Championes Championes Ole Ole Ole...

What an insane end to Chester FC's very first league campaign, but one that ends on a really high having secured the title following an unbelievable twist of events that no-one expected!

The build up to the big day was the feeling of confidence of going into the game at Garforth needing just a point but believing we'd get the three to make it 100 points.

The day itself started with the departing of the team bus from the Exacta Stadium at 10.15am, and many fans who were themselves jumping on the Hipkiss Express(es) were there in force already to wave the boys off!

We had a good laugh on the way, with the lads in great spirits, and every other car that went past the coach on the motorway seemed to have a Chester scarf in it, and many let us know they were Blues fans with the obligatory horn tooting!

The funniest thing on the way was watching Gary Jones engrossed in the royal wedding, apparently he's a bit of a royalist so was enjoying soaking the coverage on the tv - mind you half the team was too!

The coach then stopped for brekky at a Holiday Inn about 20 miles from Garforth where they all had a light breakfast before setting off again, and now the excitement started to begin in earnest.

We then approached the ground, and now the sight of Chester fans in their colours was there to greet us, and what a sight it was - it felt just like Cup Final Day when you see the coaches arrive at Wembley, well this was our Wembley for the day, and most probably the 44th Cup final of the season!

Straight into the ground then and time to sort out a few media duties before going outside and sampling the atmosphere - I was hoping to sample a pre match burger but that queue was too bloody long!!

So, went for a walk around the ground to speak to a few regulars, and catch up with people who I used to chat with so often, but through my role have hardly had time to do since the season started, so it was nice to catch up again.

It really was the longest wait for a match to start though, and a look at the watch showed it was only 2.15 - another 45 to go - sheesh, why is it taking so long???

Then, it was time to get into my seat in the half decent stand that a lot of the Blues fans were situated in, and get behind the lads for what we hoped would be the championship winning performance and result - well what the hell, just the result would do!

No further had we kicked off it seemed that the first 'tweet' came in from Frank Hughes at Skelmersdale telling us that they had gone 1 up - no problem I thought, was half expecting that, then came 2-0. Hmmm.

The news then came through that it was 2-1, so suddenly Ossett were producing a fightback to help us out, not that we needed it as we were doing okay, creating a few chances, but not looking in trouble.

Then just before half time Asp lobbed a nice ball through to Powelly, who turned on a sixpence (often used commentators line there!) to hammer it home and put us into the lead - his fourth goal in four games, not a bad record for a lad who seemed to be getting hammered for some of his earlier performances, a tad unfair I'd say considering he'd only played about twice!

So, in at half time 1 up, with the news that Skem had grabbed a third - no problem, we were winning and it would mean Garforth would have to score twice to stop us winning the league, it looked unlikely didn't it???

During the first half the PA announcer said that he'd keep us up to date with the score at Skem, but as soon as he blurted out the early goal for Skem, we told him to put a lid on it, as we didn't need the lads distracted by that all match - just as well really considering what followed in the 2nd half!!!

Half time, and a quick breather - glass of water, happy that we'd gone in 1 up and were just 45 minutes from glory, it was a nice feeling.

Out for the second half then, and ready to go, only the substitution for Garforth seemed to galvanise them, and soon enough tweets were coming through from Skem that it was 4-1, then 5-1, and all of a sudden Garforth drew level.

It got worse of course, when Skem knocked in a sixth goal, and the unthinkable happened...Garforth scored to put themselves 2-1 up, a great goal, but one that completely knocked the stuffing out of us.

Suddenly, we were up against it, and when the news that Skem had gone 7-1 up came in, I began fearing the worst, could our dreams be in tatters??

Up popped the news that Ossett had pulled one back, so 7-2, and so it was back to 2 goals required for Skem IF we lost our game, what we had to bear in mind though was of course that we could not afford to concede another goal AT ALL.

I took a quick look around and I don't think I've seen so many people looking at watches and mobile phones to try and get updates, then someone shouted that it was now 8-2 but all eyes were on Neil who had someone at the Skem ground, but before we could get any signal from Neil, it was then 'apparently' 8-3, the emotions were now horrendous, I felt physically sick at this point.

