NEXT MEETING
WHEN? Friday 2nd May at 10.30am
WHERE? The Cestrian, Deva Stadium, CH1 4LT
WHO? Guest speakers include Phil Turner of Seals Live and go to Football Finance expert and “the Price of Football” podcaster, Kieran Maguire
New members are welcome! Annual membership remains at £10 and renewals will be collected at the meeting. All proceeds from meetings are reinvested in the Club, the principal beneficiary being the Senior Blues Youth Foundation.
Chester FC Senior Blues is a group for older supporters who meet monthly and organise regular social activities.
Formed in 2013, largely through the efforts of the much missed Peter Mitchell and Chairman Chris Courtenay Williams, the Senior Blues meet on the first Friday morning of the month in the Blues Bar from August to May.
New members are very welcome with membership costing only £10 a year.
Meetings start at 10.30am and are well attended with generally between 50 and 70 members present. Tea, coffee and biscuits are served and there is a raffle and merchandise for sale
All monies raised is for the benefit of Chester FC, with the principal focus being the Academy, which has received approximately £30,000 to date.
New members are welcome and all money raised goes to the Senior Blues Youth Foundation.
LATEST NEWS
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for March 2025
Chairman Chris opened the meeting by paying tribute to Wendy Potts, one of the original Committee of the Senior Blues.
The first guest speaker was CFU Director Will Lamb, who was elected onto the Board in November 2023 and is now involved in the Commercial Portfolio. He pointed out how commercial revenue was critical for both maintenance of the Deva Stadium and for the team budget and in the absence of a Commercial Manager, the work was being done principally by himself and Albert Davies. Sponsorships were secured for this season for three stands although Stadium sponsorship and East stand deals were still outstanding. MBNA sponsorship was on going until the end of 2026.
Will stressed the importance of generating bigger revenues to finance the playing and stadium budgets. Pitch rentals are available for end of season tournaments whilst use of club facilities including the car park were continually being explored. Matchday, kit, programme and perimeter board sponsorships were all touched upon and although the club has suffered losses over each of the last two seasons, the Board was anticipating a surplus for 2024-25. Finally, he gave a mention to the hard work being done at the club by the Directors including Club Treasurer Neil Berry and board members Steve Jones (Junior Section & Volunteers) and Nick Phillipson (Infrastructure).
Les then introduced Dan Metcalf, grandson of former player Mike Metcalf. Dan explained how he was in the process of producing a feature length film about a charity football match played in 1967 at the ground of South Liverpool FC. Entitled “Metcalf vs Puskas, The Forgotten Game” Dan is intent on telling the story of how his grandad played in a charity game featuring a stellar line up of British football stars including Billy Liddell, John Charles, Malcolm Allison, Dave Hickson and Billy Bingham and the legendary Hungarian maestro Ferenc Puskas. The documentary will also explore how Mike, an adopted child, forged a career in football in comparison to that of Puskas (who went on to play for Real Madrid at the age of 31).
Dan explained the process of obtaining funding, including a kickstarter campaign, the research conducted and the production challenges not the least being the exorbitant cost of £85 per second for archive footage. Grants and tax rebates, film crews and resources were also mentioned. He name checked Chas Sumner, Charlie Lambert and Albert as particularly helpful in the background research. Dan thanked the Senior Blues for giving him the opportunity to promote the project and welcomed anyone with any memories of his grandad (or the game) to share them with him after the meeting.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for February 2025
Chairman Chris opened another well attended meeting by introducing Jim Green who updated us on what has been happening at the Deva Stadium.
Jim started by saying that the Club take on board the comments of fans, and are aware, for example, of comments on Social Media and spoke about the new Fan Engagement Group that had recently been convened comprising Board members and representatives from a number of supporter organisations (your trusty scribe is representing the Senior Blues).
He updated us on the bars and kiosks and the Fanzone. On the facilities front, he outlined progress on the disabled fans viewing platform, the use of the car park as an income source (currently around £2K/month), and the parts of the stadium that are showing their age, including the pitch irrigation system. The situation with SAG and stadium capacity was also covered.
On the playing side, the season so far was reviewed and the financial implication to the playing budget should we get promotion. In the Q&A session, it was good to hear that no ground improvements are necessary to comply with the National League. Jim dealt with a number of associated topics such as transfers, the current playing budget, overnight stays, and the cost of extra policing and sniffer dogs as a result of flare throwing incidents (£2.5K).
The second guest was Adrian Hughes, founder and operator of the Home Front Museum, Llandudno. He described how he had become fascinated by the second World War as a child, so much so that in 1999 he took over an old garage in New Street and self-built his museum which opened the following year. He based his informative, entertaining and illustrated talk on 45 objects to be found in the museum most of them accompanied by a short anecdote.
We learned about brooches, bells, baths (tin), budgies and butterfly bombs; gas masks, George Formby memorabilia and even hysteria tablets for dogs. Who knew that the Inland Revenue moved 5000 officials to Llandudno and even produced their own newspaper, The Ormescliffe Gazette? Furthermore who knew what a caltrop was? Although they were issued to the Home Guard I can’t remember seeing any in Dad’s Army.
The museum celebrates 25yrs in September and is open from late March to October. As Adrian pointed out, he has done it his way, it is his full time project. And if his talk is anything to go by, it is well worth a visit.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for January 2025
On a cold, cold January morning, barely recovered from the excesses of New Year celebrations, the hardy souls that are the Senior Blues gathered in the Cestrian Bar for the first meeting of 2025.
Our two guests were Chester stalwart Mark Howell and returning speaker Dr David Mottram. Mark described the importance of developing a viewing platform and access to the Legends Lounge for disabled supporters. He also explained why the Blacon Seals group had embarked on a fund raiser to support the project. For those not yet aware, this involved 20+ supporters setting off from the Deva Stadium at 4am on Boxing Day and walking over 24 miles to Marine FC at Crosby for the match.(NB, they used Merseyrail rather than walk on water). He pointed out that his feet were still recovering. The total that had been raised through individual and group contributions (including the Senior Blues) stood in excess of £11,000 helped by the fact that the involvement of the Community Trust allowed donations to be gift aided, which has raised the overall amount to almost £14,000 at the time of writing.
The project is the brainchild of Chester FC director Steve Jones who has been assisted by like minded professionals within the fan base who have given their time and expertise in the planning and costing. The scheme is expected to cost in the region of £305k, some of which is eligible for 70% grant funding from the Premier League. Nevertheless considerable fund raising is still required. Steve also said a few words to amplify Mark’s talk and provide further insight. He also expressed his thanks to the Blacon Seals. Senior Blues members were quick to respond, donating £110 cash through additional individual contributions at the meeting. (Mark posted his gratitude online on behalf of the Blacon Seals). Donations will still be gratefully received via cash, cheque made out to Chester FC Community Trust (mark envelope “Walk for Change”), or online at justgiving.com/page/ccfctxblaconseals.
In complete contrast to his previous talk (Drugs in Sport) David Mottram returned to tell us all about Eastham Victorian Pleasure Gardens which proved to be a fascinating insight into the rise and fall of a tourist attraction. Starting in 1066 ( and why not?) we learned that Hugh Lupus (a familiar name) was awarded the land in 1071 and in turn became the 1st Earl of Chester (and subsequently Club mascot). Eastham was in fact a relatively significant settlement at the time. It even gained a mention in the Domesday book, boasting 79 households putting it in the largest 20% of those settlements recorded. Eastham church was established in 1150 and donated to the Benedictine monastery of St Werburgh two years later. Incidentally, the church yew tree is believed to be over 1600 years old.
The Eastham ferry to Liverpool operated in various forms from 1357 to 1929. Initially it was a route to Liverpool avoiding the road to Birkenhead (why not?) with up to 40 stagecoaches a day unloading in the 1770’s. However, after the building of the New Chester road in 1833 and the opening of the Chester to Birkenhead railway in 1840, commercial traffic declined and it became a tourist route transporting day trippers from NW England via Liverpool to the ever developing Pleasure Gardens and the accompanying Bote House pub (now the Tap) and the Stanley Arms (now the Eastham Ferry Hotel). The Pleasure Gardens were clearly something special with ballroom, bandstand, circus ring, floral gardens and zoological gardens. The great Blondin performed for more than 100,000 people over 19 days in 1883 which is recorded on a Blue Plaque. Animals included lions (in houses), bears (pits), seals (tanks), polar bears (cages), monkeys (houses) and birds (aviaries). However, the high cost of feeding this menagerie led to its closure by 1890. Coinciding with the Boer War, there was also a Transvaal rifle range (no comment).
At the turn of the century, boats arrived every 15 mins and the landing stage and pier catered for 100,000 merry travellers on a fine weekend. The water chute, loop the loop ride, donkey rides, boating lake and penny slots were further attractions until its popularity declined in the 1920’s as improved road and rail transport enabled travel to other destinations. The ferry finally closed in 1929 which led to the Garden’s decline and most things disappeared over the next few years culminating in the ballroom burning down in 1958. The area was designated a Woodland and Country Park in 1970 (now owned by the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral) where the bear pit and part of the boating lake wall are last remnants of its former glory.
For anyone interested, there is plenty of online information by searching for “Eastham Country Park”, and “Eastham Victorian Pleasure Gardens”. Last time I went, probably before Covid, there was a small cafe that did a great BLT. IMO, worth a visit just for the exercise.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for 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.
Senior Blues present £250 cheque to Blacon Seals fundraiser for disabled viewing platform
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for November 2024
As your regular correspondent and his able deputy were each unfortunately otherwise engaged Chairman Chris has undertaken the mammoth task of both chairing and reporting on what was another interesting meeting.
