Chester F.C.

Chester F.C.

Full name	Chester Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Blues, The Seals, City
Founded	2010 (2010)
Ground	Deva Stadium
Ground Capacity	5,376 (4,500 seated)
Owner	City Fans United
Chairman	Simon Olorenshaw
Manager	Steve Burr
League	National League
2014–15	Conference Premier, 12th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Chester Football Club is a supporter-owned association football club from Chester, England. The club was founded in 2010 following the winding-up of Chester City F.C.^[1] The club began its inaugural season in the Northern Premier League Division One North following a successful appeal to the FA against their initial placement in the Northwest Counties League. The team plays its home games at the Deva Stadium, which is geographically in Flintshire, Wales.

In the club's first three seasons it was the successive league champions of the NPL Division One North (2010–11), the NPL Premier Division (2011–12), and the Conference North (2012–13). Although Chester F.C. finished in the relegation zone in its first season in the Conference Premier (2013–14), the club earned a reprieve after Hereford United was expelled for financial problems. The club finished 12th in the Conference Premier in the 2014–15 season.

History

Background

The original Chester FC was founded in 1885 and joined the Football League before the 1931–32 season. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. They were members of the Football League, predominantly in its fourth tier but occasionally in its third tier, until 2000 when the club was relegated to the Football Conference. They returned to the Football League after winning the Conference title in 2004.^[2] Following relegation back to the Conference in 2009, the club hit financial difficulties.These financial difficulties led to the season starting with a 25-point deduction, following the Inland Revenue overturning a proposed CVA. Chester City were eventually wound up on 10 March 2010.

City Fans United (CFU) had been formed in October 2009, following growing disquiet amongst fans with the running of Chester City, who at that point were already in deep financial trouble.^[3] Only a month after the official formation of CFU, fans staged an on-pitch protest about Chester City's ownership, leading to the abandonment of the game against Eastbourne Borough at a point when Chester were leading 3–2.^[4] Following a vote of its membership, CFU in January 2010 called for a boycott of Chester City,^[5] after the dismissal of the then manager Jim Harvey, which led to CFU expressing its "disappointment, shock, and anger" at the decision.^[6] The group then began preparations in February 2010 to form a phoenix club for the following season just weeks before Chester City FC was wound up.^[7]

Following the official winding up of Chester City in March 2010, a ballot was held to choose the name for the new club. Over 1,000 people participated in the ballot and 70% voted for the name Chester FC, which had been the old club's name for its first 98 years.^[8] The club received the support of Cheshire West and Chester Council, which granted the lease of the Deva Stadium (subsequently renamed the Exacta Stadium as part of a sponsorship arrangement), Chester City's former ground, to Chester FC in May 2010.^[9]

Establishment

Chester FC started competing in the 2010–11 season. The FA initially recommended that they should be placed in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division,^[10] a decision that the club appealed against.^[11] On 18 June 2010, the FA made a statement^[12] saying that Chester would instead be placed a step higher and would play in the Northern Premier League Division One North, the 8th tier of the English football league system. The club was formally relaunched on 20 May 2010, when Neil Young and Gary Jones were announced as the first manager and assistant of the club.^[13] A pre-season friendly played at Colwyn Bay on 10 July 2010 was the first fixture for the new club, the match resulting in a 2–0 victory for Colwyn Bay. The team's first home friendly was played against Aberystwyth Town which the Blues won 3–0.^[14]

2010–11 season

The club's first league match was on 24 August 2010, away at Warrington Town.^[15] Rob Hopley scored the first ever goal for the club in the 6th minute, but the game ended in a 1–1 draw.^[16] Chester played their first home game against Trafford and won 6–0, Michael Wilde scoring a hat-trick.^[17] In September, Chester lost their first game after a 2–1 home defeat to Chorley.^[18]

Chester went top of their division for the first time following a 2–1 win at Cammell Laird in October,^[19] before equalling their record win when they beat Ossett Albion 6–0 in January 2011, and recording their ninth consecutive away win at Trafford in the same month.^[20] After their win at promotion rivals Skelmersdale in March, the Blues went 12 points clear at the top of the league,^[21] but a number of draws and defeats led to this margin being cut to just a single point by 16 April.^[22]

Second-placed Skelmersdale then dropped points, to leave Chester three points clear with one remaining game, and a goal difference eight ahead of their chasing rivals.^[23] In a wild finale to the season, Chester were promoted by only a single point of goal difference, as the Blues went down to a shock 2–1 defeat at Garforth Town, while Skelmersdale thrashed Ossett Albion 7–2, with two goals from Ossett striker Danny Toronczak the difference between promotion and the playoffs for Chester.^[24]

Unusually for a club at the eighth level of English football, Chester played in neither the FA Trophy nor the FA Cup in their inaugural season, as FA rules required a minimum of one season of prior football before playing in the Trophy, and two years before playing in the Cup.