Peterborough 2000 - horrible

Neil then looked up and signalled that it was still 7-2, and couldn't understand where other scores were coming from, but I guess we'll just put it down to those bizarre but really unhelpful 'last day rumours' - I think we all remember what happened in 2000 when someone jumped up mistakenly believing that a goal had gone in at the Shrewsbury v Exeter game, and we were 'apparently' safe, so we HAD to find out what the real score was.

It was 2 minutes before the end of the game, and we made our way down to the tunnel, and our game was all of sudden coming to an end, and we'd fail to find that equalizer, with the lads clearly affected by what was going on at Skem.

Neil then signalled that there was 6 minutes of injury time at Skelmersdale, so we then knew our fate, if Skem scored another 2, it would mean play offs for us, this was just unbearable.

After a few minutes I walked over to Neil, to find out, my timing was great as he turned round and said 'We've done it' before the celebratory pitch invasion took place - I'm not the strongest of lads, but I just lifted Youngy in the air in sheer delight, as we had done it, clinched the title in amazing circumstances.

For you Richie!

It was all full on celebrations from that point, and after several hugging of players, and fans, it was back to the tunnel where 'calm-as-you-like' Pat Cluskey was handing out the 'We did it Rich' t-shirts, which we were desperately hoping we'd be able to wear in memory and tribute to Rich Wightman, and I swear it was Rich who played his part by getting us over the line, under a gorgeous blue sky on Friday!

The singing fan in me came out as I joined in with just about every song that was being sung, but I was absolutely shattered at the same time, with adrenalin keeping me going!

It wasn't long before the trophy was held aloft and that signalled the first achievement of our proud little club, with an amazing 2300 fans that had turned the M62 into a sea of blue and white, I don't think that estate in Garforth knew what had hit it!!

Just before getting on the coach it was time to grab a Championship winning burger, one I'd been craving for all match, but knowing if I'd have had one at half time, I probably would have been sick in that 2nd half, so now I could enjoy my favourite match food - none of this prawn sandwich stuff for me thanks!

The journey home was a quiet one personally as I just felt drained, but the lads at the back of the team bus were going for it good style, with plenty of signing going on.

One funny moment was Wildey asking if we had actually won the title as he'd heard that Skem had scored enough to win, we told him that the trophy wasn't going back now!!!

It was also broken to Wildey that he'd won the golden boot so that delighted him, and Chester's number 10 was in good form for the rest of the night!!!

Back to the ground, and time to film the homecoming, but from an inside the coach point of view rather than the fans outside seeing the bus coming in, and Big George was there with the trophy straight away to show it off to everyone - how good though, a Chester lad holding up a Chester FC championship trophy - sweet.

It was a great day, and then the official homecoming party, but I can't summon up the energy for that write up now, that will have to wait!!!

Well done you Blues!!!

Another big week sees the Blues edge closer

It's been another chaotic seven days following the Blues, with two more wins as Chester continue the relentless charge towards the first Championship title since reformation.

Last Saturday was of course a huge result, only weeks after a top of the table clash between 1st and 2nd at Chorley, arrived another one, this time against Skelmersdale, who had all of sudden burst through the group into 2nd place, and on a great run.

Big George powers home the winner at Skem

It was then built up as a major match, and if the Blues could grab the points from this one then we'd put ourselves in a tremendous position at the top - and so it was, big George who maybe shouldn't have been on the pitch according to some, rose highest to power home a second half header to send the travelling Blues wild knowing that this was a major moment in the game.

That turned out to be the winner, and yet another important goal scored by local lad done good, George Horan. The shivers still go down the spine when you see the goal in your head from the Witton game where he scored the winner in a 5 goal thriller at Wincham Park, what a goal, and what a match that was!

Riiiiiiiimmer, Riiiiiiiiiiimmer!

So, 12 points clear at the top then, and time to enjoy Saturday night, although thoughts were already turning to the Wednesday fixture with Salford City, with the added bonus of the visit from BBC's Football Focus. As it was coming up to a year since Chester City went under, I shared a phone call with the producers of the show, as they were looking to do a return visit to the Exacta Stadium - 12 months previously I'd done an interview with them about the impending closure of the club - so we worked out what they could do, and said I'd arrange all the interviews that they'd need, so onto that I got started.