The meeting opened with our AGM. The Chairman’s opening report focused on the progress of the Senior Blues over the previous 12 months, highlighting the handgrip project which appears to have been welcomed by the Supporters of the East and West Stands. The next project is help fund the cost of the area redevelopment for wheelchair users in the East Stand. The financial report from treasurer Martin Williams, was accepted by members and there were no questions.
The Senior Blues committee were re-elected by a show of hands, to serve another year.
Our first guest was ex-Chester goalkeeper Reg Barton. Now 82, he was pleasantly surprised at how many of our members remembered him. A lifelong fan of the club, (he is a current Season Ticket holder) Reg signed for the club in 1957, and played junior and reserve team football before turning professional four years later. He made his first team debut on September 27th 1961 against Doncaster Rovers, but suffered a 2-3 defeat.
There was strong competition for the goalkeeper’s spot at that time, so his appearances were limited, but due to an injury to regular goalkeeper Dennis Reeves, in the well remembered 1964-65 season, Reg managed to get a run of games. During that run, Reg played in the never-to-be forgotten local derby game against Wrexham at Sealand Road on February 27th, in front of a crowd 14,782. Reg remembered the exact figure! Chester thrashed their local rivals 6-1. Reg, said that was the highlight of his time at Chester, and most probably in his football career.
He spoke highly about Dennis Reeves, the man who kept him out of the goalkeeper’s jersey for so long, saying he rated him as the best goalkeeper he had seen at that time. Reg was released at the end of that season and went into Non-League Welsh football, playing for a number of teams, including Holyhead and Penmaenmawr, and Connahs Quay Nomads. He worked at both British Aerospace and Capenhurst and retired from playing football at the age of 35.
Our next speaker was Dave Powell, one time Chester FC reporter for the Chronicle, and now Business of Football correspondent for Reach plc and good friend of the Senior Blues. Our members very much enjoyed Dave’s hour long explanation about the intricate business of money and football. He covered many topics which are briefly mentioned below.
Dave is confident that Everton have a brighter future ahead with the new takeover coming up, and in time for their move to the new stadium.
Asked about Wrexham up the road, he says they now owe their owners £10m plus accruing interest, and quite possibly sees the club getting into the Championship, but thinks that’s where their climb up the leagues will stall, due to the financial restraints involved.
Dave also revealed that rapper, “ASAP Rocky”, boyfriend of the singer Rihanna, is likely to be part of the consortium that wants to take over Tranmere Rovers.
He thinks the current situation of the vast amounts of TV money coming into the game can’t continue forever and there will come a limit as to what sponsors and football supporters will pay. He considered some of the mooted changes happening in football, such as playing some Premier League games abroad in the USA as not a good thing, as it fractures our domestic game.
He touched on the domination of the Welsh Premier League by fully professional team T.N.S. Although they play in a European Cup competition every season because of continually winning their League, they have to play their Euro home games away from their home base to meet the necessary requirements. Dave said that even though they only get a handful of fans to their home league games, they could actually manage without any fans at all, because of their sponsorship and vast amounts of cash they receive from playing in Europe.
Dave is very much a Chester supporter through and through, and loves nothing better than coming down to the Deva for a game, when he’s not jetting off somewhere around the world. He was flying off to a conference in New York the following day after he spoke to us. He loves being part of our club, and wouldn’t swap it for any other club. This is coming from a man who visits Premiership clubs regularly as part of his job.
Thanks Reg and Dave for giving their time, and big thanks to Chairman Chris for a remarkable feat of multitasking, (which seems a remarkably bizarre word when seen in print).
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for October 2024
Having failed a fitness test, your regular correspondent was replaced at short notice from the subs bench by Committee member Colin who has surely staked a claim for a regular starting spot with the following words of wisdom.
The latest meeting kicked off with another of John Bithell’s brain-teasing quizzes. Those hoping to win needed to know, amongst other things, the herbal ingredient of classic pesto sauce; to whom the tabloid press were referring in the 1950’s when they used the headline “Egghead marries the Hourglass”; and which Chester player once scored five goals in a match*. The victorious team were duly awarded some tubes of Smarties.
Club director Mike Vickers then spoke to us about the Fair Game movement – of which Chester is a participant member. Currently 32 clubs are active, of which 13 are in the Football League – they include Luton Town, Tranmere and Shrewsbury. We were reminded of the recent Fair Game Index which ranks clubs based on a variety of criteria: Financial Sustainability; Governance; Equality and Ethical Standards, and Fan and Community Engagement. Chester were ranked top of the National League North by these standards although there is still room for improvement.
Mike spoke passionately about holding politicians to account to make sure they approve an Independent Regulator for football with power to act, and he spoke too on the existence of a north/south divide in football as well as in the national economy. He even persuaded Fair Game to hold their first national conference at Chester last year. (I remember it well. A double booking of the Boardroom forced us to hold our committee meeting in the press room from where we watched the assembled luminaries gather in the stand for the obligatory photograph.- Les)
Next honoured guest was Jimmy Redfern, former Chester player over the period 1973-77, and part of the side which won a first ever promotion for the club in 1975. Mike Vickers was not alone in the room in remembering Jimmy crossing from the right wing at Crewe for Stuart Mason to score with a diving header in the final game of the season which effectively sealed that promotion. Jimmy went on to further his career in America, playing for Washington Diplomats under former Manchester United player Dennis Viollet. He played in his most memorable game against New York Cosmos in what was to be Pele’s last official League match before his retirement. Pele scored a penalty for Cosmos only goal whilst Jimmy scored both of Washington’s as they emerged victorious.
The room was entertained by some amusing banter between Jimmy and Grenville Millington (a contemporary of his at Chester) when recounting how Ken Roberts persuaded him to sign for the Blues by offering three times above the amount payed to everyone else under the strict wage structure (“Just don’t tell anyone else” whispered Ken). Grenville feigned outrage but we think he knew what Ken Roberts was like. Anyway, Gren’s hoping to invite Jimmy and other team mates to a game in the near future to commemorate their ’74-75 League Cup exploits. Where have the last fifty years gone?
It was another highly enjoyable occasion.
*(basil; Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe; Barry Jepson v York 8 Feb 1958 respectively)
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for September 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chairman Chris opened another well attended meeting just after 10.30 and closed it almost two hours later.
The intervening period was both interesting and entertaining with excellent contributions from Beth Radford of The Community Trust, Steve Jones from the CFU Board and Andy Walsh, Head of the National Game and Community Ownership at the Football Supporters Association.
Rather than bore readers with detail of all three speakers’ contributions, let’s try and be succinct for once. Suffice it to report that Beth gave up playing football, having progressed through Chester Nomads to Chester U-18 level, to take up a full time job with the Trust. Her work incudes visiting schools (from nursery to year 6), working at the Academy with different groups including Girls and Disabled, and looking after mascots and the “team of the week” on match days. She faced the customary interrogation from Chairman Chris with good humour and aplomb and expressed her intention of following a career in football with a C licence next on the Agenda. Thanks Beth, we wish you well.
Steve reviewed work being done at the Academy (see Mike Allcock’s report on the Club Website) to improve the pathway from 9 years old to the first team, including the appointment of 3 new coaches. He also reported on substantial progress in his goal of improving disabled access at the Deva including a lift and viewing area for wheelchairs and companions. Design, planning and funding are being thoroughly examined. Steve drew attention to the fund raising walk to Marine being undertaken by Blacon Blues on Boxing Day specifically for this project. We look forward to further updates on these long overdue facilities.
Andy Walsh talked at length about the FSA, Football Chaos, Community Ownership, FC United of Manchester, and the Future of Football in a presentation that made an hour fly by. These few lines cannot do justice to his passion for the game and its governance.
In brief therefore, some highlights recorded by yours truly…
Chester FC is an affiliate member and one of 50 community owned clubs, 38 in England and Wales, (including Phoenix clubs) of which Exeter and Wimbledon are the highest up the pyramid. Wrexham, Scunthorpe and Nuneaton were used as fascinating examples of what can happen to football clubs in private hands. Andy asked the question “who is looking after honest football people?” The level of debt throughout the game is astronomical and Andy believed we all have a role to play as supporters in making the game fair, honest and transparent. Added financial pressure on fans, like dynamic pricing and removal of concessions, is rife at the top of the game and pressure should be kept on the authorities by the fans.
The Community Ownership model was covered and Andy used the core principles developed at FC United to explain that it was far from just a business and was built on football, facilities and the local community. He also outlined difficulties arising at fan owned clubs; not least, maintaining active supporter participation, governance, distrust and tension, ego and control. Some of these topics, as well as the observation of Board meetings, make up of the Board, and the establishment of an Independent Regulator were expanded in a Q&A session.
Thanks for the reality check Andy. Plenty to reflect on. We have our destiny in our own hands. For now.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for August 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chairman Chris opened the meeting by paying tribute to Frank Salt, one of our original members, and former CFU Chairman David Harrington-Wright who had been a very good friend of the Senior Blues especially during his time in office. Both will be sadly missed.
Frank had also been a particular proponent for incorporating hand rails in the stands which Chris was able to announce had now been fully completed (with financial assistance from the Senior Blues and the Away Travel). In doing so, Chris nearly demonstrated his instant mastery of the excellent new sound system installed in the Cestrian by Danny, Mike and Carla over the summer.
This makes our PA redundant and, crucially, saves a lot of effort in setting it up, and dismantling it, every meeting. So if anyone is in need of an excellent PA system, two sets of radio mics, and a wheeled lockable truck to store them…
Our first guest Albert Davies, another good friend of ours, explained his transition from part time Media guy to full time General Manager and his pride in carrying out that role. It must be said that Albert is still heading up the media work in the week including maintaining the club website and hosting the Seals Podcast (and not least, updating the Senior Blues pages).