2011–12 season

Following Chester's promotion to the NPL Premier Division, form was initially variable, with two losses in their first six league fixtures. However, form, particularly defensively, improved greatly, with no goals conceded in September, and the 1–0 win against Chasetown was their seventh successive clean sheet in the league. This run ended after a 1–1 draw away at Buxton in the next match, but only after they established a new Chester City/Chester FC record of 781 minutes without conceding across eight games in all competitions.

Chester's form was strong through November and December, with a run of five consecutive victories, resulting in Chester going top of the table after the 1–0 win against Ashton United, a position the club held at the end of the year, finishing 2011 with a stormy 1–1 draw at second placed Northwich Victoria, a game which saw three dismissals.^[25] They were not to be caught again in the league during the season. During the calendar year 2011, Chester were unbeaten in home league fixtures. Chester's last loss of the season came in their 2–1 home defeat to Hednesford on 21 January. After that point, the team went on a 16-match unbeaten run, including a period of eight consecutive victories encompassing the entirety of March.

On 9 April 2012, Chester gained their second successive promotion, after a late goal from Matty McGinn in the game against second-placed Northwich gave the club a 1–1 draw and the point they needed to see off the challenge with three games remaining. The game was watched by a crowd of 5,009, which was not only a record for the reformed club, but also the highest gate ever recorded in the seventh tier of English football. At the conclusion of the season, Chester finished with 100 points, 17 clear of second-placed Northwich, having scored 102 goals along the way, and conceded only 29.

In the FA Trophy, Chester went on an extended run, winning through three qualifying rounds to reach the first round proper, where they recorded a 5–1 away victory against North Ferriby United. They bowed out of the competition in the second round in an away tie against Conference Premier side Ebbsfleet United, losing 3–2. As this was only the club's second season, they remained ineligible for the FA Cup.

2012–13 season

Chester began the 2012–13 season as second favourites with bookmakers for the Conference North title. Their start to the season justified those predictions, as they won their first seven matches, a club record for Chester FC and also surpassing Chester City's best start to the season. Included in that run were victories over pre-season favourites F.C. Halifax Town and a 4–0 drubbing of previously unbeaten Guiseley. Despite this, the club only sat in second place in the division, as Brackley Town also won each of their first seven games. The run came to an end with a 3–2 defeat at Boston United in Chester's eighth match. After two more victories, against Stalybridge Celtic and Bishop's Stortford, Chester went to the top of the table for the first time due to a 1–1 draw with Bradford Park Avenue. Following this draw, Chester then went on a run of twelve consecutive league victories, including a 3–2 win at Brackley. This run came to an end with a goalless draw, again against Bradford PA on 5 January, which was also the first league match of the season in which Chester failed to score. Chester were promoted to the Conference Premier following their 1–0 win at home to Boston United.

In the FA Cup, Chester FC's first ever match was a 1–1 draw away at Gainsborough Trinity in the second qualifying round. Chester won the replay at the Exacta Stadium 2–1 with goals from Dominic Collins and Levi Mackin. Chester's third qualifying round tie, at home to FC Halifax Town, was marred by crowd trouble, and finished in a 1–1 draw. Chester exited the FA Cup following a 3–1 win by Halifax at The Shay in the replay. The FA Trophy proved less successful for Chester than in the previous season, as the Blues failed to win a single match, exiting in a replay at Worksop Town.

On 6 April 2013, Chester were confirmed as champions of the Conference North, beating Boston United 1–0 at the Exacta through a Lewis Turner header, winning a third successive title, and in doing so, becoming the first club in English football history to achieve three successive promotions. Three promotions in their first three years means that Chester will play their next season's football in the Conference Premier, the level from which their predecessors Chester City were expelled in 2010.