That coupled with the return of the prodigal son, Stuart Rimmer meant that is was going to be a busy Wednesday night and certainly a lead up to it.

On Sunday, a case of responding to various e-mails that had been received at the club, which included a University student's questions for a project - we've had a few of those this season and I'm quite happy assisting those who have managed to do assignments on Chester FC - it's always nice to talk about where we've come from in the past 12 months.

Turning to the start of the week, and it was board meeting night on Monday - and as usual lots to discuss, including the new away kit, and whilst we wanted to put the shirts to a vote, there was really only one winner, as the choices that people wanted to be put forward as a choice for last season weren't available to buy as just a shirt (you had to buy other items with it), and I'm sure there would have been a landslide victory for the Yellow kit anyway, given the demand for it last summer!

The only down side is that we'll all have to wait until June to get our hands on it, but when was the last time Chester FC had a new kit to bring out to the fans just a month after the previous season had ended????

We'll be looking at the range of leisurewear associated with the away top, and I can assure those reading this that there are some extremely attractive items in there - some of which will I'm sure sell like hot cakes to the supporters!

We are also discussing season ticket prices for next season, and one thing that we all need to be aware of now is the need to ensure we remain ambitious enough to progress further, and we need everyone's support in the future - so if that means a slight increase in the prices then just take a minute to think why that would be - mainly we want to drive the club forward, and if we are to compete in the Conference, then based on current wage budgets in that league, you'd be looking at £500k to £1m easily, so we all know we have to do what we can to bring in the revenue required to get to that point.

what a great programme!

Monday is also the day we proof read the match day programme to spot any typos - as we try to make it as professional a job as possible, and Martin Huxley & Rob Ashcroft do a fantastic job of pulling this together, and most of the time it's spot on apart from a few dodgy typos in the Blue's Blog page - not sure who does that =)

Tuesday I received confirmation that Stuart Rimmer was definitely coming down to the Exacta Stadium for the Salford game, and I was more than delighted at that as Stuey was one of my heroes in the mid 80s when he banged in all those goals in his first spell at the club.

The same day I got an e-mail from Eddie Bishop confirming his attendance at the Witton game - I'd asked Ed if he would like to attend that game based on the fact he used to manage Witton - it just felt right - and so I was delighted when he accepted.

So, all thoughts turned to Wednesday night then, and after producing all the usual match day schedules for the board, PA announcers, and the photographers it was time to get in to match day mode as I left work - although thanks to my car returning after its 2 year lease ended I had to grab a lift with Chief Exec Steve Ashton in his new cool motor!

So, down to the ground to meet up with the Football Focus team who had arrived and were already filming and look out for the nice shot of Jonathan Ledgard opening up the Exacta Stadium gates as if to say "Chester are Back" - that was the first glimpse of the filming they were doing, and they would go on to do lots lots more.

The free statto fact I gave everyone that night was that 6 months to the night we'd beaten Trafford 6-0 in our very first home game with the BBC in attendance, so I convinced them that they were a lucky omen, although I also told them I'd hold them responsible if we lost!

One Chris Pilsbury, there's only...

They firstly interviewed Chris Pilsbury - wonder how Chester's very own Bill Oddie will come across on the air tomorrow?? - and I'm sure he gave a very passionate interview. Steve Ashton was next on the BBC conveyor belt, before they then sought out Neil Young to do a one to one with him in the dugout - and with the temperature dropping looked quite blustery out there!

I'd asked George & Wildey to do interviews with the crew too, and have risen to Wildey's challenge to get him on Sky Sports - although I'm not so sure I should highlight our star striker to the nation just in case anyone comes in for him - perhaps I should draw up a contract with a clause in it that prevents him from moving on based on the interviews I manage to get him!

Both lads were asked if they could do the interviews in the dressing room, but that look of panic set across the faces of George & Wildey spoke volumes, in fact probably louder than what they talked in the actual interview - afraid that they'd get so much ribbing from the rest of the lads - and they probably would - they chose to do the interviews outside in the freezing main stand - although Wildey had to cover up the GP on his jacket to avoid confusion after he'd borrowed it off Gary Powell!