He explained the current position regarding the appointment of a new Commercial Manager, where the preferred candidate from the first round of interviews decided against taking the role which has meant re-advertising the position. Mike Barrow’s departure to Everton has led to the appointment of a contracting firm for the next 12 months with matchday duties being carried out by an existing team of volunteers. Martin Fitzsimons’ move to Wigan Women and Jimmy Soul’s retirement were also outlined (and indeed Albert noted the exodus that had followed his appointment!) and the new arrangements were described. Groundboard sponsorship was going well despite the absence of a Commercial Manager. Stadium sponsorship and sponsorship for the remaining two stands was still progressing. A successful Sponsors Day was held at the Altrincham game with more than 40 sponsors present.
Moving the ticketing system to Fanbase had gone well with over 1,700 season tickets sold. However, transferring CFU membership across to Fanbase had been more challenging. Although over 750 members have now signed up, the process is taking longer than anticipated. A new membership scheme has also been introduced for Chester FC Women.
As far as football matters are concerned, Albert reiterated the disappointing end to last season and the need to take a different approach. He referred to a summer of change, Calum’s success in signing targeted players, and the hopes for the new season.
The Q&A started on the subject of turnstiles and ticketing. Initial teething troubles had been encountered with the new turnstile operation which would be expected to be resolved for the opening league fixture. It will be possible to pay cash at the ticket office on matchdays. The capacity restriction of 4,200 is still in place and will remain so until the Safety Advisory Group deem otherwise. It was explained that the pitch contractors also maintain the playing surfaces at Southport and Runcorn Linnets and will be at the Deva three days a week. As well as taking charge on Saturdays, volunteers will continue to cover the pitch for frost protection as and when required. Chairman Chris had earlier pointed out the state of the pitch surrounds and this is an area which will be further examined.
When asked about links to Chester University, Albert told us about the Club’s scheduled presence during Freshers week and targeted marketing for a midweek game in October. We also learned about the new thermal printer in the office and the role played by Barrie Hipkiss (despite his ill health) and the away travel in ensuring its installation. On the subject of Academy funding, Albert acknowledged the financial input of Ian Swettenham over many years. Currently there is sponsorship in place for the U10’s, U12’s, U14’s and Colts. As yet there is no sponsorship in place for the Scholars. As with last season, there will be an opportunity to sponsor individual members of the Youth Team squad with recognition in the match programme and entry into an end of season draw. Your illustrious scribe proudly wore his somewhat restrictive pink training top, complete with the “signatures” of members the first team, as a demonstration that the draw actually took place at the end of last season. (NB. There were several other excellent prizes not involving pink shirts.)
Chairman Chris thanked Albert and after the raffle introduced former Blues midfielder Brynley Jones. Bryn explained that he was spotted when he was 16 by Cliff Sear, who he held in very high regard, and after a trial was signed as an apprentice. Working on the groundstaff he had to do all the usual chores of those days such as sweeping the terraces, marking the pitch, laying out kit etc. He admitted to being conned as a new lad when being told it was his turn to clean the floodlights. Boot cleaning was another job and he looked after those of Bob Delgado, Trevor Storton and Grenville Millington among others. Bryn made his debut away at Swindon Town aged 18 at the end of the 1976-77 and played around 180 games over the next five years scoring 31 goals. He told us his highlight was a fifth round FA Cup tie at First Division Ipswich Town, then managed by Bobby Robson. Bryn gave Chester a shock lead before losing 2-1. Chester were managed by Alan Oakes who he described as a hard manager. Bryn left Chester at the end of the 1981-82 season for non-league Scarborough following ex Chester manager Peter Cottam where he played for a single season.
After Scarborough, Bryn played in the Welsh League and also did some coaching before becoming a publican for over twenty years. Now retired, he is the possessor of two false knees. He remembered Trevor Storton as the best he had played with and shared some memories of other team mates. Over his time at Chester his wages as a full time professional increased from a basic £70 + £30 appearance money to £250 per week in the 1980’s. He also talked of his son Craig who followed in his footsteps as a professional footballer playing for several clubs in the Welsh League including Airbus and TNS, and spending several years at Bury before retiring. Bryn still gets to the Deva for a good number of games and like us is hoping for a good season.
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First meeting of 2024/25 takes place on 2nd August!
Chester FC General Manager Albert Davies and former Blues midfielder Brynley Jones kick off the new season.
Although this season’s full programme has not been finalised, as well as Chester FC related speakers we will once again be welcoming external guests covering wide ranging topics including Supporter Ownership, Football Finance, Eastham Pleasure Gardens and the Home Front Museum.
And not forgetting John Bithell’s Big Quiz Challenge which is perennially won by a Committee team.
Meetings are held on the first Friday of the month and start with tea/coffee. There is always merchandise and a raffle, and the prizes donated by our members are much appreciated.
All proceeds are directed towards Chester FC and whilst the Academy is the prime recipient, last season also saw significant donations made to the Chester FC Women’s team and to fund the installation of handrails in the East and West stands.
Over the “summer” break we have had enjoyable outings to Hooton Park and RHS Bridgewater which have been reported on and can be found in the Senior Blues section of the Club Website, together with recaps of our monthly meetings.
Annual membership is only £10 which is payable at the August meeting by traditional methods, not least the time honoured format of cash, which is indeed a preferred system. Currently we number over 100 members and we look forward to seeing you again, and also to welcoming new members.
Senior Blues visit to RHS Bridgewater
A coach load of Senior Blues gathered at the Deva on Wednesday 12th June for the visit to RHS Bridgewater.
Miraculously no one was late and neither was the coach so we were destined to leave on time, if not slightly ahead of schedule. Chairman Chris was encouraged by Secretary Margaret to say a few words of welcome and we were ready for off. However it transpired that Geoff had chosen a spectacularly bad day for the visit. Thanks to David and Helena Mullholland, who had travelled in from Frodsham, we soon learned that there was a major hold up on the M56 which had to be circumvented.
Not to be outdone by Geoff, it quickly transpired that Margaret had spectacularly provided us with a coach driver who had an unfathomable self confessed aversion to sat nav. After thinking aloud, he settled on going to Manchester by the more scenic route, i.e. via the Wallasey tunnel, Liverpool and the M62. On the bright side, this afforded us a sight of spectacular landmarks such as Liverpool Women’s Hospital, the derelict shell of the Littlewoods buildings, the dark grey behemoth that is Home Bargains distribution centre, and the backside of IKEA.
After a journey time of one and a half hours we arrived and sat patiently for our turn to be “processed” while other coaches unloaded other senior citizens. Eventually we were welcomed by a cheery Bolton Wanderers supporting RHS guy, whose idea of football “humour” needed to be quickly tempered by the mention of Oxford United. We eventually got our maps, entrance passes etc and finally left the bus over two hours after boarding. We reassembled inside the gardens, had another humorous discourse with Mr Wanderer, and found ourselves with a whole 15 mins to spare before our conducted tour kicked off. Allowing for essential toilet calls, this left little (i.e. no) time for coffee. The tour was very interesting and informative and fortunately, despite an unseasonably low temperature, Geoff picked the day of the week that it didn’t rain. Spectacularly, he also picked the day of the week on which there were at least four other coach parties and several group visits. Suffice it to say that getting lunch was challenging, although in fairness tables and chairs were in plentiful supply, if not somewhat uncomfortable.
Work to develop Bridgewater as a northern RHS garden started only in 2017 and the opening was in May 2021. Despite its relatively short life, the garden is/will be (dare I say) spectacular and includes a massive walled garden, a Chinese themed section, meadows, woodlands, glasshouses, lakes, herbaceous borders, a garden centre and an obligatory gift shop, as well as the aforementioned cafe. Being newly laid out by modern designers, the paths were excellent, accessibility was no problem and additional paths were also being constructed. Time (and tiredness in some quarters) restricted exploration of the whole site.
We returned home by the more traditional route cutting over 30 minutes from our outbound leg, only to find the height barrier to the Deva firmly in place causing us to disembark somewhat further from our cars than anticipated. By the time stadium security (Albert) arrived to let the bus in, and despite our ages, we were on our way to our cars, tired but very happy in the knowledge that it was indeed true that we had signed a striker.
Thanks Geoff and Margaret. All in all, a spectacular day and well worth a second visit, M56 permitting.
BY LES SMITH.
Senior Blues visit to Hooton Park Hangars
They were treated to a talk on the history of Hooton Hall and the use of the adjacent area by the RAF from the first World War onwards, and also the work being done to restore/preserve both the site and the continually increasing collection of historical aeroplanes and vehicles including what is probably the last Chester tram.
The Hooton Park Hangars site is managed by The Hooton Park Trust (HPT), which was formed in 2000 with the aim of creating a Trust to oversee and manage the restoration of the remaining WW1 hangars on the former RAF airfield at Hooton Park.
The long term aim is to provide a multifunctional site, as well as restoring the buildings and the site itself as valuable historic artefacts in their own right. The buildings will then provide the perfect environment for the projects and initiatives that are planned.
Much still remains of the Hooton Park airfield and its buildings. Three original, Belfast-trussed, hangars dominate the landscape, surrounded by the original access roads, taxiways, and numerous outbuildings and offices, all steeped in the colourful history of this one-time Royal Air Force airbase.
We also experienced the sounds of a German bombing raid from the “safety” of an air raid shelter and had a demonstration of traditional letterpress printing at the Museum of Printing on the site.
Finally many members took advantage of the cafe and the gift shop. A very interesting morning.
Further information on Hooton Park including Visiting Days can be found at hootonparkhangars.co.uk.
