Chester Chronicle - Deva Fever

Unstoppable Exiles end season on a darts high

2008-06-26T07:21:02Z

It is sometimes said that almost everyone can remember where they were when they heard that JFK had been shot, or the death of Diana, or that Barry Butler had been converted into a free-scoring emergency centre forward.

Cestrians all over the world can now add the events of Thursday June 12, 2008 to that list of epoch-defining moments. At 9.50pm, Robert Evans threw - inevitably - a double one to ensure a fifth consecutive victory for the Chester City Exiles darts team and to guarantee a third place league finish.

It is difficult to explain events in the APFSCIL 6-a-side darts League Division Three since Christmas, other than to say it was the greatest comeback since Andy Milner decided that defeat against Wrexham was no way to celebrate St Valentine's Day.

In short, the Exiles' abysmal league form - we hadn't won a game for almost two seasons - was transformed. Our rise up the table was almost as dramatic as Bobby Williamson's slump. Nobody had seen anything like it before. We began to approach matches with unusual feelings of optimism.

Thursday's 7-4 away win against Southampton was thus no real surprise, coming hot on the heels of identical scorelines against Exeter (A); Bolton (H) and (A) as well as a 6-5 win in the home fixture against the Saints.

On reflection the reasons for our amazing success since Christmas included finding ourselves with a full complement of six players most weeks. For the last match, we were even able to make some substitutions leaving some of our thirstier players out for the last games of the evening.

All the team also finally found their finishing form, including a memorable 180 throw by Steve Catherall. Most of all, the Exiles squad has stood together and stared into the abyss - 11-0 defeats, winning the beer leg only to find the bar has closed, having to drink Caffrey's at £3.50 a pint - on more occasions than any of us would care to admit. Has triumph finally started to come from such adversity?

We are planning to arrange some friendly matches over the summer to keep our form going, including a glamour tie at the Palace of Westminster (assuming we can get our darts through security).

It only remains to thank Manager and Chairman Rick Goby for his time and effort in arranging the bookings, fixtures and teams so successfully. We all know the best way to show our appreciation - just get it pulled into one of those glasses with a handle.

A captain to be proud of

2008-05-25T11:07:20Z

BY far the best news released from the Deva Stadium last week was the re-signing of Paul Linwood.

I feel sure that, as Simon Davies tries to restructure the playing staff during the close-season, other new players will be signed, but none more important than Paul. The fans' player of the year for last season sent out all the right signals by stating that it was the offer to make him club captain that clinched his signature to a new two-year contract.

This is precisely the sort of loyalty and pride we need at the club, which over time has become used to journeymen footballers who stay for as long as it suits them before moving on. With so many young players around him having the same attitude, the future for Chester City is less bleak and the nerve-racking moments of a few weeks ago are now just a distant memory.

While we are all relieved to retain our place in the Football League, we must heed the warning (unlike Wrexham) and strengthen the squad wisely to ensure 2008/9 is a much better season.

Certainly the signs are good because we will build on our youth policy under Simon Davies and he will encourage all the players to display not only talent, but the same pride and loyalty shown by their captain.

Another rollercoaster week for Blues fans!

2008-05-12T08:55:53Z

IN the 20 years I've been following Chester City, the constant theme is that life as a Blues fan is never boring, and last week was no exception.

To be honest, the 90 minutes of football I saw at the Deva Stadium against Macclesfield was the most boring aspect of my Chester-following week. But in the tail end of this season, it's been everything else that goes with following the team that's kept me interested.

To start with, the Exiles darts team capped the high of the news that City were safe with a 7-4 victory over Bolton Wanderers. It was our second win over the Trotters this season, and our third darts triumph in a row.

If we carry on in that vein for the last two games of the season, we could finish in the same third from bottom spot as the football team. No shame for Exiles darters, as we're usually the league's basement side.

Football aside, I did enjoy my final Deva visit of the season last Saturday. I was like a kid in a sweet shop when I saw the 'End of Season' sale in the club shop. Such was my thrill at getting a Blues bargain that I kept going back in for more. One day I'm sure I'll find a use for a pen incorporating its own Chester City ink crest and the Conference champions pennant looks smart hanging in my flat.

