Chester City FC

Today, we have decided to go south of the border for our next club. Some would say they are a Welsh club playing in the English league, others would say they are defiantly English, it really depends on who you talk to. One thing is for certain, this club is well followed and has a fan base to be proud of. Yes, they are another example of a ‘Phoenix club’. The original club falling to the financial pressures of modern-day football. Only recently we saw another one of the UK’s oldest football club’s go out of existence. The much-publicised demise of Bury FC brought the attention of the realities of lower league football, but nine years previous it was another long-standing club that folded. In fact, this club had been around for no longer than 125 years, yet it was in 2010 that saw them dissolve. I am of course writing about Chester City FC, now known, thanks to their supporters, as Chester FC. I will of course be sharing how they have come back from the dead, But let me take you back to the start, way back to 1885 when Chester FC was born.

Founded in 1885 when two clubs, Chester Rovers and Old King’s Scholars FC merged, Chester FC was officially created. They originally played their home games at Faulkner Street. In their early years, Chester FC played only friendlies, with no competitive league to be played in until 1890 when the they entered the Combinations League in 1890 (The second one created which consisted of mainly North West England and Welsh clubs. Twelve Clubs competed in the competition, including Chester’s biggest rivals, Wrexham. Other clubs included where, Denton, Burton Swifts, Northwich Victoria and Hyde. The only club to have competed in this competition and to be still in the football league today were Macclesfield. The club moved to The Old Showground but only lasted a year there due to the ground being redeveloped into houses. The club disbanded for the year 1900, only to come back in 1901 where they played their home matches at Whipcord Lane. But they only lasted until 1906 and moved out to go to their new stadium Sealand Road. This would become known to the fans The Stadium and became their first long term home. It was here that the club tasted their first success, winning the Combination League in 1909. In 1910 the club moved to the Lancashire Combination League. They played there until after the First World War. They then became founding members of the Cheshire County League.

In 1931 the club joined the Football League for the first time, under the guidance of former Liverpool, Spurs and Crystal Palace player, Charlie Hewitt. The took the place of Nelson FC. During their early years in he 1930’s Chester FC were as stable as it got, finishing in the top ten of the Division Three North. Their main successes came in the FA Cup where they recorded their biggest ever FA Cup win, a 5-0 victory over Fulham in 1933. 1933 was also the year they beat bitter rivals, Wrexham, in the Welsh Cup, to lift the trophy for the second time in their history. They also recorded their highest ever league victory in 1936 against, (this might be an enjoyable fact for Chester FC fans today considering their rivalry in the league nowadays) a 12-0 win against York City. A few other cup victories in the Football League Division Three North Cup and another Welsh Cup triumph was about as good as it got for Chester FC with poor league finishes, coupled with the splitting of the team during the second World War creating a downward turn in the club’s fortunes.

It wasn’t until the 1960’s in which the club started to give their loyal fans something to shout about. The arrival of manager Peter Hauser gave the club a lift in 1963. The 1964-65 season saw the club just missing out on promotion by one solidary point and it wasn’t for the lack of goals either. Out of the 119 goals the club scored that season, five strikers managed to score 20 each. But it as to be a short uplift as the club didn’t make any impression in the league until the 1974-75 season when they finally gained their first promotion since joining the Football league in 1931. And it was by the slimmest of margins as they just beat Lincoln City to fourth place on virtue of having a better goal per game average. This was due to having the best defence in the league, only conceding 38 goals in 46 games. (23 wins, 11 draws, 12 loses). Ken Roberts was the manager to write his name in the club’s history books by becoming the first manager to lead the club to a promotion. That season also saw the club go on a cup run in the Football League Cup. They reached the semi-finals, beating the current Football League champions Leeds United 3-0. The club were finally beaten by the eventual winners of the competition, Aston Villa, in a thrilling 5-4 loss.

The club were to stabilise themselves in the old third division until the leagues were re-organised. In 1977 the club lifted their first English National Trophy, beating Port Vale 4-3 on aggregate. The club started to gain a reputation as giant killers in cup competitions. After that Leeds win, they also beat a First Division club, Coventry City in the League Cup in 1978-99. They also knocked out Newcastle United in the FA Cup in 1979-80, who were top of the Second Division at the time. As it happens, a certain Ian Rush scored in that game, before he made the £300k move to Liverpool that summer. Rush, arguably one of the best Welsh strikers of all time, played for Chester FC between the years 1978-1980, playing 34 games and scoring 14 times. However, the club did not emulate the success of their former striker and ended up bottom of the whole Football League in 1984, having to be re-elected. It was in 1983 that the club added the ‘City’ to the club’s name to become Chester City FC. In 1986 the club returned to the old Third Division under the guidance of manager Harry McNally. They stayed there, flirting with relegation at times. It was in 1990 when the club had to move out of their Sealand Road and take residence in Macclesfield’s Moss Rose ground for two years, finally settling in their new ground in the city, the Deva Stadium. The special thing about this stadium though is that it lies directly on the Wales-England boarder. The pitch itself is in Wales, but the entrance to the stadium is in England.

The club had mixed fortunes in the 1990’s getting relegated from Division Two, only to gain promotion the year after as Division Three runners-up. In 1995they were again relegated back to Division Three. They came close to gaining promotion in 1997 but lost out in a play-off semi-final to Swansea City. It didn’t get much better for The Blues, as they went into administration in October 1998. Despite being bought by American Terry Smith the clubs fortunes on the pitch did not improve and the club were relegated out of the Football League for the first time in their 69-year Football League history in 2000. For the next 10 years the club would struggle with off-field problems, financial instability.