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We are sad to report the passing of much-loved volunteer and Senior Blues member Frank Salt.
Frank’s funeral is at St John’s United Reformed Church, Buckley CH7 3HX (which is on Hawkesbury Road) at 11am on Friday 7 June.
Following this will be refreshments for everyone after the church service at The Glynne Arms, 3 Glynne Way, Hawarden CH5 3NS (next to the Post Office) at 12.00pm.
RIP Frank.
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Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for May 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
The final meeting of the season was held in the Legends Lounge due to work being carried out in the Cestrian to install a new ceiling speaker system.
Chairman Chris opened by conveying the sad news of the passing of Barrie Hipkiss.
The first speaker was Jim Green who described the criteria adopted by the Club in player acquisition. There was clarity on the needs of the team and of identifying, prioritising and pursuing targets. Players were identified via scouting, networking, data analysis and via agents although it should be noted that the Club have not paid any agents fees.
The Club are always looking for value and compatibility with the philosophy and dressing room harmony, and Jim explained it is an on going process that they won’t always get right.
He took questions from the members on the current squad situation as well as dealing with diverse issues including sponsorship, CFU membership, the playing squad budget, and the increasing use of the KGV Hub as a community and business facility.
Former player Brynley Jones was scheduled to be the second guest speaker. He later conveyed his apologies for his enforced absence (due to a now resolved health issue) with the intention of attending a meeting next season.
The final guests, Colin (Woodthorpe) and Mike (Allcock) were ably preceded by Calum who was spotted in the building and was happy to amplify his reflections on the season, as previously expressed on the Seals Podcast and on the Club website, before dashing off to meet with a potential target (who’s name and position was not disclosed).
He outlined the squad building plans for the coming season in terms of size, age profile and physicality, and also took the opportunity to express his views on a number of things including referees and their assessors, post match interviews, and the relative playing budget within the NLN.
Mike and Colin each talked about the season from their own perspectives and their inputs to the process. Colin was particularly disappointed as this was the first time in his managerial career that he had not been involved in a play-off situation whilst Mike also talked about the progress within the Academy programme both on and off the field.
He also identified Scholars who he believed had the potential to make further progress at the club.
Senior Blues visit to KGV Sports Hub
A party of Senior Blues members made a return visit to the Hub to hear about progress made since opening.
Jim Green told us about the important part the Hub is playing in the community aside from its function as a training facility for the first team squad. The pitches are fully utilised during the week by groups and local football leagues, whilst the Hub itself serves the local community for example via a toddler playgroup, Pilates sessions, senior citizens group activities, (football themed) birthday parties and a new youth club venture. There is a team of community workers and sports coaches employed by the Trust who fulfil a wide range of functions within the Hub, at local schools, and in the community.
Jim also talked about the refurbishment of the Pavilion which is now used as a base and teaching centre for the Scholars. Unfortunately the recent heavy rain has presented drainage problems with the remodelled adjacent grass pitch and surrounds, and the situation is due to be rectified when weather permits.
It should be noted that the KGV, being part of the Community Trust does not provide a major income stream for the football club per se, but is a very valuable and attractive facility which allows significant cost savings to be made over previous training models.
Jim fielded regular interruptions and questions, principally from Chairman Chris and your illustrious scribe, with his usual good grace and honesty, covering not just the Hub but subjects including FA Cup replays, 3G pitches in general, the significant financial contribution made by the Duke of Westminster, the football regulator, and profit and sustainability.
All in all, a very pleasant and informative visit.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for March 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chairman Chris opened another well attended meeting by offering our condolences to John Rutter following the sad passing of Ann, a regular attendee at the Senior Blues before her illness.
He then introduced Will Lamb and Steve Jones, “newish” CFU Board members who were elected some 4 months ago at the AGM.
Will explained he had been retired from his business for around two years and reminisced about supporting Chester through the years and now wanting to give something back. His main activity is commercial development and he explained his good working relationship with Darren Court who had resigned his part time employment to take up a full time post close to his home.
From the commercial angle, the club needed to expand its revenue streams, especially in relation to the hire of facilities. This included the use of the car park where some deals have already been concluded, including a circus and a funfair, with other events in the pipeline. Sponsorship deals have been signed for two stands whilst there is an opportunity for new Stadium sponsors. Match day hospitality was very successful and fully booked for the season. There was a drive to sell perimeter advertising boards (£1,000 for a double board) and also to maximise income from non match day events. Finally it was said that the club would be advertising for a new part time commercial manager in the near future.
Steve Jones, who is semi retired, explained that he was delighted to have been placed in joint charge of the Academy portfolio having had many years association with Newton Athletic (Chairman) and with coach and parent education. He helped set up the Academy after reformation, with Newton Athletic youth team representing Chester FC. He informed us the Academy was in a good place though there is a move to improve the continuity from 14 to 16 year old boys. He was very keen on a coach education programme. There is a desire to improve sponsorship to reduce costs, for example annual transport costs amount to £11,000 (the fantastic contribution and support of the Senior Blues was acknowledged). He explained that any external funding we can generate will reduce the Academy costs to the Club, hence allowing a larger playing budget for the 1st team squad. There is also a move to support Mike Allcock to obtain his coaching A licence. Steve also has some responsibility for the volunteer portfolio and has a determination to see the long-standing ideal of improved facilities for disabled supporters brought to fruition, including the provision of a lift. He praised the volunteers who worked for the love of the club rather than for any reward. It was mentioned that the bad behaviour after the Brackley play off game had cost the club some £45,000+ in fines and lost revenue.
After announcements, the ballot for Senior Blues Player of the Year and the raffle, Peter Nicholson assisted by Jill on the laptop, the owners of Gordale Garden and Home centre, gave us an interesting illustrated talk on the development of the business. Bought as a cafe with 70 covers in July 1948 for £9,250 by the Nicholson family, Gordale has expanded to be voted as the 5th best garden centre of the 250 in the Garden Centre Association with 95 full and part time employees. After a failed attempt to sell the cafe in 1952, Gordale first started selling home grown plants from the shed at the front of the family home. Over time, replacement shops were built and eventually one of the first “garden centres” came into being in 1961. Plants were bought from a persuasive Dutchman, whilst the cost of buying expensive pots was avoided by utilising (free) used food cans from Clatterbridge hospital. New greenhouses were
built and the adjacent petrol station was purchased for £120,000 in the 1980’s. The next decade saw the building of a new shop, the sale of Christmas trees and Christmas decorations etc. After the successful introduction of garden furniture it was decided to concentrate on retail and close the cafe. However, after storing a redundant ex-Iceland ice cream machine for some considerable time, a decision to get it going one day and sell ice creams proved an inspired and profitable move. This led to the re-opening of a coffee shop business which has proved very successful. More furniture led to more warehouse space requirement and further diversity to create the all year round business Gordale is today. With a play area, a lake, and a 25 acre woodland with over 5,400 trees planted as part of a rewilding project, Gordale isn’t just a place to buy a tray of bedding plants. In fact it was featured on BBC Breakfast a week after the Senior Blues meeting (coincidence?). And we all got a coffee shop voucher too!! Thanks Peter and Jill (and thanks also for sponsoring a perimeter advertising board after the meeting).
The Senior Blues Player of the Year and the Pete Mitchell trophy for the Academy Players’ Player of the Year presentations will take place ahead of kick off at the last home game of the season vs Darlington.
Places are still available for the Senior Blues trip to RHS Bridgewater, Wed, 12th June: for details contact Geoff Leith on 07502615205, or email geoffleith23@gmail.com.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for March 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chairman Chris opened the meeting by paying tribute to Mark Salmon, a founder member of the Senior Blues who passed away in February.
Following this John Bithell’s Big Quiz Challenge was won yet again by a four man Committee team. Nuff said.
The main speaker was DC Andy Kevan from Cheshire Police who gave an interesting, informative, and entertaining talk on Cyber Crime with special attention being given to smart phones, devices he referred to as computers which can be used to make phone calls.
He started by declaring that it was unnecessary to make notes as he would be emailing some of the more important points of his talk for circulation to the members. He was also happy for these to be posted on line so they are repeated below in their entirety for general information.
Useful links…
1) A great site to help you lock your social media setting is www.internetmatters.org. There is a Social Media section on their page which provides a ‘step by step’ guide on how set the security setting for each site.
2) If you receive a suspicious text message forward it to 7726.
3) If you receive a suspicious email, forward them to report@phishing.gov.uk.
4) You can check to see if your data has been lost by checking your email address or phone number at: haveibeenpwned.com.
5) Protect your online world with good strong passwords. ‘Three Random Words’ – CLICK HERE
6) Use this free password checker to see if your current password is any good! – CLICK HERE
7) Reducing unwanted incoming calls – CLICK HERE. Always report any suspicious activity online particularly if you are concerned with content your child has seen or if someone has been speaking to your child you do not know.
All Social Media Sites contain adult material, so negotiating Social Media can be difficult for a child. Further information and support can be found on:
As someone who has a dumb phone (for texting and receiving calls) your illustrious scribe was pleased to learn that his movements are not being continually tracked, though I suspect that my personal profile is being regularly updated through my Fire tablet activity in the comfort of my own home, and probably not just for targeted advertising.
Perhaps the most satisfying thing I learned was making purchases on line as a “guest” was a good thing, though with Amazon and eBay that ship has long since sailed and they probably have compiled more information about me than I previously imagined.
And as someone who has recently experienced the growing ability and sophistication of scammers through simultaneous (fake) emails and landline calls, I have learned you cannot be too careful. Big thanks to Andy!
THE CONSTITUTION
1) Name
The name of the Club shall be Chester Senior Blues. To be referred to as ‘The Club’.