The farewell from the players was a bit uninspiring, but it was great to catch up with people in the Blues Bar. Last Thursday night saw me catching up with someone else... the only Wrexham fan I know, who was enjoying a quiet pint in a Surrey pub until three Chester fans walked in! He was serenaded with "We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when". The pub regulars found it all a bit strange.

The night ended with a pre-bedtime look at The Chronicle website, to discover City owner Stephen Vaughan had been arrested after the races. As I said, it's never boring being a Chester fan.

At last! Time to crack open that bubbly...

2008-04-30T14:04:47Z

"HOLD on tight folks" for the Chester City rollercoaster was back in town on Tuesday, and what an exhilarating ride it was!

I couldn't make the game (with recent trips to Shrewsbury, Wycombe and Hereford behind me, don't call me a part-timer), and spent a very nervous 90 minutes listening out for my bleeping mobile in the unlikely surroundings of a Gordon Ramsey pub in Chiswick.

It's too long a story to tell you why I was there, but suffice to say that my stomach was way too knotted to even think about trying a portion of Ramsey's £11 quiche, coupled with spuds at £2.50 a pop.

The Chiswick-ites may have assumed my phone was tuned into the Man Utd v Barca game - how wrong they were! I was so relieved there was no peep from my phone in the first half as it meant we were 45 minutes nearer the vital point needed to secure our League Two status.

Then a half-time call from my source at the ground told me we were playing well and Stockport had already used all three substitutes. It was sounding good, but this is Chester and I've been following them too long to know what could happen.

So another 45 minutes followed and as I saw two nearby tables order bottles of bubbly, I wondered if they were closet Chester fans as well, with a better hotline to the Deva.

I kept looking nervously at my watch, then at my phone. Finally my hotline rang - and all I could hear on the other end was raucous cheering. No words were spoken, or if they were, I couldn't hear them. Those cheers were enough to tell me - "The Blues are staying up!"

Make sure we're safe - then crack open the bubbly!

2008-04-24T13:34:10Z

I'LL have to admit to dancing a little jig of delight in my living room the moment I heard our friends across the border had been relegated. It was my football highlight of the week - actually, I'm sad enough to own up to it being the highlight of my non-footballing week as well.

It was a shame I couldn't crack open the champagne for a full-on celebration, though, as that will remain on ice until Chester's status in the Football League for next season has been secured.

For 75 minutes of the game at Wycombe, I thought we were going to get a valuable point towards guaranteed safety as our young guns battled against a Chairboys side aiming for a play-off spot. But Wycombe's Scott McGleish put paid to those ideas with his 26th goal of the season.

But it was an encouraging performance and it was see good to see some other southern-based supporters watching only our fifth home counties game this season. Judging by some of the over-enthusiastic chanting, a number had clearly been making the most of their day out.

Oh yes, and it was also a "Celtic Day" at Wycombe - not that you'd really have noticed. Wycombe's invitation to Celtic fans to pay a visit to Adams Park fell a bit flat with no more than 20 Scots in green-and-white hoops behind the goal. Still, one of them insisted on buying me a pre-match drink and I thought our 'exile' to the corner of one of the Adams Park home stands did us a bit of a favour by concentrating our support.

Now we face a nail-biting trip to Shrewsbury. I just hope I'm opening that bubbly when I return south on Saturday night, so the final home games of the season will be time to party.

Calling out for a (local) hero

2008-04-17T10:16:28Z

WE may be having April showers right now, but down at the Deva Stadium it never rains but it pours!

Last week I was leaping around my lounge (knocking a cup of tea flying in the process) as "Goal! Ellison (90mins)" flashed up on Sky's Gillette Soccer Saturday. The Blues are staying up, the Blues are staying up! I was in ecstasy! On Saturday, I stared open mouthed as we let in two very poor goals against a mid-table, mediocre Lincoln City side and once again the spectre of relegation hangs over us. Then, if things were not bad enough, and praying that Butler and Partridge will be fit enough to play at Wycombe on Saturday, the club suddenly announces that Butler and Dinning, two of our most experienced players, have been suspended - only for the PFA to deny they had been suspended two days later.

