Chester go, erm bust

[boltonboris]

On the scale of money available from TV and sponsorship it isn't helping the grass roots of english soccer and that is very sad.

Why can't there be some form of soccer "charity" that helps teams like Chester out? Mind they appear to have been very badly run by the owners.

The more these teams are 'helped' the more the idiots will continue to drain their resources.

[rockthereebok]

On the scale of money available from TV and sponsorship it isn't helping the grass roots of english soccer and that is very sad.

Why can't there be some form of soccer "charity" that helps teams like Chester out? Mind they appear to have been very badly run by the owners.

The more these teams are 'helped' the more the idiots will continue to drain their resources.

From the orginal BBC story up there...

But, due to the continued presence of the Vaughan family as the club's owners, the Football League chose to deny Chester the discretionary payment due to both them and Luton Town following relegation from the Football League.

City were also overlooked for a one-off £30,000 hardship payment provided to all other Conference clubs by the Premier League.

So help is on offer, but not to clubs that are being hideously mis-managed by people who shouldn't even be in charge of them. In some ways Chester fans are actually relieved the club has gone as it put paid to the Vaughan's attempts to move them to Wales.

The lesson from this isn't a financial one, but one which shows more needs to be done to protect football clubs from those who see them as a way to make some quick cash...

[bobo the clown]

I have an office in Chester city centre & truth be told I've not heard one comment about the club's demise.

It's truly sad & I know some absolute stalwart supporters, but the clubs been run like a car crash for 15 years now & this has been coming a long time.

Who owns the stadium & land, Bobo? Bottom end of Sealand Rd Ind Est - I'd have thought it'd be worth a bob or two.

It appears that the stadium is owned by West Chehire & Chester County Council (doesn't THAT name just roll off the tongue ?).

There is talk of a pheonix club being created and those suggesting this want the Council to grant the ground to the new club. Not that it exists yet.

I'd be surprised if there really is any real chance of a new club arriving & making anything of itself. As I suggested, though it's news now I fear it'll just be chip-paper in a couple of weeks. Like it or not local football fans generally look to Liverpool, Everton & Stretford. Citeh have a small following and then there are people who's origins & affiliations are non-local like me who support all & sundry.

The record crowd EVER is 5,900. I suspect more than that travel out of the area each weekend to watch their club of choice. If you decide to stay local with your support, though there's a good population around & about there, Chester's ability to maximise that is limited because of the Welsh/English thing in some eyes. So you may well live in Quensferry or Mold, but if you're Welsh you'd more likely support Wrexham.

A small club may well spring up but it'll rattle around the Unibonds for years.

As the city owns the ground it can't be sold by the club, new or old. The council may be loath to sell in on for development and the industrial nature of the area its in would limit it's development use. There's a deal of light industry there but there aren't queue's of Companies demanding premises these days.

[tony cunninghams willy]

This is all very sad. I remember years ago going to Chester away when they put on a fleet of double decker buses from the station to the ground and back. There was also a special train back to Bolton non stop, such was the reputation of our "fans" at the time.

It all went downhill when Sealand Road was sold to create some retail monstrosity and after a few years commuting to Macclesfield, they returned to play in a Lego stadium with a capacity of about 5k.
I remember some wacky American dude bought the club, sacked the manager then installed himself as manager. They were promptly relegated from the old Div 4 to the Conference then came back up a few years later and managed to survive for a few years before dropping back to the Conference.

I believe the new club they are trying to start have been told that they would be promised membership of the Unibond Premier. This seems a little odd as Halifax had to restart at Unibond 1 North. Chester will be the third demoted club the Unibond has had to accomodate over the last 3 years, the previous being Boston and Halifax.

There seems little interest in football in Chester, crowds at the Deva Stadium and Sealand Road have proved that.

[Bruce Rioja]

I remember some wacky American dude bought the club, sacked the manager then installed himself as manager. They were promptly relegated from the old Div 4 to the Conference then came back up a few years later and managed to survive for a few years before dropping back to the Conference.

I remember that cock - he arranged the team in a Gridiron formation utilising either two or three captains. You think he might've tried the experiment with a local amateur side first really, but hey oh.

[bobo the clown]

I remember some wacky American dude bought the club, sacked the manager then installed himself as manager. They were promptly relegated from the old Div 4 to the Conference then came back up a few years later and managed to survive for a few years before dropping back to the Conference.

I remember that cock - he arranged the team in a Gridiron formation utilising either two or three captains. You think he might've tried the experiment with a local amateur side first really, but hey oh.

Oh, it got better than that.