2) Aim
The aim of the Club shall be to:-
– arrange regular meetings for the members to share/debate topics of common interest.
– arrange guest speakers.
– support Chester Football Club by raising funds and voluntary work.
– arrange various social events for the members.
3) Powers
In order to achieve its aims the Club may:-
– Raise money.
– Open a bank account
– Organise courses and events
– Work with similar Groups and exchange information and advice with them
– Do anything that is lawful which will help to fulfil its aims.
4) Membership
a) Membership of the Club shall be open to any individual of 55 years of age or over without regards to disability, political or religious affiliation, race or sexual orientation who is :-
– interested in helping the Club to achieve its aims.
– b) The membership of any member may be terminated for good reason by the Management Committee, provided that the member concerned shall have the right to be heard by the Management Committee accompanied by a friend, before a final decision is made.
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5) Management Committee
a)The Club shall be administered by a Management Committee of not less than four and not more than ten individuals elected by the Clubs Annual General Meeting (AGM).
b) The Officers of the Management Committee shall be the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer.
c) The Management Committee may co-opt onto the Committee, up to three individuals in an Advisory capacity and non voting capacity that it feels will help to fulfil the aims of the Club
d) The Management Committee shall meet at least six times a year.
e) At least five of the Management Committee members must be present for the meeting to be quorate.
f) Voting of the Management Committee meeting shall be by a show of hands, if there is a tied vote then the Chairperson shall have a second vote.
g) The Management Committee shall have the power to remove any member of the Committee for good and proper reason.
h) The Management Committee may appoint any other member of the Club, as a Committee member to fill a vacancy providing that the maximum prescribed is not exceeded.
6) The Duties of the Officers.
a) The duties of the Chairperson shall be:-
– Chair the meetings of the Committee and the Club.
– Represent the Club at functions/meetings that the Club has been invited to
– Act as a spokesperson of the Club when necessary
– Agree to be one of the three signatories for the Club Bank Account.
b) The Duties of the Vice-Chairperson shall be:-
– To cover all the duties of the Chairperson in his/her absence.
c) The Duties of the Secretary shall be to:-
– Keep a membership list
– Prepare the agenda for meetings of the Committee and the Club
– Take and keep minutes of all the meetings
– Collect and circulate any relevant information within the Club.
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– Agree to be one of the three signatories for the Club Bank Account
d) The Duties of the Treasurer shall be:-
– Supervise the financial affairs of the Club.
– Keep proper accounts that show monies received and paid out by the Club.
– Agree to be one of the three signatories for the Bank Account.
7) Finance
a) All monies by or on behalf of the Club shall be applied to further the aim of the Club and for no other purpose.
b) Any Bank Accounts opened by the Club shall be in the name of the Club
c) Any cheques issued shall be signed by at least two of the Clubs Authorised Signatories.
d) The Club shall ensure that the accounts are audited or independently examined every year.
e) The Club may pay reasonable out of pocket expenses to members of the Management Committee.
8 Annual General Meeting (AGM)
a) The Club shall hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) in the month of November
b) All members shall be advised at least fourteen days prior to the AGM and shall be entitled to attend and vote. The form of notification will be via the Members October Meeting and also in the available media outlets.
c) The business of the AGM shall include:-
– Receiving a report from the Chairperson on the Clubs activities over the year.
– Receiving a report from the Treasurer on the finances of the Club.
– Electing a new Management Committee and considering any other matter, as may be decided.
d) At least 25 members must be present for the Annual General Meeting to take place
9) Members Meetings
a) There shall be at least 6 Members Meetings (including the AGM) each year.
b) All members shall be entitled to attend and vote.
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10) Special General Meetings
A Special General Meeting may be called by the Management Committee on receipt of a request from 25% of the members to discuss an urgent matter.
11) Alterations to the Constitution
Any changes to the Constitution must be agreed by at least two thirds of those members present and voting, at any General Meeting.
12) Dissolution
The Group may wound be up at any time if agreed by two thirds of those members present and voting at any General Meeting. In the event of winding up, assets remaining after all debts have been paid shall be given to another Group with similar aims.
LATEST NEWS
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for February 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Membership of the Senior Blues for the current season is now over 100 and this was reflected in another well attended meeting.
Prior to our first guest speaker Grenville Millington introduced Jake Carol, a 15 year old goalkeeper currently in the youth set up who is hoping to enter the Chester Academy programme. Being a distant relative as well as a fellow keeper, Gren explained that he was giving him a hand by auctioning one of his Welsh amateur international jerseys to help provide essential kit required. Jake was nerveless under pressure when “grilled” by Chairman Chris which augurs well for his future. Grenville and Jake thanked the Senior Blues for their support in allowing them to speak, and Chris wished Jake well for the future on behalf of the Senior Blues.
Our first official guest speaker was Andy Shelton, former Chester City midfielder and now award winning bistro owner and chef. Andy was interviewed by Les Smith before taking questions from the members. Having a professional footballer as a father, Andy moved around quite a bit as a child before eventually arriving at Chester where Gary was to end his playing career before becoming Kevin Ratcliffe’s assistant. Andy spoke of the rejections he had had at several clubs because of his small size before Dave Fogg (who knew Andy from his time at Oxford United) encouraged him to give it a go at Chester where he became a member of the youth team. Andy had the misfortune to be in the first team squad at Chester over the period 1998-2000 when the Club was in the turmoil of administration and the first year of Terry Smith’s ownership.
He made 38 appearances in all before Ian Atkins rebuilt the squad in the failed attempt to avoid relegation. Andy scored a total of 3 goals from what he estimated was an aggregate distance of about 6 yards. After relegation Graham Barrow took over as manager and informed Andy that he was not part of his plans. He eventually moved to Harrogate Town where he suffered his first ACL injury from which he never fully recovered to be able to play professionally.
Eventually returning to Chester, Andy started working in the hospitality business (and explained he had been through some difficult personal times) until a chance opportunity arose in late 2022 for him and his partner to purchase the Naughty Badger Bistro on Bridge Street Row. A deal to buy the business for £6000 was sealed within hours and Andy and Teana got to work immediately to build what is now a multi award winning bistro. At the moment the opening hours are restricted to daytime, by being situated over a jewellers, but they are always looking at the possibility of expanding. Andy had some ideas for this but was clear that they will continue to develop the business themselves, and we all wish him the best of luck for the future. (And I can recommend his chicken and bacon toasted sandwich).
Our second speaker was Chester Green Badge guide Steve Kirkham who gave us some fascinating facts about Chester and the City gates in the medieval era. For example the Bridgegate was a strong archway flanked by two substantial round towers on one of which was erected a octagonal water tower known as Tyrer’s Tower. This supplied lower quality River Dee water to the City until the whole was taken down in 1781. The Northgate was site of the Northgate Gaol and the pillory, and was also an execution site where visitors to the City could be met by the sight of corpses hanging from the gallows on the walls.
In addition there was also a House of Correction by the Northgate, in the Courtyard of which a narrow space in the face of the quarry was used in the 17th Century to confine “refractory youths” in a tortured position for several hours at a time, where they could neither stand, sit, kneel or lie. This hole in the rock face was known as “Little Ease” and Steve described his efforts to find its exact location. By some clever detective work, Little Ease was eventually discovered although being adjacent to an electricity substation makes it totally inaccessible the the general public, and therefore generally unknown.
Steve produced some equally fascinating facts about crime and punishment in the city. For example, in Anglo Saxon England, murder was punished by a fine, and theft by execution. The fines for bloodshed on certain days were 20 shillings, on other days 10s. For murder in a house—the forfeiture of lands and goods, and the party to be deemed an outlaw, for manslaughter on specified days 80s, on other days 40s.
Unchastity in a widow was deemed worthy of a fine of 20s compared to unchastity in an unmarried woman which was clearly less outrageous carrying a fine of only 10s. Debtors were whitewashed and were lodged in the freehouse over the Gate, from where they were at liberty to attend services in St Johns Chapel, or to walk (in a whitewashed state) on the northern stretch of the walls or along Northgate Street as far as the Bull Inn. Who would have thought it? Thanks Steve.
Geoff Leith gave details of the forthcoming trips to Hooton Park and RHS Bridgemere. Places are available and can be reserved at the next meeting.
100 up for the Senior Blues
The Senior Blues membership for this season has now smashed through the 100 mark! The Committee would like to thank all of our members for their valuable and continued support at our meetings which enables us to make significant financial contributions to the Club. The Academy, Chester Women and infrastructure projects have all benefited this season.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for January 2024, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
The Senior Blues kicked off in 2024 with a superbly attended meeting. Although nowhere near the scandal of “Mr Bates vs the Post Office”, the documentary “Gate Money” describes the appalling distribution of £10 million grant funding provided by the National Lottery to cover the shortfall of the 66 National League clubs during the Covid pandemic of 2021.
Following a showing of the film (which is available on YouTube) Jim Green talked about his part in the documentary and took many questions ranging through the funding distribution, the impact of Covid on Chester FC, governance of the National League, the inequality of voting rights within the League structure (where each club in the National League has a vote compared to four votes each for the North and South sections) and the possibility of Chester representation within the structure.
After completing the challenge of reconnecting the HDMI adaptor to the back of the tv set and linking to his laptop, (a task singularly failed by your illustrious correspondent) CFU Chair Kieron Shiel outlined his background and his time spent on the Board.
He also detailed the change and improvements of how the board will manage and own portfolios this year and discussed the specific responsibilities of the current Board members (which will be posted in the Club media in due course). Kieron also took a range of questions concerning topics such as stadium management, replacement of Georgina, budget control and the progress of handrail implementation in East and West stands for senior/disabled supporters.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for December 2023, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
December’s guest speaker was Club Historian Chas Sumner who gave a very interesting talk on Chester managers through the years, separating them into “the good and the bad”.