What is going on? Is this why Stephen Vaughan appointed Simon Davies as manager - because by Saturday we will have practically the whole of the youth team turning out anyway!!!
While I confess that I do not know the reasons for the apparent problems with Butler and Dinning, it made me consider the loyalty that there is in football these days. When I started supporting Chester as wee school girl, it was quite normal for players to either have come from the local area (and how me and my friends loved to stalk them in Woollies!!!) or they would move to Chester lock stock and barrel for a few years (if they were good enough).

Nowadays, how many players stay for more than one or two seasons with the same club and it seems the norm for players to travel hundreds of miles each day to training. I understand this has a lot to do with the high cost of housing, schools and the stability of managers, but you do wonder how good all this chopping and changing is for a team each season and how loyal players really are to the cause, as in our case, of avoiding relegation. Yes they do have pride and won't want to be part of a relegation side, but come the end of the season/their contract they can be off never to fight the Chester cause again! Meanwhile, we the loyal fans can only stand and stare as more shenanigans unfold. We will still drive hundreds of miles and spend hundreds of pounds just to support our beloved Blues, all in the hope of getting another vital three points. Which is why we feel so let down and hurt sometimes by those that we worship and adore each week. It is a cruel game.

What a week

2008-04-10T11:44:36Z

IF we could all have looked into the future, there'd have been far more than 190 Blues fans at Edgar Street on Saturday. But I was one of those lucky few and I felt I deserved the treat of two City goals in a great second half comeback.

It capped a good week for the Exiles, as less than 48 hours earlier the Exiles darts team had beaten their Southampton-supporting opponents 6-5 in a nail-biting match in our aptly named 'home' pub, The City Retreat, in London.

I was still on a high from that victory when I crossed the Severn Bridge on Saturday afternoon - but was expecting to be bought down to earth with City facing highly-placed Hereford.

How wrong I was! Admittedly it was a lacklustre first half, but the City fans were in fighting spirit - making their views known to the linesman for forgetting his flag existed when Hereford scored both their goals.
Then Kevin Sandwidth's 25-yard second half stunning goal put us in good voice again. The ref's assistant came in for more stick when the Hereford tannoy man announced their man-of-the-match... "the linesman", bellowed a nearby Blues fan.

Justice was finally done when 'Super Kev' Ellison blasted a 93rd minute penalty past hapless Wayne Brown. So I was back on that high again and almost flew back home over the bridge. Now, if only I could bottle that feeling...

One click from the matchday fix

2008-04-03T09:18:31Z

AS an Exile it's often difficult to get to games, but in the age of the internet it's possible to get something resembling your Chester City matchday 'fix' from the comfort of your living room.

Last Saturday's buzz began for me at 2.45pm. While many of you were finding a good 'spec' at the Deva, I was at home surfing a series of websites to find the team news. Would Ellison and Holroyd be fit, would Vaughan be back in the side? My questions were soon answered and I sat back, with about six favourite websites minimised, and waited for the action to start.

If you spend a matchday afternoon online, you'll soon find there's a whole community of exiled football fans out there, desperate to talk about the live action. This Saturday was no different and before long there were more 100 of us in a thread talking about City v Stockport.

The best of the fellow internet chatters have a friend at the game ringing them from a mobile, but it wasn't until half-time that the internet community picked up on the problem with overcrowding in the Stockport end. The score was 0-0, but from the updates we were getting it sounded like it was a game we'd be sorry to have missed.

But wait - someone had a vital call from the Deva... the game had been abandoned due to the pitch being waterlogged! My head almost hit the keyboard in shock and before long the thread was busy and getting busier as City fans returned from the game and logged on.

The first serious report came from the shiny-new Chronicle website (honest), when the afternoon's chaos became a little clearer. You can't beat being at the game for a matchday experience, but when you're hundreds of miles away you can still get a taste of the action with a click of your mouse.