We then looked after the BBC crew in the Legends Lounge, by giving them the full treatment, and then the arrival of Sir Stuart Rimmer, who confessed he was very shy about the whole going on the pitch thing at half time, and so we agreed to do just the presentation of the CFU Hall of Fame induction at pitchside rather than the interview - hope that explains why we did things that way - I know loads of people wanted to get their questions in, and if we'd have been able to, then we would have done.

So to the game itself, and after the usual pre match build up, which included Ashley Williams receiving a deserved player of the month award - wonder who selected that on the Seals Podcast last week - although having said that it was the most difficult selection I've been involved in, as Robbie Booth, Carl Ruffer, Chris Simm and Greg Stones had all had a great month themselves, but in the end we narrowed it down to Boothy and Ashley, and the latter became the winner.

Are you Ryan in disguise...?

Where was? Oh yeah, the match. Well it started off quite well with Boothy having a cracking effort go just wide, but then the game went a bit flat - that was until of course a fantastic shot from the edge of the box from Steven Beck, who has come on leaps and bounds recently, firing in to put the Blues 1 up - and we though right here we go then - until a couple of minutes later when the ref awarded a free kick to Salford, and quite predictably up stepped Rhodri Giggs who curled a free kick in to the arms of Adam Judge - well that was the plan anyway, but unfortunately the ball squirmed underneath our excellent keeper who has been in great form since taking his chance, and it was 1-1.

We didn't have to wait long though for order to be restored, as Barnesy - who had come on for the injured Ashley Williams - threaded a beauty of a ball through to Simmo who raced away very Rimmer-esque and slotted the ball home to restore our lead, great finish.

Half time came and time to go down to the pitch with Stu and hand over the framed picture which was handed back as it will go onto the wall in the corridor upstairs on the way towards the Legends Lounge.

Stu had been sitting with the Football Focus team all the way through the first half as Jonathan Ledgard grabbed his through-the-match comments with our returning hero, but had commented that he was really enjoying the match as we walked down to the tunnel.

Then on to the second half, and it was certainly a windy affair out there, with Salford carving us open a few times, but much to the despair of their Directors who were up and down like a yo-yo thinking their team had scored - especially when Foster struck the post with his effort - that was quite funny, and they did engage in plenty of humour with the Blues fans sitting in front of them to be fair.

The match was of course sealed when Robbie Booth finished off a great run from the left and cracked a shot in off the left post to give us the 2 goal advantage that we were all craving - great finish from a lad who is full of confidence at the moment.

The end of the game approached and I ushered Stuey Rimmer out as he had to travel back to Southport and be up for work at 5am, so he had to get out before the infamous car park queue leaving the ground trapped him!

our 3 minutes of fame tomorrow!

Football Focus hadn't finished though, and they continued to film inside the Legends Lounge, grabbing interviews with Neil Young & Giggs, before then having a relaxing drink before their return to begin the editing of near on 6 hours of footage - hope their cameras were working alright!

Right, have babbled on enough now, it's Friday lunchtime, and we're all looking forward to tomorrow's game, although the news on Wildey & Ash isn't too great - received that from Neil this morning, so a chance for the rest of the boys to step up and make a case for themselves.

Hopefully tomorrow, we'll hear lots of singing from the fans, so Harry Mac boys do your best and get the East & West standers singing too in the way that's worked before!

Come on you Blues!!!!

From Euphoria to Heartbreak as 2011 begins

Happy New Year!

Well it was to begin with anyway, but 3 days into it and we're left licking our wounds after Warrington produced a storming comeback to level the game yesterday despite being 2 goals down, but in truth we never seemed in control of the game and could have ended up with losing the match.

All this after a last minute win at Prescot Cables on Saturday which saw the Blues extend the lead at the top of the league to 6 points, thanks to a late winner from Stuey Jones, who popped up with another important goal this season - which obviously sparked scenes of delight - gutted that I couldn't make the game on Saturday, but I was still doing a jig when the tweet came in on the moby!

So, lots of studying the table on Saturday night pointed towards a healthy start to the new year, and then thoughts turned to Monday with the visit of Warrington. Appeals went out to volunteers to help assist with teh removals of the covers, bearing in mind it took 3 hours for almost 20 people to lay them down a couple of weeks ago, and a fantastic response saw around 50-60 people attend, and the covers were removed in a very short space of time.