What was particularly surprising were the long contracts served out by many unsuccessful managers in seasons long gone when Chester were seemingly always in the lower reaches of the fourth division. This was in marked contrast to the massive turnover in the SV years when Mark Wright alone had as many as three stints as manager.
As to be expected, Chas was thorough enough to cover even long forgotten caretaker managers and finished with a short “where are they now” spot which threw up a few surprises. Chas was assisted in the presentation by Rick Matthews who also photographed the occasion and the annual Christmas Meal which followed.
The guest of honour at the meal was the Lord Mayor of Chester, cllr Sheila Little who made particular reference to the benefits of the KGV, not just to the football club but to the whole community, and the part played by Jim Green in its realisation.
Calum was unfortunately called away at very short notice so we were sadly deprived of his annual Christmas filibuster, though Colin and Mike were able to enjoy our hospitality. Chris Courtenay Williams, Senior Blues Chairman, presented a cheque to Mike for £5,000 to supplement Academy travel costs for the remainder of this season.
The Senior Blues membership currently stands at 97 and rising. The only criteria are age (55) and willingness to pay £10 annual membership. Meetings are held in the Cestrian on the first Friday of the month at 10.30am.
The January meeting will feature a showing of the documentary film “Gate Money” exposing the gross mishandling of Covid related payments to National League Clubs by the National League Board. Jim Green, who featured in the documentary and CFU Chair Kieron Shiel will be guest speakers.
Remember, all funds raised at our meetings are for the benefit of Chester FC, the main beneficiary being the Academy which has received around £35,000 over the past ten years. The Senior Blues needs you! Join now (or more conveniently at the January meeting).
Senior Blues make substantial Academy donation!
The Senior Blues Chairman, Chris Courtenay Williams presented a cheque for £5,000 to Chester FC’s Academy Manager Mike Allcock at last Friday’s Senior Blues Christmas meal.
The money, raised from monthly Senior Blues meetings, will be used to supplement the Academy’s considerable travel costs as they compete in the National League U19 Alliance.
Mike, who was one of our guests at the meal, expressed his appreciation for the donation and for the continued support of the Senior Blues in helping provide a pathway to first team level.
He cited Iwan Murray, Harrison Burke, Ollie Heywood and Reece Daly as current examples of the importance of the Academy programme to the football club. (NB, to these we can add Tom Crawford, Hartlepool; Sam Hughes, Burton Albion; Will Goodwin, Cheltenham Town and of course Tom Peers).
Best wishes to Mike and the whole Academy for the remainder of the season!
Photo: Rick Matthews.
Senior Blues Trip to Wroxeter Vineyard, Friday 29th September
There are places available for the Senior Blues tour of the 2,000-year-old Wroxeter Vineyard, home to some of England’s best quality wines.
The coach leaves the Leap76 Stadium at 9.30am on Friday 29th September, and will return at approximately 4.30pm. The total cost is £40 including tea/coffee on arrival, a light lunch, and tutored wine tasting.
For bookings, contact Margaret Bithell on 07814799276 or email mevans@idnet.com.
Senior Blues donation to Chester FC Women
Chester FC Women have received a generous donation from the Senior Blues for the new campaign, enabling players to receive travel expenses for the first time.
Senior Blues chairman Chris Courtney Williams presented Martin Fitzsimons, manager of Chester FC Women, with a cheque for £1,200 at the group’s first meeting of the 2023/24 season.
The donation allows players to be reimbursed for travel expenses to training and matches, following on from the club’s decision to remove kit and subscription fees for the team.
This is the latest positive development for Chester FC Women after it was announced earlier this summer that home matches will be played at the Leap76 Stadium, starting with the visit of Ellesmere Port Town on Wednesday, 23 August (7pm KO).
“We are hugely grateful to the Senior Blues for their continued support of the football club, and particularly our women’s section,” said Jim Green, vice chairman of Chester FC.
“This summer marks a step change for Chester FC Women and we’re really excited for the future. The aim is to provide as professional environment as possible for all of our players and coaches, and hopefully this will help us progress to the next level.”
Photo: Millie Johnson.
Goal Nets Fund Raiser Update
The Senior Blues Committee wish to announce that the target of £750 for the Goal Nets Fund Raiser was exceeded, and to thank everyone who contributed.
The Club have purchased the new nets which are now in place for the 2023/24 season.
We are currently holding talks with CFU Board members in order to select the most appropriate infrastructure project on which to use the surplus funds.
Your support has been much appreciated and will we keep you informed of the future spend.
Senior Blues Awards
Declan Weeks was voted Player of the Year and Sol Forde was awarded The Peter Mitchell Trophy as the Academy Players’ Player of the Year. Both were presented with their trophies before kick off vs Buxton.
Visit to The Gladstone Library
On Friday 28th of April a group of Senior Blues members made a pre-arranged visit to the Gladstone Library, a splendid Victorian building in the heart of Hawarden, and one that many of us have passed many times without realising the history it contains.
We started by enjoying a very welcome coffee in the delightful little cafe, before being given an interesting talk on the history of the building and the Gladstone family. We then proceeded to the main library to see the many thousands of books on display. There were students both young and adult in the various rooms, making great use of the vast collection. Finally we made our way back to the cafe where we enjoyed an excellent lunch to round off another successful day out for a group of Senior Blues.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for March 2023, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
After opening the meeting, Chairman Chris handed the mic to Les to introduce guest speaker, football finance expert and Brighton fan Kieran Maguire, who was indeed present at the Deva in 2000 when we conceded seven goals to the Seagulls on our way to relegation to the Conference.
Kieran focused his talk on fan ownership and opened by saying it was workable in Scotland where Celtic and Rangers are the clear powerhouses and most other clubs accept this and just get along. In England there is a ceiling. He then went on to propose reasons why people buy football clubs. He cited profit and included the Glazers and Fenway Sports Group in this category as well as Jeremy Peace at West Brom. Some owners actually bought for love of the Club including lottery winner Colin Weir at Partick Thistle, Delia Smith at Norwich and Tony Bloom at his own Brighton. Amongst vanity projects he included Sheikh Mansour at Man City, Simon Jordan at Palace, Peter Swann at Scunthorpe and not least Roman Abramovich who lost £900K/week for 19 years in what was described as an insurance policy against Putin.
When Chelsea played Man City in the Champions League Final, the combined losses of the clubs were £1.6 billion, which led on to next category of owners, Insanity. Kieran contended that football also attracts “mad people”. Crawley Town are currently owned by WAGMI United LLC (We’re All Going To Make It), a group of US cryptocurrency owners and the first “internet” club where manager Matthew Etherington resigned after 34 days in charge and the co-chairman appeared in the dugout with a demonstrable lack of knowledge of the rules (nothing new there though is there?). Other “cases” were Cellino at Leeds who banned Sky cameras, Bassini at Watford who among other things was refused the keys to the Club safe (for personal use) by an employee after a Tuesday night fixture and subsequently banned for three years for financial misconduct and dishonesty. Steve Dale at Bury was also cited in this group.
Kieran also looked at the finances through the league pyramid and whilst not having details of the National League North, he showed the average loss in the National League in 2019 was £700K with only three clubs making a profit. Reasons given were poor cost control and the poor TV deal. Average annual losses in League One and Two currently run at £2.8M and £400K respectively. He described the Championship as a “Corporate Lottery Ticket” with a one in eight chance of winning. So much so that the average annual loss is £22M and only Rotherham United have made a profit over the last 5 years but have been relegated twice in the process. As a self confessed nerd, Kieran’s vast data base was even colour coded for each club’s financial performance when he felt the need to refer to spreadsheet data.
There was some discussion about players’ salaries throughout the leagues and salary caps, and specific instances were quoted of players wages and transfer dealings. One fascinating tale to avoid exceeding a salary cap (at Derby County) involved an incoming player’s mother being paid around £12K a week as an “academy scout” to cover the shortfall in his wages. “To avoid embarrassment to mum and player”, Kieran chose not to mention their names, but did point out who his (very famous footballing) father was.
When asked how to survive as a fan owned club, especially at a higher level, Kieran offered some suggestions as follows. Be smart: use the stadium as much as possible; if you have a 3G pitch monetise it; seek out all available grants; develop a Brand; don’t go over budget; develop a youth system although Premier League clubs offer poor compensation for taking players.
Although the talk could have gone on for much longer, Kieran’s good lady (the “Baroness”) and dog were waiting in the car park with the long trip to Brighton ahead. His insight, humour and forthrightness was well appreciated by the members and it is easy to see why he is the go to authority on Football finance on radio and TV.
Geoff announced the Senior Blues Goal Nets fundraiser to which the members responded magnificently with cash donations and pledges. Chris announced we would be voting for a Senior Blues Player of the Season at the next meeting. Margaret updated members on forthcoming trips and the sponsored game vs Peterborough Sports.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for February 2023, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chairman Chris was fit and able to return to duty and welcomed our first speaker of the day, CFU Board member Nick Phillipson.
Nick remembered his first visit to Sealand Road, Easter Monday, vs York City 1971 (and like most of us has carried on supporting regardless). He replaced Richard Lynes, being invited onto the Board at the start of the pandemic. Nick’s role covers facilities and catering and he referenced his work on replacing both the floodlights and catering companies. Despite a 30% saving with the new LED lights, bought with a 70% grant from the Football Stadium Improvement Fund, the bills are “horrendous” due to energy price increases.
