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!!!

Busy Busy Busy as Friday is set to be Media Day!

Well this week has seen another busy week in the media role at the club with plenty going on!

But first, reflections on the match at Woodley Sports on Tuesday - or rather, the lack of a match on Tuesday!

BP garage - not quite Woodley Sports FC

Tuesday didn't start well for me, as the sat nav was programmed in, and guided me all the way through the motorways to Stockport in about 45 minutes flat, before telling me we were 1.2 miles from the ground, but when the voice said destination on the left I looked in amazement as I didn't realise that Woodley Sports played at a BP garage - thanks Sat Nav - useless piece of s...

Anyway, "perform a U-turn" was the most annoying and regular thing I was hearing as I tried to work out where the hell the ground was, so had to pull over and then drive with one hand on the Evo-Stik League handbook for directions, whilst the other steered me to what I hoped was closer to the ground!

When I eventually got there, you could feel the friendliness of the place from the off, and after a lovely pre match burger, I went to meet Woodley's official Wayne Ashworth, who had gone out of his way to accommodate Chester, and provide a great night for Blues fans - inviting comments from Chester fans in the match day programme, offering hospitality for just £25, reducing prices for Dads & Lads to a tenner, when they could quite easily have increased prices for this fixture.

Naturally being pulled from pillar to post, and then the big nightmare started, the lights started to fail, with them coming back on, before going off again - repeat that two or three times and we know what happened.

I was gutted for Wayne who was so keen to get the game on, but this one was out of his hands, one thing that struck me was how many electric "experts" there seemed to be all of a sudden at the game.

We're working with Woodley & the Evo-Stik League to come up with a solution, and hopefully that will mean a game back at Woodley free or charge - it's a shame that some fans cannot make the re-arranged game on April 5th, and Woodley won't be able to say that a refund can be made until they have agreement with the Evo-Stik League, so those who think the club are ;fobbing them off' should just give them a bit of time to sort things out - they have to do this the correct way, which is why it's not being rushed.

The attention if of course turned now to the Chorley game on Saturday, and even though the game is actually tomorrow, there has been so much going on in the last couple of days media wise it's been hard to catch up!

On Wednesday we had the Alan Irwin Show on City Talk, with then Podcast being made available here - Alan, who has upped City's coverage of the Blues this season, had Neil Young & Michael Wilde on the show which is in the studios at the top of the Liverpool tower, and I can tell you now you can feel the thing swaying when you're up there!



"Get in! I've got Wildey on my show!"

 Then yesterday I got a call from Colin Murray, who initially was ringing about his designer sunglasses that he left up here last time he visited - and he's going on holiday on Saturday so he wanted them back - so I did him a fair trade, he could have them if he got Wildey on his Friday night show, and I don't think he needed too much persuasion, as Wildey is of course the number one striker around!

We were also trying to sort out a time when Colin & friends could make it back up for a game, which will be on a Wednesday, so barring any more fixture changes I'm hoping that he'll be up for the game against Salford on the 9th March - and now here lies the spooky link - Colin's birthday is actually the 10th March, and what happened on the 10th March last year? Hmmm, a Chester fan for life guaranteed now, as his birthday falls on Day 1 of the reformation of Chester FC!

Colin also confirmed some more good news as Pat Nevin has now confirmed for the event on May 7th at Chester Racecourse, so that's the full set now, Colin, Perry, and Pat will all be attending.

Also tonight, The Non League Channel (internet based station) will be featuring the comments from Neil Young ahead of the game at Chorley on Saturday, so more coverage there.

The Friday Night Football Show also on tonight with myself joining Neil & Pat in the studio, thanks to Shane for the invite.

Also, yes there's more - the Seals Podcast should be out today which features the 'Team of the Decade' and I have to admit mine was sneaked in, at the last minute, so hopefully it made a difference to the voting!

So, all that AND the fact that tomorrow is the big game - it'll just be nice to slow down for the game!!!

The highs and lows of being a Chester fan!

Well it’s been a while since I last blogged, in fact 11 days, so plenty to catch up with on all things Chester FC.




Travelodge Durham - a bit busy last week!

  It was great to see Wildey take the goalscoring charts by storm recently, and obviously at Durham where he grabbed himself a hat trick, scoring all the goals in a 3-0 win on the artificial pitch with many making the trip to spend the weekend up in Durham!

