Two down, One to go....

What an amazing few days it has been.

Last Friday, we were all getting pumped up for the game the following day at home to Bamber Bridge, and hoping the lads would be able to take advantage of a slip from Skelmersdale, and take advantage they have done, coupled with Curzon Ashton taking a point at Skem last Saturday, and then the boys destroying Fylde with a majestic second half performance, the Blues have one hand on the trophy.

Firstly, going back to last Saturday, I think we all hoped that we could break the 3000 attendance barrier at the Exacta, and the beaming face of Mark Howell confirmed that with we were going to do just that - what we didn't expect was to hit 3,300 - which just goes to show that anything is possible if you market it properly.

Get your flags out for the lads!

I must say I was absolutely taken aback by the superb flag arrangement in the main stand when I took a look outside, I have never seen the place looking so good, and credit to new Community Fundraising Officer Ann Wiggins, and Commercial Manager Paul Bodman for their efforts in putting those flags out.

Whilst the lads were getting their first taste of the pitch I jokingly shouted to Adam Judge & Greg Stones that their job was to sign each and every one of the flags - you can imagine the response that got!

Anyway, a quick visit to the Blues Bar and woah, you couldn't move, the Man Utd v Everton game had brought everyone down extra early it seems, and the place was absolutely buzzing, and at that point I just knew it was going to be a great day.

There was plenty to do pre match, and as ever it all seemed rather hectic, but plough through it we would. First job was to get all the details of the pre match plan, and run through with Cleggy, who would then ramp things up before kick off - we'd put a few extra dramatic 'ramp up' tunes in there too to drum up the atmosphere.

Famous Five - together again

Then time for me to meet the Famous Five for the first time (aside from Elfed Morris & Gary Talbot), and incredible that Micky Metcalfe had flown over from Gran Canaria especially to be here for the game, and to meet up with his former colleagues. Before I forget I must say this, I bumped into Gary Talbot yesterday at Tescos and he said that Mickey was so blown away by Saturday, that he wanted to know how Chester had got on at Fylde as soon as the final whistle went - yet another example of the 'Chester FC effect'.

Anyway, back to the Famous Five, and a quick shake of their hands, followed by a quick plan of action for what we wanted them to do - which was to recreate that famous photo, with them all kicking balls into the net in front of the Harry Mac (okay last time was Sealand Road but we'll ignore that part now as it wouldn't have been much fun recreating it in front of the new Tesco Home store would it??), and when we led them out the reception was perhaps one of the best I've ever heard at the ground.

So, we walked them over to the goal, and each of them took their place, stepped up, and to a brilliant Harry Mac Terrace, each took their kicks, and all but one scored, we'll gloss over that, but suffice to say they all had a good laugh about it, and had the obligatory photo - and then made their way back.

At this point the Junior Blues had already formed their guard of honour for the first team's arrival, but what better tribute than to have each of the Famous Five walking back through the GoH to take even more fantastic applause from the fans.

So, then time for the lads to come out, and to what I believe is the best reception in a long long time at home, obviously the Scarborough game in 2004 with a full ground was probably the last time, but this one seemed so much better for different reasons, this is everyone's club now, and everyone knew the part they had to play in raising the roof to help the lads.

The game started well enough, and then the magic started when in the 13th minute a beautifully lofted ball from Michael Powell found Simmo and he and the keeper clattered into each other, but Simmo got up the quickest to knock it in for a 1-0 lead and the place erupted once more, I think I was down by the tunnel at the time dancing a jig of delight!

Then we should have had a penalty, and everyone became incensed that it wasn't given, and Neil made his feelings known and the ref was called over by the linesman, who then went on to send Neil to the stand with no hesitation, not even a talking to!

The rest of the half seemed a bit cagey after that, but then Powelly rose to meet a Boothy free kick and suddenly it was 2-0, and time for everyone to go beserk again - I was up at the top of the stand for that one, such is my inability to stay in a seat during a match!

Cleggy chill-axing with the Blues Live boys pre match

Half time came round, and I knew we had lots to do, so I took the Famous Five down to the pitch so that Cleggy could fulfil his dream and have a chat on the pitch with the players he adored in the 1960s - Cleggy doesn't half come in for some stick, unfair stick, you should see what he has to contend with before, during, and after matches, and trust me he is the right man for the job!