He explained the catering set up with Olive Tree providing hospitality meals, Aaron running the bars and the Kiosk arrangements. As far as the stadium is concerned, after 32 years there is much to maintain. An arrangement with VINCI was beneficial for necessary resurfacing of the car park. Clearing the gutters via a cherry picker revealed ten balls on the stand roofs while the recent cold snap created 28 water leaks on the Harry Mac alone. There is always a need to be on the look out for grants to cover all eventualities.
Nick was followed by fellow Board member Ollie Hill who was elected in November. Brought up in Chester though now living in Liverpool and working as a Civil Servant, Ollie’s first game was a promotion winning match vs Scarborough through the persuasive power of Adam Langan. Before being elected, Ollie was involved with the Fundraising Committee and is currently working alongside Nick and looking to means of diversifying income with a view to increasing the budget.
There were a number of questions from the members concerning things such as missile throwing from the Harry Mac, the viability of the fan ownership model should we get promoted, and the Club Shop. These were discussed at length. Nick informed us that a “Board Away Day” was due to take place imminently where strategy planning was the main topic on the agenda.
Margaret informed the members about the forthcoming trips to the Gladstone Library and the Wroxeter Vineyard whilst Chris reported that the new boardroom chairs, donated by the Senior Blues, had been received.
The talk by the Blacon History Group was introduced by long-standing (Sealand Road Ender, now Harry Mac) supporter and Blacon resident Dave Cartwright. He described how, after a number of stops and starts, the group has gone from producing 1000 copies of a printed book to going digital, working with schools and producing a leaflet detailing four history walks around Blacon. During Covid the work was supplemented by the use of drones.
Dave was accompanied by Alan Smith, (Chair), and Norman Stainthorp, (Chief Historian) and between the three of them they gave us an illustrated talk on the history of Blacon Station and the line to Chester Northgate and New Brighton. Incredible as it may seem, the line was constructed by the Manchester Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway Company as a route to the Mersey, having been denied access by LMS and GWR to use their lines. Blacon Station was built in 1890 at the behest of local landowner, Lord Crewe, despite the fact that there were very few houses at the time, (the oldest house in Blacon being built circa 1843).
The Beeching Report and the growth of car ownnership in the mid to late 1960’s had a disastrous effect on passenger numbers and the service finally closed in 1968. Gone were the days when it was the preferred mode of transport into Chester. Chester Northgate Station was demolished to build the Northgate Arena and Blacon Station fell into disrepair, to be demolished in 1986.
However a single track remained which was used to transport steel coils to John Summers until the early 90’s. In the early 2000’s after a consultation process it was converted to the current cycleway. On reflection, Dave admitted that perhaps (his) opposition to a proposed tramway may have been misplaced given the changes in environmental thinking and sustainability.
The talk was supplemented by illustrations of Blacon station and the railway line, with eagle eyed rail enthusiasts able to identify specific locomotive classes. In addition, recent photos taken on the cycleway were useful pointers to long-lost features along the line. All in all, an excellent and interesting talk complete with a working model railway mock up of Blacon Station. And if anyone ever wondered what happened to the old Highfield pub sign, Norman rescued it from a skip after it had been knocked down.
Chris thanked all the speakers for their well received presentations and closed the meeting.
Boardroom upgrade courtesy of Senior Blues!
The Senior Blues recently kindly offered to purchase twelve new Boardroom chairs to replace the current ones which have been in use for many years.
The Boardroom now has a much-improved look, not only for the regular internal meetings, but also for visiting Directors and other external guests.
Here is a photo of Chris Courtenay-Williams and members of the Senior Blues Committee with Chester FC’s Director of Facilities, Nick Phillipson.
The Board of Directors and Chester Football Club really appreciate this generous donation, and would like to thank the Senior Blues for their continued support.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for January 2023, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
In the enforced absence of Chairman Chris (due to illness) and his trusty gavel, Geoff Leith and Les Smith tried their best to lead the meeting.
The first guest, John Thomas, who scored 20 goals in 44 appearances for Chester in the 1982-83 season (according to his Wikipedia page), proved to have an encyclopedic knowledge of his career in far greater detail than the aforesaid on-line source. He started from his time as a pub footballer in Wednesbury to signing for Everton at the age of 16 where he spent 6 seasons without making a single first team appearance.
He later noted that it was far better to be on the same side as Roger Kenyon than playing against him (which he never did). He had a remarkable recall of all his contract negotiations and signing-on fees throughout his career, spent largely playing for north west clubs with two spells at Bolton and Preston as well as his season at Chester. He recalled time at Lincoln and at West Brom (a “dream” move to his local boyhood team) that both worked out less well for various reasons.
John spoke for well over an hour on his career, on setting up home in the north west and on his current business activities. Some points from his talk worth reporting in these notes are … He was signed on a 2 yr contract at Chester after his first spell at Bolton, by Cliff Sear and though player of the year was sold to Lincoln for a reported £22,000 after a single season. Wikipedia chose to describe Chester as “cash strapped” and John admitted it was a mistake to leave. In his last game for Lincoln he experienced the horrors of the Bradford City fire from on the pitch.
At Preston, he played alongside Gary Brazil, who he rated as perhaps the best he had played with, where he again won a player of the year award. He also made particular mention of Brian Kidd’s role as assistant manager. He experienced the first plastic pitch at Deepdale in his second season when they won promotion to Div 3. In his second spell at Bolton he was again in a Div 4 promotion winning side and played at Wembley the following season winning the Football League Trophy.
John was clearly a very successful striker in Divisions 3 & 4 scoring 119 goals in 330 appearances over a 12 year period (my calculation) until the result of a broken leg in his second spell at Preston took its toll. John’s talk was much appreciated by the members and after the meeting he drove to Chairman Chris’ home to catch up on a long-standing friendship.
The draw for the attendees at the Senior Blues sponsored fixture with Peterborough Sports was then made before Mike Allcock, this time wearing his first team coach’s hat, arrived after training and addressed the audience.
Once again Mike was open, honest and clear about his dual role at the Club. He gave us some insights into training drills, performance monitoring and the truth behind some corner routines (successful or otherwise). He was able to provide updates on the injury situation in the long and short term.
After taking a number of questions from the members it was clear that we had run into added time and after thanking Mike the meeting was closed.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for December 2022, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chris Courtenay Williams opened another well attended meeting by introducing Chester Women’s Manager Martin Fitzimons and team member Molly Wood who has been a regular for the past two years. Martin was pleased that attendances were now growing in what has been a very stop start season in terms of results, having, for example, lost the last five games. Though awareness in the Chester Women’s side is increasing via Podcasts and Twitter, there is a definite downside of Social Media platforms which players and volunteers do not need.
Since the England team’s success in the Euros there has been an upsurge in interest and competition but Martin was optimistic about an improved performance in the league. He recognised the sponsorship provided by the Senior Blues. Chairman Chris then fulfilled one of his most enjoyable duties by asking Molly a series of none too taxing questions about her time at Chester and about football in general which she answered with good grace and charm.
Club Historian, Chas Sumner then gave an in-depth illustrated talk on the history of Sealand Road. Starting with the formation of the Club in 1885, through the grounds in Hoole and Whipcord Lane, and finally to Sealand Road ground in 1906. After the first world war, the Club were founder members of the Cheshire County League before election into the Football League in 1931. Some notable innovations over the years were the tannoy system built in the early 1930’s and ”decent” floodlights (1960), the latter largely funded by the Supporters Association. Many photographs were shown which illustrated the development of the Sealand Road stands, the pitchside wall and cinder track, and the Kop. The ground record was over 20,000 (vs Chelsea, FA Cup replay 1951-52) was on a January afternoon well before the days of floodlights. The new main stand was built in 1979/80 at a cost of around £0.5M, double the original estimate. An annex to the stadium was sold in 1973 for £290K which help fund promotion. To close the talk Chas showed numerous nostalgic shots of the last days of the ground after it had been closed for good.
This short report does not do justice to the time and effort Chas has put in over the years to build up his archive and knowledge, and his talk was well appreciated by the members.
The meeting was then joined by the management team to a well deserved round of applause. After a relatively short annual address from Calum, everyone adjourned to the Legends Lounge for what turned out to be an excellent Christmas Lunch and an equally excellent “after lunch” speech by special guest Jeannie France-Hayhurst, the High Sheriff of Cheshire.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for November 2022, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Chairman Chris Courtenay Williams opened another very well attended meeting by rattling through the AGM and reflecting on our first year since Covid. He paid tribute to those members who had died in the past year with a special mention for Vic Croft our treasurer for the past 11 years and thanked Martin Williams for taking over. Remarkably we had over 50 members for our first meeting after the enforced break and have maintained high attendances ever since. We have had trips to the Liver Buildings, the KGV Hub and The Hidden Garden at Menai. We continue to support the Youth Academy (noting we will be sponsoring their FA Youth Cup tie vs Bradford City) and also now are sponsoring the Chester FC Women’s Team. It was proposed from the floor that the existing committee be retained and agreed by the members present. Job done. Apparently!
Chris also drew the members attention to the poor condition of the chairs in the Boardroom (as discussed at a recent committee meeting). The members agreed by a show of hands that the Senior Blues would provide funds for a replacement set of chairs.
The draw was the carried out to determine the eight members to win places in the Hospitality Package for the Alfreton game on 10th December sponsored by the Senior Blues. The winners were Joan Salt, Dave Pearson, Peter Featherston, Peter Alexander, Sue Pearson, Keith Musson, David Cobden, Bernard Clarke.
Reserve list: Frank Salt, Ann Rutter.(who will go forward to the next Senior Blues sponsored game vs Peterborough Sports). Congratulations to all the winners!
