Senior Blues Meeting Recap: December 2024
The scheduled guest speakers at another well attended meeting were Joe Swiffen from Mynydd Sleddog Adventures and ex-Chester fullback Nigel Edwards.
Joe gave an illustrated talk about how her love of animals had led her from a childhood in Northamptonshire to setting up her company in North Wales in 2020 after working in the field of careers advice with both young people and offenders. We learned about the different dog breeds used for competitive Sleddog racing around the world, the ones she operates with, and the numerous activities and courses that are available for “8 to 80 year olds” (so that lets me out) from her base near Llyn Brenig.
The combination of her work with sleddogs and education has also led to Occupational Therapy projects and partnerships with the North Wales Forensic Psychiatric Service involving NHS funding. Joe also brought one of her very well behaved dogs (a mum who had produced two litters) who received considerable attention from the members. A lively Q&A followed and it’s fair to say that her talk was very well appreciated with a demand for leaflets which outstripped supply, causing your trusty scribe to nip out to the car park to get some more before she left. For those interested her website is www.mynyddsleddogadventures.com.
Nigel, who was due to speak next, graciously sat aside when Calum McIntyre arrived to give his annual Christmas address before he had to dash off somewhere on a football matter. Without going into detail, Cal was forthright, took on all questions, and duly dashed off somewhere.
When Nigel was introduced by Chairman Chris for the second time he was asked to reflect on the Leeds game. Surprisingly he couldn’t remember very much about it as it was “so easy”. (NB., your trusty scribe was at Sealand Road in the capacity of a Leeds United devotee that particular evening and also remembers very little about it. Other than disappointment).
Nigel remembered the Newcastle game as being hard though. He recalled stories of pickpockets on packed terraces, pranks in hotel bedrooms and a certain night club adventure. Trevor Storton stood out as the best he had played with, whilst he thought Dave Lennard was underrated. After his first spell at Chester which amounted to around 300 appearances over 10 years, he moved to Aldershot where he was a regular for four more years and where he found the squad much more closely knit off the pitch.
His return to Sealand Road via a fans fund raiser (involving Chairman Chris) was very different to his first spell and very difficult, and after only a short time he was looking to leave. At the end of season he moved to Oswestry after only eight further appearances which signalled the end of his Football League career. When asked about today’s players he considered Kevin de Bruyne as perhaps the best player whilst “Trent” (is there another footballer known by his Christian name only) was the best of the modern fullbacks.
After the meeting around 60 members and guests including special guest Lord Mayor of Chester, Councillor Razia Daniels, making a return appearance, made their way to the Legends Lounge for a very enjoyable Christmas meal arranged courtesy of GWG Catering (Bar and Events provider at the Deva).
In her address Councillor Daniels thanked us for the invitation and indicated her intention to make further visits to the Deva on matchdays. The Committee’s Christmas Hamper raffle proved to be a highly successful fund raiser and was won by Dave Garner (from Wxm). Many thanks to everyone who entered. The continued generosity of our members is very much appreciated and all funds raised are for the benefit of Chester FC, especially the Academy.
Next Meeting, Friday Jan 3rd. Guest Speaker, David Mottram. Subject ” the Pleasure Gardens at Eastham”. Yep, you read it right. Once upon a time there were such things (along with Eastham Ferry). We try to cover a wide range of interests. As always, there will also be a Chester FC related speaker yet to be confirmed.
In the meantime, best wishes for Christmas and we look forward to seeing you again in the New Year. New members are always welcome.