revealed

Chester City has at last secured new training facilities on a long term deal with Chester Catholic High School. The arrangement will see the first and youth squads together with the Centre of Excellence teams use the venue as their training base. The new venue comes after work by City director Bob Gray and Centre of Excellence Co-ordinator Mark Newman. Club chairman Stephen Vaughan had been looking at a number of other options that would house all City’s teams at one venue but unfortunately none ticked all the right boxes

Chester Catholic High School are currently raising funds for redevelopment and part of this new partnership will see Chester City Football Club helping towards the target figure set by the school, the club have also pledged match day tickets for every home Football League game to be used by the school. Being on one site will also allow new manager Bobby Williamson to learn from being in close proximity to the full time professionals. City’s Centre of Excellence co-ordinator Mark Newman was keen to pass on his thanks to Abbey Gate College, where City’s academy have trained for the past three years.

Other Teams

Chester's reserve team will be playing in the Pontins Holiday League Division One West in 2007-08.

The club's youth set-up is enjoying its most fruitful spell since the late 1990s, with several players graduating to the first-team ranks this season. The youth team are competing in Youth Alliance North West Conference this season, while hoping to emulate their achievements in 2006-07 of reaching the FA Youth Cup fourth round, when they surprisingly knocked out Tottenham Hotspur. Younger players also represent the club through the teams fielded by its School of Excellence.

The club has operated a ladies team since 1994, having reasonable amounts of success [1] and also has supporters' teams representing it against fans of other clubs.

Trivia

  • Chester became one of the few professional sides in FA Cup history to be reinstated into the competition in 2006-07. They were beaten 3-1 in a second round replay by Bury but progressed after Bury were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player Stephen Turnbull. Chester duly made the most of their unlikely progression, taking Championship side Ipswich Town to a replay and only losing to a late goal.
  • Anyone who followed Chester through the 1990s must have had a pretty good idea how their FA Cup campaigns were going to pan out. In 1990-91 they were knocked out in round three, starting a pattern of eliminations (lasting until 1999-2000) that read 3-2-1-3-2-1-3-2-1-3. The pattern seemed set to continue when Chester trailed 2-0 to Oxford United in the second round in 2000-01 but they produced a storming fightback to win 3-2 and progress into round three.
  • A League Cup tie between Chester and Plymouth Argyle at Sealand Road in September 1981 was abandoned late in the game with the score at 2-2 after the goalposts collapsed when Chester goalkeeper Grenville Millington collided with them. The sides were forced to replay the game at Sealand Road a week later and drew again, before Plymouth won the second-leg. To add to the farcical nature of the tie, it was supposed to be a regionalised draw!
  • Chester failed to score on the opening day of the season in six successive campaigns from 1998-99 to 2003-04. The run was only broken thanks to a late equaliser at Notts County as 2004-05 got under way.

Rivals

Chester have a long-running rivalry with Wrexham. The clubs are just 12 miles apart but are English and Welsh respectively, making it one of the very few international derbies in the world.

Tranmere Rovers and Crewe Alexandra were traditionally strong rivals but Chester have not met either in a league game since the early 1990s. In recent times, a strong level of dislike has developed between Chester and Shrewsbury Town, following a series of controversial meetings. In November 2006, a large brawl broke out between players of both sides at the end of Chester's 2-1 defeat at Gay Meadow.

Famous Fans

Chester has one of the smallest hardcore fanbases in the Football League, as they struggle to attract more than 2,500 fans to most home games. As a result, it is perhaps little surprise that the club has few celebrities attached to it, although several well-known individuals have expressed affection for it.

The best-known Chester fan is the actor Hugh Lloyd, who has retained a loyal support for the club despite his advancing years and being exiled in the south. Similarly, BBC sport reporters Charles Lambert and Jonathan Legard are lifelong fans who have continued to follow the club despite regularly coming into contact with sport's elite.

Martin Tyler of Sky Sports and Mike Parry of TalkSport both often watched Chester in their youth but now predominantly support Woking and Everton respectively. The Granada news presenter Lucy Meacock has also been seen at Chester matches in the recent past, while the comedian Russ Abbott has said he followed Chester as a youngster.

Another comedian, Mick Miller, guested for Chester in a Granada football quiz show in the early 1990s but is not known to have any other connection to the club.

Players

As of 26 July, 2007.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Gavin Ward
2 DF England ENG Simon Marples
3 DF England ENG Kevin Sandwith
5 DF England ENG Phil Bolland
6 DF England ENG Paul Butler
7 MF Ireland EIR Richie Partridge
8 FW England ENG Simon Yeo
9 FW England ENG John Murphy
10 FW England ENG Nathan Lowndes
11 MF England ENG Kevin Ellison
12 GK England ENG John Danby
14 MF Northern Ireland NIR Mark Hughes
16 MF England ENG Dean Bennett
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF England ENG Laurence Wilson
18 DF England ENG Ashley Westwood
19 DF England ENG Paul Linwood
20 FW England ENG Chris Holroyd
21 FW England ENG Paul Rutherford
22 DF England ENG James Vaughan
23 GK England ENG Phillip Palethorpe
24 MF England ENG Neil Carroll
25 DF England ENG Kevin Roberts
27 DF England ENG Shaun Kelly
28 MF Ireland EIR Glenn Cronin
29 DF England ENG Sean Hessey
30 MF England ENG Tony Grant

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
15 DF Wales WAL Robert Marsh-Evans (on loan to Droylsden)
26 DF England ENG Sean Newton (on loan to Southport)

Honours

Football League Division 3 North Runners-up: 1935-36 (highest placing in Football League)

Football League Division 3 (now League 2) Runners-up: 1993-94 (promoted)

Football League Division 4 (now League 2) Runners-up: 1985-86 (promoted); fourth: 1974-75 (promoted)

Football Conference (now Blue Square Premier) Champions: 2003-04 (promoted)

Football League Cup Semi-Finalists: 1974-75 (best performance)

FA Cup Last 16: 1890-91, 1976-77, 1979-80 (best performance)

Cheshire County League Champions: 1921-22, 1921-22, 1925-26, 1926-27 Runners-up: 1930-31 (elected to Football League)

The Combination Champions: 1908-09 Runners-up: 1903-04, 1904-05, 1905-06, 1906-07, 1907-08

Lancashire Combination Division 2 Third: 1910-11 (promoted)

Welsh Cup Winners: 1908, 1933, 1947 Runners-up: 1909, 1910, 1935, 1936, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1966, 1970

Debenhams Cup Winners: 1977

Division 3N Cup Winners: 1936, 1937 Runners-up: 1946

Freight Rover Trophy (now Johnstone's Paint Trophy) Northern Finalists: 1986-87

Bob Lord Trophy Winners: 2001

Conference Championship Shield Runners-up: 2001-02

Cambridgeshire Professional Cup Winners: 1992-93

Cheshire Bowl/Cheshire Premier Cup Winners: 1932-33, 1934-35, 1936-37 ; 1940-41, 1943-44, 1944-45, 1945-46, 1953-54, 1964-65, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1980-81; Runners up on 11 occasions.

Cheshire Senior Cup Winners: 1895, 1897, 1904, 1908, 1909, 1931, 1932 Runners-up: 1888, 1893, 1894, 1905, 1911, 1929

Lancashire Cup (football) Winners: 1957 Runners-up: 1953

Liverpool Senior Cup Runners-up: 1896

Herefordshire Senior Cup Joint Winners: 1991-92 (with Hereford United)

Tony Downes Memorial Cup Joint Winners: 2007-08 (with Droylsden)

Player Records

Notable former players

See also Category:Chester City F.C. players

Former Managers

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