The second half seemed more of a formality and eyes were constantly checking mobiles to see what was going on at Skem, with the answer being a 1-1 draw and this time there was no late drama as time ran out on Skem, and the Blues were3 points clear once again as the final whistle sounded.

I was down at pitchside at that point as the Lap of Honour was due to take place of course, we just decided to get on with rather than keep everyone waiting, and my thoughts were just elation that the day had gone so well, as myself & Pat guided them round to make sure everyone got to see the players & management team.

Once the game had finished, some duties still to do as Chris Simm came up for his man of the match award with the sponsors, and as per usual once the photos were done upstairs, it was time to take him downstairs to the Blues Bar, and take the applause of the fans down there.

Then a couple of people asked if I could get the autographs of the Famous Five, and they were so impressed with the whole day, they loved every minute, and yet another indication of what this club means to both current and former players alike.

Time then to chill with a pint with Mrs B - I've made reference to my wife in several places as this last 12 months has been possibly the hardest in my life, whilst setting up the club and looking forward to the first ever game, we lost a baby, and seeing what she had to go through was very very painful indeed, and will stick with both of us for the rest of our life. I'm a very lucky person to have someone who whilst not liking football, helps out at the club at home games, and is sharing the pride of what has been achieved at Chester FC.

Back to the football though, and after having a few glasses of wine at home on Saturday night, it was time to start thinking about Monday's game at Fylde.

We knew that a win against Fylde would put us in great shape for the last game, and we hoped (but did not expect) Prescot to get anything against Skem in their match.

On the Hipkiss Express, there's a jolly hostess

I jumped aboard the Hipkiss Express on the way up to Fylde, and had a good chat with several regulars, all enjoying talking about the good times we've had this season, and where we can go from here. It was great arriving at Fylde - I'd missed the Cup game, so this was my first visit, and dropped off at the pub before the ground, well there's no better place for a drop off is there, especially on a sunny day - the only problem being five coach loads of people arriving at the same time, and most looking to get a drink from the bar!!!

The pre match build up was good too, and I took a bit of time speaking to various people in the crowd whilst soaking up the rays before kick off, and the customary pre match burger (or two!).

The first half was a tight affair, and with the news that Skem were leading at Prescot, we then saw our boys fall a goal behind, and all of a sudden everyone in the ground was working out the permutations, and knowing that as it was standing, we'd be level on points with Skem.

Get in Boothy!

We need not have feared, as a brilliant second half display saw Chester win 3-1, and the scenes at the end were great, with people jubilant at what was very nearly a title triumph, it wasn't of course and we have to be reminded of that - but that victory was huge, and means just the one point needed now to secure the championship - a defeat could even be enough, but we won't even consider that an option as we know Skem could and probably will run up a few goals at home to Ossett - it's great though knowing that there are still targets to be hit, 100 points for the team, and the golden boot for Wildey!

The journey home was a fun one, as I went back on the team bus, and had a Non League Show interview to do, as did Neil just after 7pm, however, it was timed with half the lads getting off the bus at Haydock, and I could hardly hear a thing, but all good anyway - Caroline Barker and her team have been brilliant towards Chester FC and have followed us every step of the way, and I'm sure they'll be one of the first to send a Congratulations message through to us tomorrow if we do the business.

So, 6 days ago we were all looking forward to our last home game, and now today we're looking forward to what could be the biggest moment of our history so far, and as dates go, on 29th April 2010 we put our case to the Chester and Cheshire West Council to be the new tennants of the Deva Stadium - with some unwanted Danish opposition, but hey, just look at us now, we're sizzling!

Enjoy the match tomorrow, and as Perry Groves put it to me before Monday's game at Fylde...

"Play the game, not the occasion, and the League will be yours."


Come on you Blues!!!

Awards, Scottish Pipers, Skem, and Perry Groves!

Well last time I blogged on Friday, I was all set to join Jim & Mark to receive the 'Team of the Year' 2010 award in the Your Champions awards evening being staged at the Crowne Plaza - and that's exactly what we did!

Arrival at 6.45pm in what seemed a very glitzy affair, with a Scottish piper standing outside doing his stuff - why the piper? Well Scottish Power were sponsoring the event - it took a while to click!

Inside to get all badged up - and despite being labelled as City Fans Ltd (had we changed our name last minute?) it was off to the bar to go and get the first drink of the evening - a bottle of Corona for £3.80, ouch. It was looking like an expensive evening ahead.