Chester set several league records for the Conference North in this prolific season: most wins (34), fewest defeats (3), most points (107), most goals scored (103), best goal difference (+71) and also the longest unbeaten streak (30 games).

2013–14 season

As expected, for the 2013–14 season, Chester remained as a semi-professional club, despite the presence of a number of full-time clubs in the Conference Premier.^[26] Before the season, bookmakers had high expectations for the Blues, with bookmakers making them eighth favourites for the Conference title.^[27] However, the season started with the Blues in terrible form, with five consecutive defeats, including a 2–0 home defeat to fellow part-timers Woking after the visitors played the entire second half with ten men. Their losing run ended with a 2–0 away win against arch rivals Wrexham.^[28] This was the first Cross-border derby match since Chester had reformed.

However, by the end of December Chester were still in the relegation zone with only 4 wins and had been knocked out of the FA Cup and FA Trophy both after defeats in starting matches. On 8 January manager Neil Young left Chester by mutual consent after three and a half seasons.^[29] Neil's assistant manager Gary Jones was put in charge while the club sought for a new manager. 18 January sees Steve Burr presented as the new manager after a consideration of 53 applications for the post received by Chester. Chester finished the season in 21st place and were relegated on goal difference. However, they were reprieved on 10 June after Hereford United, the team who finished above Chester in 20th place, were expelled from the Conference Premier for financial irregularities.^[30]

2014–15 season

Chester remained in the Conference Premier for the 2014–15 season, after being allowed to stay in the league due to the expulsion of Hereford United. Chester started the season rather poorly, recording only one win in the month of August and were also heavily beaten 5–0 on the opening day of the season against Barnet. Chester gradually started to pick their form up over a 4-month period and at the turn of the year Chester were in good form playing noticeably well in their 4–0 win over Lincoln City in January. At this point in the season, Chester were hovering around the Play Off positions and it was thought that they may make an unexpected push for promotion.

Chester's form dipped slightly throughout February, March and the start of April, lleading to them slipping down the table away from the Play Off places. Some of these loses featured heavy defeats at the hands of Bristol Rovers and Forest Green Rovers in the early stages of April. However, they ended the season on a high by winning their final 3 games. Chester showed a particular amount of character in the final game of the season as they came back from losing 3–1, to beat Nuneaton Town 5–3 after a strong second half performance. Chester ended the season in 12th place with 63 points, which was regarded a great improvement from the 2013–14 season.

Crest and colours

Crest

The crest was designed by Martin Huxley, a Chester-based graphic artist and Chester F.C. fan,^[31] who described the symbols in the crest thus: "The Wolf dates back to when William the Conqueror's nephew, Hugh d'Avranches was appointed the Earl of Chester. He had the nickname 'Lupus' which is the Latin translation for 'wolf'. The crown refers to Chester being a royalist City. Badge variations make it unclear whether the leaves are laurel, a recognised symbol of victory, or oak, a significant (and common) tree in Chester. Oak has long been used in the Cheshire Regiment's logo, reference to saving King George II's life beneath an oak tree at the Battle of Dettingen in 1743."^[31]

In keeping with the club's crest, Chester's mascot is a friendly wolf called 'Big Lupus'.^[32]

Colours

Chester play in blue and white top with blue shorts and blue and white socks, similar to their predecessors Chester City. For their first two seasons their shirts were made by sportswear company Joma; from the 2012–13 season onwards the kit will be made by Puma, whilst since reformation the club's kit has been sponsored by MBNA.^[33][34] The Blues' away shirt colour has changed on an annual basis, having been purple in their first season,^[33] yellow in 2011–12,^[35] and green in 2012–13. The proposed away kit for the 2013–14 season is grey with black detail.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Period	Kit Manufacturer	Shirt Sponsor
2010–2012	Joma	MBNA
2012–2015	Puma
2015–		MBNA & Skywheels Group

Stadium

Chester F.C. play at the Deva Stadium, the home of their predecessor. The stadium is currently renamed the Vauxhall Lookers Stadium due to a sponsorship deal. It has a capacity of 5,376 with 4,170 seated.

