YOUTH | Young Blues to play Gateshead at the Swansway this month!

    Chester FC’s Youth Team will host Gateshead FC in the National League U19 Alliance Cup on Wednesday 31st January at the Swansway Chester Stadium.

    The Heed will travel to face the Young Blues with a spot in the quarter-finals at stake. As new members of the National League Alliance, it is the Blues’ maiden entry to this competition having defeated Mansfield Town Brooksby and FC United of Manchester in previous rounds. The cup is a national competition for all clubs who are members of the National League Alliance with the last sixteen being the final round of the competition that is regionalised.

    The fixture, set to be held at the Swansway Chester Stadium, will be used a fundraising event for the Chester FC Youth Academy with free admission to the game but voluntary donations welcome at the turnstile.

    How have the Young Blues got on this year?

    2018 has seen both the Blues’ Youth Team and Scholars start the year with victories after an enforced fixture lay off due to the poor weather. Victories against Mansfield Town Brooksby and victories for both of the Blues’ sides against Hyde United last week mean that the youngsters are in a rich vein of form heading into the cup tie. The Blues are currently topping both their divisions in the North West Youth Alliance and National League Alliance respectively.

    What the Gaffer said…

    “The National League Alliance Cup is a really important competition for us. It’s another National competition and allows us the opportunity to see how we fare against the strongest sides in non-league in the country. For us to get a home draw is a novelty it seems and it’s massive for us to be able to get the game on here at the Swansway. Our Youth Cup run gave us three consecutive away ties so it’s the first time that this group of players have got out here at the stadium and have the opportunity to experience a fixture here under the floodlights. The support when we play here is massive and no club gets behind their Youth set up the way our supporters get behind ours, hopefully this fixture is no different and there’s a crowd in to support the lads. We will be welcoming donations on entry to the stadium as we look to raise some funds for our Youth section.”

    “We have another strong group of players this season and we have made a flyer in both divisions. Our Scholars are entirely an Under 17 group and have got themselves top of the National League Under 19 Alliance and our Under 18s sit top of the North West Youth Alliance. We are still in three cup competitions and have a mammoth fixture programme to comprehend with. It’s going to be a hugely challenging end to the season in terms of the amount of games we could have to play but we are ready for the challenge and will be doing everything we can to get into the next round next Wednesday.”

    – Calum McIntyre, Academy Head Coach

    Match Details

    Admission is free – but donations would be most welcome on the turnstile.

    Kick off is 7pm at the Swansway Chester Stadium.