Then onto Fylde on the Tuesday night where Wildey was rested, and many were expecting a very close game with Fylde, and that’s certainly how it started with Fylde going close on more than one occasion, but then the goal from Kyle Wilson started the ball rolling for us, and it wasn’t long before the second arrived when Iain Howard netted to effectively kill the game.

Then up popped Robbie Booth to score a third goal, and well deserved given Boothy’s form recently, and that was it, job done, in the Cup Semi Final, against either Curzon Ashton or Lancaster City – time will tell on that, but the fact remains we’re one win away from the final!

The following day I did an interview for Goal.com which will hopefully be published soon – great to see another media outlet getting interested in Chester FC – and we have a Chester fan in Gazz Pashley to thank for helping to set that up.

Then on Thursday, the day everyone wasn’t particularly looking forward to – the day when we would say farewell to Rich Wightman, and a half day at work was followed by the funeral at Caldy Valley Church which was packed out, and that was replicated at Blacon Crematorium where everyone had crammed in to the small venue for the service – even the Minister taking the service was astounded at the numbers turning up for Rich.

Then back to the Exacta Stadium for the Wake, and spirits were lifted throughout the afternoon with the family being extremely appreciative towards Chester fans, that was Rich’s life, and I’m sure will continue to be up there as he looks down from above.

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No, it's Wildey!

So, after a draining day for all, back to the football, and on Saturday Rich’s family and friends – about 30 in all were there to see the Blues thump home 5 goals in an amazing second half period that saw yet another Wilde hat trick – it wouldn’t surprise me to see him run into a telephone box, do a few twists, and all of a sudden come out as the caped crusader!

Typically, I managed to miss his best goal of the afternoon having run into tell those still working behind the scenes that it was 2-0, all I heard was a massive roar before getting my vantage point, it was like one of those moments where you see your bus driving off in the distance just as you’ve turned the last corner for the bus stop!

It didn’t help that doorman Ed told me that it was one of his best goals, great – just great. Thank god for NATV’s highlights package hey?

Made sure Colin Murray was aware of the score, and he promptly replied by saying we need to keep hold of Wildey – now there’s an understatement of the year!

Following the match was of course ‘the queue’ for the Chorley tickets – having only been given 1200 tickets (1100 initially until we advised we would need more), there were 500 tickets going on general sale, and a queue that featured about 20 people in it just after 4pm soon grew to around 250 by 4.45pm, and by 5pm it had stretched to 450 – such was the demand for a ticket to the match at Victory park – let’s hope it’s us who are celebrating a ‘Victory’ at the ‘Park’ on Saturday.

I began counting the numbers in the queue to try and assure everyone that they would be okay for a ticket, but unfortunately I ended up getting into conversations with people, and that was it, lost my count so I’d have to start again!

Thankfully the queue never went beyond the 500 mark, and only 20 tickets were left to sell on Monday at the ground, which as expected were snapped up in 5 minutes!

Sausage & Chips - you just can't beat it!

 So, a great weekend was had with Chester winning by a 5-0 margin, sausage & chips on the way home before celebrating with a few glasses of wine – well more than a few, but still just managed to watch Match of the Day, albeit hanging on to whatever vision I had left after all that Pinot Grigio!

Yesterday was of course St Milner’s Day with Chester fans across the globe paying tribute to the man who rescued a point from the very large jaws of defeat at the Racecourse that night 16 years ago – I remember it well as I’d left my tickets on the dining room table such was the rush to get over to that place down the 483.

I remember the sinking feeling once I’d got the massive floodlights in range, but I had no alternative, I had to go back for them as I was not missing this game – so I flew down the 483 back to Chester – thankfully the police must all have been concentrating on other matters so they didn’t see me going at 116mph all the way back to Chester! (hope they aren’t reading this by the way!)

Anyway, made it back in time – just – and got to witness an incredible 90 minutes, where the Blues had 12 men to beat (that referee was just encouraging a riot wasn’t he with his decisions?) and whilst we didn’t beat Wrexham, that equalizer was like the greatest goal ever, and probably one of the most celebrated goals ever too!

Ooh Andy Milner, Ooh Andy Milner!