So, onto the day yesterday, it began a busy one, arrived at the ground at 1pm with my first mission to look after former player Arthur Albiston, who was our guest 'Legend' of the week, now I know there has been talk of some of the guests we've had down at the Exacta not qualifying for the 'Legend' tag, but this is more of a fun term that we're using it as, remember we want to see the former players enjoying their day too, and "Former Player of the Week" just doesn't sound right, so we'll stick with the 'Legend' term for now!

Hopefully looking to get Daryl Clare & Stuey Rimmer up soon, they would have been here for the Woodley game on Dec 8 had the weather not conspired to go against us, but we'll keep on trying, it's all down to availability of course.

So, having led Arthur up to the Legends Lounge, he then reeled off some classic stories about the players he featured alongside, such as Billy Stewart, Graham Barrow, Gary Bennett, and Stuart Rimmer, whilst playing for the great Harry McNally, and I wished I could have stayed with him as I could have enjoyed those stories all afternoon but plenty of other things to do unfortunately.

We had a visit from a student reporter from Leeds Student Radio, who had previously done a feature on fan owned clubs last season, and came down to the Deva to do an interview with me as CFU had been building up its presence at the beginning of last year, so it was good to see Kev Kirrane again, and set up a few interviews with him, with a player, although when I appealed to the lads in the changing room for a volunteer it was like one of those times at school when nobody wants to do it and they all volunteer someone else - quite funny really!

Then aproached Grenville Millington to an interview with them, which he gladly accepted, with him claiming that he was one of the biggest names in football, as he spelt out Millington with his fingers referring to his long surname!

Neil Young & Chris Pilsbury then followed, as Kev got a good few interviews in, but whilst all this was going on, Paul Wheelock showed interest in speaking to Arthur Albiston, so a quick sort out for that one, then a quick Happy New Year to Gary Talbot who was inside the Legends Lounge.

I couldn't believe how quickly kick off time was approaching, and it was time to get revved up for the game, which after 2pm I pretty much normally am, but with everything going on, I was nearly caught cold, as I realised the players were just about to come out, and I needed to be down at the touchline to go and fetch the mascot off the pitch, so raced down and then did the job, and then up to my usual place in the main stand - by the door, as mentioned before since doing this role, I feel the need to stand as I'm feeling every strain of the game, and would end up annoying the person next to me by heading every ball that thelad are heading on the pitch!

Delight of course then when we scored after 5 minutes, and all thoughts were turning towards a comfy home win, but the performance wasn't great in the first half, and I think many thought the same at half time. Before the bad news came though, the second goal for the Blues as George Horan followed up Steven Beck's earlier goal to make it 2-0, and at that point we felt it was safe.

Now I can't remember if Michael Wilde's chance came before the Wire made it 2-1, but that one where he grabbed hold of the ball in the middle and went on a mazy run, and almost, almost went on to score what would have been one of the goals of the century but the ball just ran away from him...and unfortunately the rest is bad news.

Warrington had shown signs of getting back in to the game, but up to this point had not taken advantage of their chances, that changed however, and it was soon 2-1, thanks to a series of errors at the back, and all of a sudden the complexion of the game changed, and a frenetic end to end finish saw the vistors turn the screw on us, and deservedly got their equalizer with just a couple of minutes left on the watch, so so frustrating when at 2-0 we should have shut up shop, but we didn't.

It could have been so much worse of course, with another attack from the men in red, and a low ball from the right should have been hammered home, but it was a cross reminscent of Anderton's for England in Euro 96 against Germany, and the Warrington lad could only smash it into the stand rather (thankfully) than the home net.

The final whistle followed, and disappointment took over for the next few hours, and reflections on how poor we'd played, and probably got more than we deserved result wise, but it still remains the case that we'd played badly in 2 games and come away with 4 points, and if the story was the other way round, ie win at home, draw away, then it would be classed as promotion form, so if there is a positive to take from the games over Christmas & New Year, then this is it!

Still fed up this morning though as I write this, and still can't make up my mind on whether the Chorley result yesterday is a good one or not, but ours certainly should've been better - simple as that.

Onto the Trafford game next week now, and how we'd take a repeat of the 6-0 home game on September 8th hey?