The stadium was leased to the club by Cheshire West and Chester Council.^[9] The stadium is located in the Sealand Road Industrial Estate and is notable for straddling the England-Wales border.^[36] The whole ground is in Wales (Flintshire) with part of the car park in England.^[37]

The highest home league attendance at the Exacta Stadium was in April 2012 against Northwich Victoria, with a crowd of 5,009.

Rivals

The main rivals of Chester F.C. are Welsh neighbours Wrexham, as was the case for their predecessor. Also like their predecessors Chester still have a rivalry with Cheshire neighbours Macclesfield Town. Despite the clubs not meeting yet the traditional rivalries with Crewe Alexandra, Shrewsbury Town and Tranmere Rovers are believed to still exist. In the early years of the reformed Chester they met other Cheshire rivals of whom they hadn't met many times before or probably won't ever meet again. The clubs included Vauxhall Motors, Witton Albion, Warrington Town, Nantwich Town and more notably Northwich Victoria. On Chester's way back to the Conference Premier they also formed a smaller rivalry with Chorley.

Players

Current squad

As of 29 January 2016.^{[38][39][40][41]}

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Jon Worsnop 2 DF Ryan Higgins 3 DF Johnny Hunt 5 MF Luke George (captain) 6 DF Ian Sharps 7 MF Craig Mahon 8 MF Tom Shaw 9 FW Ross Hannah 10 MF John Rooney 11 MF Jordan Chapell 12 MF Sam Hughes

No. Position Player 13 GK Tony Thompson 16 MF Steven Hewitt 17 DF Ryan Astles 19 FW Craig Hobson 20 FW Jason Gilchrist (On loan from Burnley) 21 FW Tom Peers 22 DF Ben Heneghan 23 FW James Alabi 24 FW Nyal Bell (On loan from Rochdale) 26 MF Ryan Lloyd (On loan from Port Vale)

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player 15 FW Kane Richards (On loan at Gainsborough Trinity)

Club captains

Below is a list of all players who have been selected to captain the squad to date:

Years	Player
2010–2014	George Horan
2014–2015	Matthew Brown
2015–2016	Ian Sharps
2016–	Luke George

International appearances

The following table shows players who have received an international cap whilst playing for the club (including substitutions) arranged alphabetically by nation in descending order:

Years	Player	Nation	Appearances	Goals	Ref.
2010, 2011–2013	Antoni Sarcevic	England C	1	1	[42]
2014–2015	Kingsley James	England C	3	1	[43][44][45]
2014–	Ben Heneghan	England C	1	0	[45]
2013–2014	Danny Higginbotham	Gibraltar	1	0	[46]
2015	Jamie McDonagh	Northern Ireland U21's	1	0	[47]
2015	Oliver McBurnie	Scotland U19's	3	1	[48][49][50]

Most league appearances and goals

As of 2 January 2016.

The following table shows players who have made 50 league appearances or more for the club (including substitutions) and players who have scored 25 league goals or more for the club (including penalties) in descending order:

Years	Player	Appearances	Years	Player	Goals
2010–2014	George Horan	138	2010–2012	Michael Wilde	41
2011–2014	John Danby	100	2010–2013	Iain Howard	27
2013–2014, 2014–	John Rooney	96	2011–2012	Chris Simm	25
2010–2013	Iain Howard	95
2013–	Craig Mahon
2013–2015	Michael Kay	75
2011, 2011–2013	Matty McGinn	71
2011–2014	Ashley Williams	70
2014–	Jon Worsnop
2010–2013	Robbie Booth	68
2014–	Craig Hobson	67
2010–2012	Michael Wilde	66
2010, 2011–2013	Antoni Sarcevic	64
2014–	Ben Heneghan
2011–2013	Wes Baynes	62
2011–2012	Chris Simm	61
2012–2014	Paul Linwood	58
2010–2012	Michael Taylor	53
2012–2013	Marc Williams	50
2013, 2013–2014	Lewis Turner

Management

Current management and coaching staff

Name	Role
Steve Burr	Manager
Jon McCarthy	Assistant Manager
Chris Herbert	Coordinator
Karl Lineghan	Goalkeeping Coach
Jimmy Soul	Kit Man
Kath Hopwood	Physio
Luke Davies	Assistant Physio

Managerial history

As of 18 January 2016.