However, they did make a return to the football league in 2003-04 season, going to whole season only losing four games and eventually lifting the Conference trophy. It was the clubs first national title. But their return to the Football League was overshadowed by the sudden resignation of their manager, Mark Wright, who left a day before the start of the season. Chester City struggled that season, but the return to the club of Ian Rush, helped them survive relegation. This wasn’t enough for some as Rush was heavily criticised for his teams’ style of play and so he left in April 2005. From then on it was a case of a managerial merry-go-round with Mark Wright returning to the club not once but twice in a four-year period. But even he could not save them from dropping out of the Football League for the second time in their history and the club were related into non-league football in the 2008-09 season.

The club was placed into administration again that summer with £7 million worth of debts and a 25-point deduction looming. The club were given a life line and were aloud to play in the conference up until January 2010 when things spiralled out of control and saw games for the club being suspended due to unpaid players wages and the club struggling to stay afloat. In the end the Football Conference expelled the club from the completion leaving the club in limbo. Eventually the club was wound up on the 9th March 2010, despite attempts to join the Welsh Premier League. And so 125 years of Chester City FC were no more. But the fans were not to give up. The next chapter of this club was to just begin.

In May of that year the club’s supporters got together to create a newly formed club, fan owned, Chester FC. They joined the Northern Premier League Division One North. The gained three successive promotions to return to the Conference, the league they had been expelled from. However, the club hit hard times on the pitch and suffered a few relegations since, leaving the current club in the sixth tier of English football, in the National League North, in 2019.

One man who knows all about following the current Chester FC is Danny McNally and it’s safe to say he epitomises what the current club and its model is all about. On his Twitter account it says it all, Chester Owner, Volunteer and Season Ticket holder. So, no surprise that he gave me a brilliant insight to what the club is like these days. His favourite moment obviously came in those first three fantastic seasons of back to back promotions.

‘The first three seasons after the reformation were incredible, winning 3 titles in a row to steamroll back into the Conference, where the old Chester City ended. If I was to pick my favourite moment in those 3 years ,it would probably have to be Matty McGinn smashing in a late equaliser to win the league in front of a sell-out 5000+ crowd at home to Northwich Victoria in the Evo-Stik Premier, 2011-2012 season.’

His favourite away day, well Danny is happy that Chester FC don’t have to travel too far for a decent away day.

‘There’s some really good local away days for us Chester fans, going to the likes of Stockport and their famous Edgeley Park home or Prenton Park for the past few years as Tranmere tumbled into non-league….I’d probably have to choose Kidderminster as my favourite away day, tidy ground, always open, attacking match and the best pie you’ll have at a football match. As a cheery on top we even managed 3 points this season!’

In regards his favourite player and best player to put on the Chester FC jersey he was in no hesitation to name a few with Antoni Sarcevic getting a mention for scoring 28 goals on 80 games and current Sheffield United player Ollie McBurnie who played there on loan as a youngster but it was a defensive stalwart who gets the full praise from Danny.

‘If your going to talk pure passion for Chester FC and football, George Horan epitomises everything you want from a captain. An absolute rock at the heart of defence who led us from nothing to Conference football once again. “We all dream of a team of George Horan’s…” still sung as recently as Telford away last month, despite him leaving in 2014!’

Indeed, the supporters of Chester FC can appreciate a good footballer as much a man who puts his heart and soul into the game. They can also appreciate that they must be patient if they are to reach the heights of the Football League again and Danny says it best.

‘We’re coming up to a decade next summer since Chester FC were formed, so fans are perhaps starting to learn the patience required…. Okay, we might not have a rich private owner to sell us the Championship dream, but where did that get us in the past? Liquidation’.

But Danny is positive the club are prepared to get back to were he believes they belong, under the guidance of the current management.

‘With two exciting managers in Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley and an exciting young crop of players, who knows how we’d cope at the level above, could we push for promotion to the FL, fulfilling the aim of the club upon reformation? We certainly appear more prepared off the pitch, with a settled board making good progress commercially and a helping hand from local business man Stuart Murphy, who is in the process of drawing up plans to spend his £1million donation to the club. Exciting times ahead for Chester FC.’

Like every club such as Chester FC there are always people behind the scenes. Unsung heroes who keep the club running off the field while others do their job on it. Danny was quick to give a special mention to current Chairman of City Fans United, David Harrington-Wright.

‘It’s an incredibly demanding role, and entirely voluntary. Our chairman rarely last 12 months which just shows how tough it is. David has held the position since April 2018 and has faced some tricky situations; two weeks into last season and the ground flooded and the tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage and unable to host any games! Despite running three business, David has navigated the club out of this situation and into the most strong and stable position in years.

Chester City FC, the most modern of clubs that I have covered so far that went bust, are sure to be back in the Football League in the next decade. In fact, after speaking to Danny and doing my research on the club I would be tempted to put a bet on it. However, it seems they are content to battle their way through the lower leagues for now, currently lying second(when this got published) behind York City in the National League North. They are a well-supported , well run club at the moment and as Danny says exciting times lie ahead for the Welsh/English club. (I don't want to offend the Welsh or English fans of the club). The final words as always will be left to the fans and to Danny.

‘As is always said - we own our club, we’re in control of its own destiny….’