So, raised a glass to Andy Milner yesterday too!

Onto today, or tonight to be more precise and 3 points is the order of the day at Woodley Sports, who have been extremely welcoming so far, hopefully they’ll allow us to leave with maximum points tonight, although I don’t want any on the way home down the M56!

Come on you Blues!

January hoodoo well and truly buried now

So, it was back to the Exacta Stadium on Saturday for our third game at home in a row, but plenty going on in the week building up to the game.

First off, we almost had a visit from the BBC on the cards again, with another presenter from BBC Radio 5 potentially coming down to see the Blues in action, however, this time we couldn't quite get that one secured so that will hopefully take place in the not distant future instead.

The Lord Mayor with Bill Oddie

Plenty of calls & e-mails this week with the Chester Chronicle & the Chester Leader as we were preparing for the visit of the Lord Mayor & Lady Mayoress on Saturday, the first time they would be visiting the Exacta Stadium, so we were naturally keen to impress.

On Thursday, a quick interview with the Chester Leader in my lunch hour at work, they were after an update on where we were, although it would have been nice for the person on the other end of the phone to at least know we were top of the league at the present time!

Midweek also saw us having to consider whether or not to deploy the pitch covers for the game on Saturday, and we studied the weather forecasts, and the decision was made to place the covers down as a precautionary measure on Friday, after the lads had trained the night before on the hallowed turf, and I'm reliably informed that around 20 people came down to the Exacta on Friday afternoon to help.

What we weren't expecting during midweek was the news that Chris Simm was made available for transfer, and Neil was in there like a shot to secure the services of the player who had impressed for our promotion rivals Chorley, and also for Conference side Southport, and so the news was broken on Wednesday night about our new signing - great news.

Question at that point was would he be eligible for Saturday, and that was of course confirmed the next day when the paperwork was complete and Chris would go straight into the squad to face Ossett Albion, probably not the news they wanted to hear!

Friday then, and time to tune into the Friday Night Football Show on Dee 106, and a quick text to Shane Pinnington to announce our thanks to the volunteers who had been down at the Stadium in the afternoon to lay down the covers.

Get well soon Richie lad!

During the show, Chris Pilsbury - fresh from his appearance on the Seals Podcast on Thursday night's recording - told of the situation with board member Richard Wightman. I think it's fair to say the board were in shock when we received an e-mail on Thursday morning advising that Rich was seriously ill in hospital, following a kidney failure - Rich has been a major part of the success of Chester FC, and he doesn't deserve any of the suffering that he is going through right now, and the sooner he is out of intensive care the better, and we hope to see Rich again very soon - all CFC fans I'm sure share that sentiment.

So, Saturday morning arrived then, and up at 8.30 to get some brekky and a shave before heading down to the Exacta - and thanks to being stuck behind a car going 20mph down Lache Lane, I didn't get there until about 9.40am, and straight into the ground to see that the cover removal operation was in full swing, so straight into it with everyone else, and an hour later all done, game on.

Back in the office with Barrie Hipkiss we shared a joke or two before taking a few calls from fans anxious to see if the game was still on, so pleased was I to give them the good news!

Delish!

So, before heading home, a quick stop at the burger van on Bumpers Lane for a Bacon & Sausage bap, and taking one home for the Mrs too, and my god, it was heavenly - as was the cuppa that Mrs B had made for me when I got home too!

Just an hour to spare then before getting ready and heading off back to the Exacta, and once there it was time to sort out the usual pre match stuff, and welcome the legend of the week, who this week was former Blue, Ian Edwards - and he was made up to be here again, accompanied by Bob Delgado, who had already received the legend treatment earlier in the season, so Ian & Bob were ushered straight up to the Legends Lounge.

One of the funniest moments was seeing Jane Hipkiss go weak at the knees, she won't thank me for this, but she had a proper crush on Ian Edwards when he played here previously, and she was like a kid in a sweet shop when Ian walked in!

Pre match I called into the club shop, and Michael Wilde was being shown the new Wilde Thing t-shirt, and I said to him at that point that I was expecting a hat trick from him today, and not to let us down - all in jest of course!

So, to the game then, and what a corker for us hey?

Wildey go and get a hat trick please?