Having made himself manager he then registered himself & actually played himself from the bench a few times.

There was the constant recruitment & sacking of Mark Wright to add to that as well.

[rockthereebok]

This is all very sad. I remember years ago going to Chester away when they put on a fleet of double decker buses from the station to the ground and back. There was also a special train back to Bolton non stop, such was the reputation of our "fans" at the time.

It all went downhill when Sealand Road was sold to create some retail monstrosity and after a few years commuting to Macclesfield, they returned to play in a Lego stadium with a capacity of about 5k.
I remember some wacky American dude bought the club, sacked the manager then installed himself as manager. They were promptly relegated from the old Div 4 to the Conference then came back up a few years later and managed to survive for a few years before dropping back to the Conference.

I believe the new club they are trying to start have been told that they would be promised membership of the Unibond Premier. This seems a little odd as Halifax had to restart at Unibond 1 North. Chester will be the third demoted club the Unibond has had to accomodate over the last 3 years, the previous being Boston and Halifax.

There seems little interest in football in Chester, crowds at the Deva Stadium and Sealand Road have proved that.

I think the Unibond Premier is now the equivilent of the old Unibond 1 North, what with the introduction of the Blue Square North and South divisions.

It's a shame a city the size of Chester can't maintain a decent crowd for football games, I suppose the Premier League will just keep sucking fans away from little clubs...

[superjohnmcginlay]

This is all very sad. I remember years ago going to Chester away when they put on a fleet of double decker buses from the station to the ground and back. There was also a special train back to Bolton non stop, such was the reputation of our "fans" at the time.

It all went downhill when Sealand Road was sold to create some retail monstrosity and after a few years commuting to Macclesfield, they returned to play in a Lego stadium with a capacity of about 5k.
I remember some wacky American dude bought the club, sacked the manager then installed himself as manager. They were promptly relegated from the old Div 4 to the Conference then came back up a few years later and managed to survive for a few years before dropping back to the Conference.

I believe the new club they are trying to start have been told that they would be promised membership of the Unibond Premier. This seems a little odd as Halifax had to restart at Unibond 1 North. Chester will be the third demoted club the Unibond has had to accomodate over the last 3 years, the previous being Boston and Halifax.

There seems little interest in football in Chester, crowds at the Deva Stadium and Sealand Road have proved that.

I think the Unibond Premier is now the equivilent of the old Unibond 1 North, what with the introduction of the Blue Square North and South divisions.

It's a shame a city the size of Chester can't maintain a decent crowd for football games, I suppose the Premier League will just keep sucking fans away from little clubs...

No Unibond 1 North is still below Unibond Premier. Halifax are currently 2nd. C'mon 'alifax!

[tony cunninghams willy]

This is all very sad. I remember years ago going to Chester away when they put on a fleet of double decker buses from the station to the ground and back. There was also a special train back to Bolton non stop, such was the reputation of our "fans" at the time.

It all went downhill when Sealand Road was sold to create some retail monstrosity and after a few years commuting to Macclesfield, they returned to play in a Lego stadium with a capacity of about 5k.
I remember some wacky American dude bought the club, sacked the manager then installed himself as manager. They were promptly relegated from the old Div 4 to the Conference then came back up a few years later and managed to survive for a few years before dropping back to the Conference.

I believe the new club they are trying to start have been told that they would be promised membership of the Unibond Premier. This seems a little odd as Halifax had to restart at Unibond 1 North. Chester will be the third demoted club the Unibond has had to accomodate over the last 3 years, the previous being Boston and Halifax.

There seems little interest in football in Chester, crowds at the Deva Stadium and Sealand Road have proved that.

I think the Unibond Premier is now the equivilent of the old Unibond 1 North, what with the introduction of the Blue Square North and South divisions.

It's a shame a city the size of Chester can't maintain a decent crowd for football games, I suppose the Premier League will just keep sucking fans away from little clubs...

No Unibond 1 North is still below Unibond Premier. Halifax are currently 2nd. C'mon 'alifax!

C'mon Lancaster!!!

[Bruce Rioja]

C'mon 'alifax!

C'mon Lancaster!!!

C'mon Chorley!!!

[superjohnmcginlay]

C'mon 'alifax!

C'mon Lancaster!!!

C'mon Chorley!!!

We'll do both of you!

Friday 2nd April - Halifax v Chorley - might go to this.

Saturday 10th April - Halifax v Lancaster. (top of the table clash!)

[tony cunninghams willy]

C'mon 'alifax!

C'mon Lancaster!!!

C'mon Chorley!!!