The first Guest speaker was Kate Mylchreest (CFU Board member and Director of Development at Storyhouse). Kate was born in Nottingham, moved to Chester at the age of 2 and grew up here before attending Newcastle University. She then worked in London before moving back to Chester 15 years ago. She has been head of fundraising at the Countess of Chester hospital and also at the newly completed Royal University hospital in Liverpool before moving to work at Storyhouse, a £37 million not for profit facility which opened in 2017.
As well as the theatre, cinema and library facilities there is a Community programme with 128 different groups. Kate manages all fundraising (over £6million to date), stakeholder management and statutory funding. CFU Board member and City Councillor Adam Langan was instrumental in co-opting her on to the CFU Board where her main portfolio is to help sponsorship along with the commercial work of Georgina and Albert. She was glad to see more diversity in what she considered to be a dynamic Board. Responding to a question she said there is a continuing effort to improve awareness of the Club in the city which has been helped by the opening of the KGV. She hopes to grow the profile of the Club and link it to the wider community more. She also referred to the recently produced film “Gate Money, Inside football’s non-league funding fiasco” due to have a special screening at Storyhouse on Nov 20th and which includes a contribution relating to Chester FC from Jim Green. Chris thanked Kate for her efforts which were warmly appreciated by the members.
Our second guest, sports broadcaster and Cestrian Jonathan Legard entertained us with a plethora of stories starting from his early days following Chester, through his transformation from teaching to radio broadcasting, life at the BBC and currently freelance multisport experiences. It is fair to say that the brevity of this report doesn’t do justice to his tour de force. However we learned that he watched his first game and got hooked on Chester City in the 71-72 season. When teaching in Hong Kong many years later, the experience of doing a voice over changed his career path forever.
Around 1985 he returned to Chester and worked as a volunteer at the Countess hospital radio and started reporting on the Blues, with Harry McNally being particularly helpful and encouraging. Without any formal training in journalism, the next move was to cover football on Radio Merseyside where there was a supportive Charlie Lambert. After five years on local radio which included reporting on Hillsborough, Jonathan moved to the BBC in London where he covered Formula 1 and learned from the master that was Murray Walker. With tales of the circuit high life, Michael Schumacher, Jackie Stewart (and Phil Collins!) it was clear that the letters B B and C could get you anywhere. A spell covering football followed, with tales of interviewing Jose Mourinho, Arsene Wenger, the England team hotel at the 2006 World Cup, Sven, and the much admired Terry Butcher. Following that, there was even more flexibility with the Boat Race and its interruption by a lone swimmer, the London Olympics and a first venture into Volleyball. The sports portfolio increased and as a freelance journalist, remote coverage of the Tokyo Olympics from Dockside studios during Covid had its own particular challenges.
Many more unlikely stories involving colleagues’ experiences with Elizabeth Taylor, John Lennon and the like followed, along with a lively Q&A. Above all, we learned Jonathan is as passionate about broadcasting and about Chester FC as he ever was, despite his exile in London for 32 years. The Graham Barrow years (as player and manager) were definitely favourites. He was particularly forthright about the Gloucester City tactics last month, a game he managed to attend at the Deva. Sadly the meeting had run into extra time with Jonathan still demonstrating an unflagging ability as a raconteur. His next job, the following day, was at Murrayfield and he had to get back to London first. With guys like him commentating, don’t expect much dead air time even when there is little action on the pitch, court, track, water etc. He even assured me that he writes his own scripts for his voice-overs on the EFL highlights show. Thanks Jonathan, you are always welcome.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for October 2022, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
The Guest Speaker at a very well attended meeting was Chris Matheson, who at the time was MP for Chester. He spoke about a number of football finance and governance related topics and took questions on a wide range of subjects including transgender participation in sport, the Qatar World Cup, immigration, the cross-border problems with the Deva Stadium, and empty shops in the City centre.
Chairman Chris thanked speaker Chris and after the raffle, and announcements about the November AGM and the Christmas dinner, members arranged themselves into 13 roughly (numerically) equal teams for John Bithell’s Senior Blues Quiz Challenge which comprised 30 questions, skilfully tailored towards those of advancing years, and covering sport, music, films, and other odds and sods from days gone by. There were even questions on the minutiae of Chester FC, surely only known to the anoraks among us. Having said that, the team led by Treasurer Martin Williams (because he had a pen) and which contained 4 other committee members, romped home with a magnificent 29/36 and despite demands for a stewards enquiry were declared the winners. For any other pedant reading this who is having trouble with the maths, there were 6 two-part questions. Thanks John. Next Quiz, March 2023.
Senior Blues Members Meeting recap for 2nd September 2022, thanks to Les Smith for providing the update!
Guest speakers were skipper, George Glendon; Communications Manager and Football Administrator, Albert Davies; Academy Manager and First Team Coach, Mike Allcock.
Chris Courtenay Williams introduced George who talked about his football career including the high spot of being on the bench for Manchester City in European games; the despondency of being left without a club after Bury folded, and being effectively rescued through Bern and Jonno making contact with his dad, who had managed at Radcliffe Borough for over 20yrs. He spoke about his love for Chester and his frustrations at not getting promoted after two Covid interrupted seasons, last season’s poor results and his current ACL injury which will keep him out for most of this season. He answered lots of questions including his opinion on refs, his partnership with Dec Weeks, the current squad, his buying into the Chester model, morning training and the KGV, and footballers’ wages. He had praise for the coaching staff and said his ambition is to get promoted with Chester.
Albert described his new dual role at the Club after starting several years ago on a volunteer basis and dealing mostly with media aspects. Commercial aspects are carried out in conjunction with Georgina (Slawinski) and football business with Calum and Jim (Green). There is a plan to utilise students to assist at the club as part of their educational programme. As well as day to day communications, Albert is responsible for the Club website (which he would very much like to see improved) and the Seals Podcast. In his role as an interviewer Albert was primed to probe our self-effacing Chairman Chris about his football career. It turned out Chris was a childhood friend of Ron Davies, and there his 11-a-side football career ended. Although he played 5-a-side till the age of 75 (and don’t we know it!), he actually uttered the words “I wasn’t good enough for 11-a-side”. Thanks Albert for prising out that gem of information. Thanks Chris for being a good sport.
Mike Allcock told us about his background in teaching, sports journalism and coaching, and some valuable and happy years spent at Hyde United. Contact with Calum led him to Chester as his Academy assistant and also as first team coach in Calum’s management team at Runcorn Linnets. He spoke of a 24 month plan to progress 5-6 youth team players to the 1st team squad. The philosophy of his dual role at Chester is player development in the Academy on Wednesdays (in the National League Alliance) and Sundays (in the North West Youth Alliance), whilst as first team coach the focus is clearly on winning matches. Mike also talked about the 2yr Btec in Sport programme offered to our Scholars, with 24 players in the 17/18yr age group. There is a desire to recruit for the full time programme principally from the current U16 age group which is filled with local talent. This can be supplemented with players released from EFL clubs.
Other Business
The Members agreed to the Senior Blues’ Sponsorship of our home fixture vs Alfreton Town on 10th December. More details later.
Geoff Leith outlined the arrangements for the Christmas meal which will be held after our meeting on Dec 2nd. Payment was requested at the October meeting.
Senior Blues visit to KGV Sports Hub
Around 40 members of the Senior Blues visited the Hub on Friday 26th August during a First team training session.
The visionary that is Jim Green described the project from conception to completion. The 3G pitch is almost fully booked for both Chester FC and Community use, with Sundays being taken up by Chester FC Women and Academy fixtures. In addition, Jim updated us on the redevelopment of the original KGV changing rooms adjacent to the grass pitches, which will also be used as the teaching headquarters for the Scholars programme. Work is also underway in improvement of the pitches which will further extend the use of the KGV.
After a short Q&A, members were given free reign of the facility though no one, not even Chairman Chris, joined the training session. It is impossible not to be impressed by the KGV and certainly, along with the Deva Stadium, must be a major attraction for potential signings. An additional beneficiary is the Deva Stadium pitch (and Mike Barrow) which is now free from the wear and tear of training sessions. Credit should be given to all those involved in its development. It is a tremendous facility that will benefit Chester FC and the City of Chester for many years to come.
Members Meeting Recap: August 5th
Almost 70 members attended the first Senior Blues Meeting of the 2022-23 Season.
Guest speakers were CFU Chairman Kieron Shiel who updated us on the progress made over the summer, including the recruitment of Calum McIntyre as First Team Manager; Georgina Slawinski who explained her role as General Manager and distributed copies of the Chester FC Commercial Brochure. She was followed by Matty Waters who thanked supporters for the financial assistance for his ACL operation through the Chester Former Players Association Just Giving Crowd Funding Appeal.
Matty is being helped in his rehabilitation by the Club and is targeting March 2023 as a return date. Grenville Millington, representing the FPA, asked those present to give generously if they hadn’t already and then proceeded do a brilliant time-filling stand-up routine of stories from between the posts whilst waiting for Calum and Colin Woodthorpe to arrive from training. Colin needed slightly more persuasion to speak than Calum (and Grenville!) but unsurprisingly both received the members full attention and support for the coming season.
On a sad note, after the meeting a number of members attended the funeral of Senior Blues Treasurer Vic Croft. Vic was encouraged onto the Committee by his good friend and true Blue, Peter Mitchell who passed away in May 2021. Vic will also be sadly missed.
Plas Cadnant – the Hidden Gardens
On Friday 19th August, a 53 seater coach carrying passengers with a combined age probably somewhere in excess of 3600 years set off from the Deva Stadium at 9.30 for Menai Bridge. The owner of Plas Cadnant was most welcoming, the gardens were spectacular, the food in the cafe was superb and the coach driver was particularly skilful in negotiating the steeply descending single track road into the valley. The weather was perfect and a good day was had by all (I think!)
Thanks to Les Smith for providing an update!