Fun on the Hipkiss Express

2008-03-26T16:40:59Z

TRAVELLING on the official supporters' coach, aka the Hipkiss Express, on Monday we spotted the team coach broken down about five miles from Peterborough at 1.30pm.

With mechanic attention required and time ticking on, the decision was made - the squad would travel with the fans. No truth in the rumour that the fans wouldn't give up their seats because they had paid!
Ever wondered what a team takes to a game? A skip, balls, physio equipment, music player, bottled drinks and many heavy kit bags just for starters.

The players were in 'game mode'. Some of the seniors focused on tactics and it was fascinating to earwig Paul Butler encouraging Linny, and the youngsters slight enough for three to a seat. Near the front, Linny sat with Hughesy, Butts with Murph and Tony D by Shaun Kelly.

Fashion accessory of the modern day younger player is definitely a mobile phone with rapid text facility! Physio Ben claimed not to know the way, but luckily driver Mark excelled with a back route. Not the day to get lost.

A cracking unplanned bonding exercise and oh how tempting to get off the coach and walk in the players' entrance at London Road after signing a few autographs!

OK, a 1-0 defeat against a team with a big wage bill, but there were plusses - 100% effort and creating chances at the business end.

One question from the lady fans... Where do you want picking up next time lads?

Winning one match makes me grin like a Cheshire cat for 24 hours

2008-03-26T14:11:35Z

SHOULD Chester City fans offer themselves up for medical research into amnesia? As southern-based Exiles, there haven't been many matches down our way this season and in the three we have had - at Brentford, Dagenham and Barnet - the Blues have suffered their worst defeats, but more worryingly produced arguably their poorest performances.

I must admit I was not thrilled at the prospect of watching Chester over the Easter break - no chance of any points let alone exciting football, so why was I bothering to drive 170 miles knowing the inevitable, plus the added horror of seeing the Blues crashing back into the Conference and not being able to do one jot about it?

I even got to the ground early to have a drink and a catch up in the Blues Bar before the match so it would be more enjoyable! But I was wrong (again), which is why I love football so much! The football was a revelation (as were the performances by Holroyd and McManus) and the result was fantastic - a win against the mighty Darlo and three points nearer safety.

What went on behind closed doors during training in the week worked wonders and for Simon Davies to have gained the respect of the whole team to produce a performance reminiscent of the early part of the season was nothing short of a miracle. So much so, I changed my mind and decided I would travel back via Peterborough on Easter Monday. Another drubbing? No chance! Can anyone explain why as football fans we continue to go back for more? And how do you explain to non-football fans just by winning one match you grin like a Cheshire cat for 24 hours and hug everyone in sight (well, I do!)?

Rise of the youngsters

2008-03-26T11:24:02Z

IN a season that has so far been a rollercoaster of emotions both on and off the field, the single outstanding positive for many supporters has been the emergence of a number of talented young players to make first team appearances. Kevin Roberts, Chris Holroyd, James Vaughan, Shaun Kelly, Paul Rutherford, Glenn Rule, Paul McManus and Sean Newton have all made the step up to League football this season and all look to have decent futures in the game.

At a time when money seems to be the be-all and end-all at the top end of football, the long-term future of the majority of Football League clubs, particularly those in Leagues One and Two, may depend on their ability to find and develop their own conveyor belt of talent.

Crewe Alexandra, over the years, has been a magnificent example of how a club can build and maintain its status using players they have nurtured through their youth development programme. At Chester City, the players that have made the breakthrough to the first team in what has been season of ups and downs will undoubtedly have learnt an awful lot about the harsh realities of life in League Two.

Going forward, this education will stand them and Chester City Football Club in good stead. The development programme at Chester City has continued to thrive under the stewardship of, firstly, Jim Hackett and now Simon Davies. With the youth team performing well in the FA Youth Cup in the past two seasons, there is a hope that there will be further names next season to add to those already mentioned when the team sheets are handed in.