Fear not, as once ushered inside to the main hall, six bottles of wine were on the table, 3 red, 3 white. Now this was supposed to be enough for the 9 people seated at each table, however we were fortunate as there were only 7 people on our table, so almost 1 bottle per person - again, ouch.

Anyway, a lovely 3 course meal accompanied by the wine, and once the main course (beef in a red wine covering - yep, more wine!) was done it was time to get on to the awards. City Fans United had of course been selected as the Team of the Year, but each winner was placed into a Regional 'Final' where there were six teams nominated for the regional award, and Mark, Jim and myself all agreed that we didn't want to win the regional, as there were so many deserving charity or sad stories attached to their nominations, and whilst the achievements of City Fans United shouldn't be overlooked, we really weren't in the same boat as Clare House, or a team of 2 people who had raised a huge amount of money following the death of a close one.

This was a night of celebration of course, and we received our momento, which was a glass piece encased in a huge black box, and walking round town afterwards, it felt like I was an encyclopedia salesman!

A couple of pints in The Cottage, and then back home, for another bottle of wine, which I have to say took me past that line, and I certainly paid for it on Saturday morning!

I couldn't get to the Ossett game on Saturday, but had the Twitter account set up to send me details of the game, and I'd also done the same for the Chorley & AFC Fylde games - I wish I hadn't now as I didn't really need to know that Chorley had won a throw or corner every ten minutes, I guess the only surprise was that they hadn't won a penalty!

Anyway, it was great to see the goals flying in from Ossett via text, and the icing on the cake came when Michael Wilde netted his 16th of a very productive season so far - that man is a ledge!

Have to say, the table looked extremely nice after the final scores were in, and well done Wakefield for coming back at Chorley to ensure that we went 6 points clear at the top. Then the news came in from Skelmersdale where the last I'd heard was that they were one up, when in fact they'd rattled in 8 goals in the second half, what happened Cammell Laird?

It sets up Saturday's clash against Skem very nicely, and it should be a cracker - warmed up of course by the comments from their chairman Frank Hughes, who claimed that "a defunct club should not be rewarded for failure" - it does seem bizarre that the select few should choose to avoid the real story behind Chester FC - i.e. bloody hard work from all involved.

It seems that a few are upset that we could potentially take a promotion place that could have been theirs, well we aren't taking anything for granted, and will fight for that Champions title this season, and at the end of the day, I'm sure they won't be complaining when the tills are ringing when Chester come to visit.

So, extra spice for that game on Saturday, and we're hoping to see a big crowd for this one, can we match the Chorley attendance? It's entirely possible. We've heard that Skem have a couple of coaches booked for this one, so maybe with those driving they can bring a few by car too, and we can enjoy another great atmosphere as the Exacta Factor takes hold again.

The drive in the media to focus on this game is certainly going to be stepped up this week, as we are due to hear Neil Young on Radio Merseyside tomorrow night on Alan Jackson's show, whilst I'll be on the phone to Radio City & City Talk to get them to boost the coverage for this one.

Chester's own Dee 106.3 have been picked on by some, but they are stepping it up now too, and this Friday night sees the debut of a new show, which will be a regular slot for all Chester fans to tune into as every Friday between 6-7pm they'll be previewing the Saturday game, with guests and interviews, and also taking fans questions too. I'm lucky enough to be amongst the guests for the first airing of the programme on Friday.

Some updates for the website yesterday as a few stories were breaking, the half season prices which have been announced, and a great opportunity for those without Season tickets to get their family members to buy them one as a Christmas present!

Aside from the usual, I'll also be working with NATV to bring a special DVD out for Christmas, which will be an extended highlights package of the Trafford game, with lots of additional goodies on the DVD too, which should be out around the first week of December, so something to look forward to there!

Finally, one thing that made me laugh as we were walking around town on Friday night, I received a text from Perry Groves, who had noted the League table, and told us that they would sort the Open Top Bus if we win promotion, and Pat Nevin would be the guide!

I got a text from Colin Murray on Saturday afternoon too after the Ossett win telling me that Perry is certainly big on the Chester stats, confirmed by one of the texts received on Friday night which informed me of the facts such as our average crowd, leading scorer, and how many points clear we were!

Colin will hopefully be coming up to the Exacta again soon, but it needs to be a midweek game, and there is also the possibility of him doing his Friday night show live from the Blues Bar too - something we hope will come off in early 2011 - watch this space.

Okay, that's it for today, expecting another busy day today, so on with it....