We had hoped that we would be back on form at the Exacta, and it wasn't long before Wildey notched the first goal, before on the half hour mark he'd make it two - just - from the penalty spot.

Then a further goal from new signing Chris Simm - great to see him get on the scoresheet on his debut, and everyone went in at half time very happy.

So down to the tunnel with Ian Edwards then for the Seals Lottery draw for January, yes we were finally up to date with the draws - the only problem was whilst standing at the side by the tunnel, Julie was getting ready with the tickets in the bucket, only for a ball to come flying over hit by the Chester subs warming up, and yes, it hit the bucket, all the tickets ended up going everywhere and we had a job on our hands to get them all in the bucket again!

So, Ian was introduced to the crowd, with Jane Hipkiss safely tucked away - and it was great to see yet another legend getting a great reception by the Chester faithful.

On to the second half then, and I had to quickly nip back into the office, and as has so often happened this season I heard a roar, and the realisation sunk in that I'd not just missed another goal, but I'd missed Wildey's hat trick goal - so I'd have to wait until the highlights were out before I'd see it again - but at least Chester's number ten had delivered on my request for a hat trick from him!

Iain Howard then staked his own claim for man of the match by grabbing two goals, and to be fair if Wildey hadn't of got the hat trick, I think Iain would have secured the award after a great performance.



Forget Gullit, it's Total Football at Chester!

 That sixth goal was just something else though, and I maintain my view that if that goal had been scored in the Premier League or in an international game, then we'd be seeing countless re-runs of it, as it was just "total football" from the first pass to the moment Iain Howard lashed it into the corner of the net - what a great goal. I celebrated that much that I lost my footing and nearly ended up making a right tool of myself and flying down the steps by the Directors door, but just managed to hold on to my dignity!

6-0 then, and a great day for the Blues with no soft goal conceded today too which was great, and I'm sure Richie Whiteside shared that view - then once the man of the match award had been sorted , time to sink a pint and reflect on what a great feeling it was to be 8 points clear at the top.

So, another great weekend for the Blues then, and with our rivals games all being called off - what a great move investing in pitch covers has been - time to enjoy the gap we're opening up, with the old adage of points in the bag being better than games in hand.

One final thing for Saturday, was a quick text to Colin Murray to update him on our latest result, and he replied with "Magic, saw the result earlier" and there is some good news with Colin which I'll go into once the news is released very soon.

That's it for now, roll on Saturday - when hopefully we'll pick up more points at Garforth!

Young's Barmy Blue 'n' White Army!

Well last night was another night of frustration as Chester had to settle for a draw against the in-form team in the League, and what a first half we had too, as AFC Fylde showed us what they’re capable of with some very swift attacking early on.

Wildey - back on target

It was good to see us respond in the right fashion though with cracking goals from Michael Wilde – good to see him back on the scoresheet again, and then Bradley Barnes grabbing a cracker of a goal too, sadly though we were undone before the break and that was that as far as the scoring was concerned.

It was great to receive a call from Jim Harvey yesterday prior to the game who really enjoys coming back to watch Chester, the last two times I didn’t know he was coming so yesterday gave me the chance to get him down on the pitch as I know he’d not really had the chance to thank the fans for the brilliant support he received during the turbulent times of the SV era around 12 months ago.

A few things had to be boxed off before the game, such as the preparation for the PA, photographers, and of course BiG Lupus, who continues to have his picture taken with the kids, which is great to see at each home game – think he may have got a bit wet last night out there though!

Good to see the mascots enjoying themselves too, with two kids enjoying the Exacta Experience last night, and I must have passed them 100 times whilst they were on their tour of the ground with Lily last night as I did my impression of a human yo-yo with stuff to sort out prior to the game, but they certainly looked to be enjoying the tour, and amongst them was Ian Bedford, former Chester Chronicle Sports Editor – it’s been a while since I saw Ian, and good to hear that he’s a West Stand-er too for our home games.



The real Ashley Williams!

 One of the funny things to happen yesterday was the picture of Ashley Williams that I put on the website, or at least I thought it was Ashley Williams until I received a call from Neil Young whilst on lunch in town yesterday telling me it wasn't Ashley that was in that picture – it was Jamie Reed of Bangor City, he hopefully enjoyed his brief stint on the official website – it was removed as soon as I was in position to remove it!