Name	From	To	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %	Honours
Neil Young	20 May 2010	8 January 2014	182	114	35	33	62.64	NPL Division One North Champions 2010–11 Supporters Direct Cup Winners 2011 NPL Premier Division Champions 2011–12 Peter Swales Shield Winners 2012 Cheshire Senior Cup Winners 2012–13 Conference North Champions 2012–13
Gary Jones (Caretaker)	8 January 2014	18 January 2014	1	1	0	0	100.00
Steve Burr	18 January 2014	present	108	41	21	46	38.00

Includes all league and cup competitions

Performance

League standings

As of 2 January 2016.

Year	League	Level	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Position	Leading league scorer	Goals	FA Cup	FA Trophy	Cheshire Senior Cup	Average attendance
2010–11	NPL Division One North	8	44	29	10	5	107	36	+71	97	1st of 23 Promoted	Michael Wilde	36	N/A	N/A	Round 2	2,382
2011–12	NPL Premier Division	7	42	31	7	4	102	29	+73	100	1st of 22 Promoted	Chris Simm	15	N/A	Round 2	Round 2	2,789
2012–13	Conference North	6	42	34	5	3	103	32	+71	107	1st of 22 Promoted	Nathan Jarman	14	Round Q3	Round Q3	Winners	2,579
2013–14	Conference Premier	5	46	12	15	19	49	70	−21	51	21st of 24 Reprieved*	Gareth Seddon	7	Round Q4	Round 1	Round 2	2,366
2014–15	Conference Premier	5	46	19	6	21	64	76	−12	63	12th of 24	John Rooney	11	Round 2	Round 1	Preliminary Round	2,189
2015–16	National League	5	28	9	7	12	35	42	−8	34	15th of 24	Ross Hannah	14	Round Q4	Round 2	Round 1	2,223

• Chester were later reprieved due to Hereford United's financial irregularities.

Honours

The list of honours achieved by Chester is as follows:

League

• Conference North
  • Champions: 2012–13^[51]

• Northern Premier League Premier Division
  • Champions: 2011–12^[52]

• Northern Premier League Division One North
  • Champions: 2010–11^[53]

Cups

• Cheshire Senior Cup
  • Winners: 2012–13^[54]

Other trophies

• Peter Swales Shield
  • Winners: 2012^[55]

• Supporters Direct Cup
  • Winners: 2011^[56]

References

External links

• Club website
• City Fans United website
• Chester FC coverage from the Chester Chronicle

National League National League Clubs Aldershot Town Altrincham Barrow Boreham Wood Braintree Town Bromley Cheltenham Town Chester Dover Athletic Eastleigh FC Halifax Town Forest Green Rovers Gateshead Grimsby Town Guiseley Kidderminster Harriers Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Southport Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Welling United Woking Wrexham Grounds Aggborough Blundell Park Crabble Athletic Ground Cressing Road Deva Stadium Gateshead International Stadium Haig Avenue Hayes Lane Holker Street Kingfield Stadium Meadow Park Moss Lane Moss Rose Nethermoor Park Park View Road Plainmoor Prenton Park Racecourse Ground Recreation Ground Sincil Bank Ten Acres The New Lawn The Shay Whaddon Road North AFC Fylde AFC Telford United Alfreton Town Boston United Brackley Town Bradford Park Avenue Chorley Corby Town Curzon Ashton FC United of Manchester Gainsborough Trinity Gloucester City Harrogate Town Hednesford Town Lowestoft Town North Ferriby United Nuneaton Town Solihull Moors Stalybridge Celtic Stockport County Tamworth Worcester City South Basingstoke Town Bath City Bishop's Stortford Chelmsford City Concord Rangers Dartford Eastbourne Borough Ebbsfleet United Gosport Borough Havant & Waterlooville Hayes & Yeading United Hemel Hempstead Town Maidenhead United Maidstone United Margate Oxford City St Albans City Sutton United Truro City Wealdstone Weston-super-Mare Whitehawk Seasons 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 See also: Conference League Cup

Chester Football Club Overview Players Managers All articles Ground Deva Stadium Rivalries Cross-border derby Seasons 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 See also Chester City

Coordinates: 53°11′21.05″N 2°55′25.73″W / 53.1891806°N 2.9238139°W / 53.1891806; -2.9238139