So, onto the game, and it was certainly a topsy-turvy game and the first half was spent up by the Directors door doing that nodding motion with every header that the boys were heading on the pitch towards goal, and of course wild celebrations with both goals going in only to see a bit of wall slapping when they made it 2-2.

I decided to head off to the Harry Mac Terrace for the second half to join in with the singers behind the goal – it’s what I used to love doing so a chance to get the vocal chords going again!

The lads in there were great, and lots of banter to be had too and the “I am a Chester fan, I am a Cestrian...” song made its debut and will hopefully be repeated for a good while yet – come on lads, don’t let me down!

Young's barmy blue n white army

For the record, here’s the lyrics:

I am a Chester fan,
I am a Cestrian,

Youngy’s barmy Blue n White army,

Chester FC top of the league*,

And I’m proud to beeee Chester FC!


*possible Plan B in case we get knocked off the top “We are the boys in Blue and White”


Also, a bit of encouragement was given to the Main Stand & the West Stand to give us a song of their own, and they did so too – good on them. The fans really got behind the side last night, and I’m sure that was appreciated by those playing in blue and white on the Exacta pitch.

So, the fans in good voice, we’ve kept Fylde at arm’s length in the table, we’re still top and unbeaten in 2011, it’s not all bad is it, but it would be nice if we could break that January hoodoo on Saturday against Wakefield!

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....

Chester 3 Mossley 0

What a great day that was hey?

Chester running out comfy 3-0 winners, and finding out that Chorley were drawing, then losing their game made it a sweet afternoon at 4.50pm, then hearing that other rivals Skelmersdale & Witton had been held to draws was just the icing on the cake - if only Curzon Ashton hadn't flipping won, but I'm still sitting typing this with a smile on my face as Chester have just gone four points clear at the top of the table.

You can't ask any more that than that can you?

It was another busy day at the Exacta today though, arrived at just before 1pm with the Blues Bar having been opened at 12.30pm for the screening of the Bolton v Tottenham game, which surprisingly ended 4-2 to Bolton, and quickly it was straight into action as the press needed their programmes, followed by Blues Live being shown in - and great to see that like the rest of us, they continue to pay their way, along with the board of directors at the club.

Once Blues Live set up, then off to see the sponsors, some of which were good friends of mine, and pleased to say they seemed like they were enjoying themselves. Already a quick visit had been made to the club shop where thankfully Mrs B had come up trumps with some money for the poppy appeal, so the action was then surrounding my suit as she tried to pin it in the right place!

With 1.30pm approaching it was time to go and hunt the referee down, and ask for permission to get the one minute silence - planned for the remembrance tribute - approved, as we need to confirm this with the match referee first, and gladly this was approved without any concerns. Then a quick blast down to the away dressing room to ensure that they knew the plans for pre match, along with of course Neil Young and the boys.

Then off to get the Mascots programmes signed by the Chester squad for today, and with us having not one, not two, not three, but four mascots for the day, there were set to be some serious RSI claims going in from the home dressing room!

So, 2pm arrived, and one hour to go prior to kick off, and the first of the 1st Battalion Royal Welsh regiment arrived, and time to usher them out on to the pitch so that they could do a few rehearsals of their Guard of Honour that they would perform prior to kick off. One soldier still to come though, and so had to keep an eye out for him arriving - but quickly had to go and see the Control room to check on the situation with the ball boys, who were due to arrive at 2.30pm to marshall the South & West Stand (by the away enclosure).

A quick walk round along with the Mascot party saw us head up the tunnel where Neil Young was waiting, so we could have photos with the mascots, and then up to the Control Room to show the lads what goes on up there with the million cameras that they have!

Normally I'd go and see Cleggy in the PA room at this stage to advise of our arrival with the mascots, but quickly pulled away to meet the ball boys who had arrived by reception, so quickly flew down there to meet them, and take them through to their positions - good to see that they were complete in their footy vests - we had the team from Hawarden Rangers with us, and they'd won earlier in the day 9-0 so they must have been buzzing!

So, once the ball boys were sorted, it was off to the West Stand to check in with some of the fans in there to check on the speaker volumes and to see if they were working okay, which they seemed to be, with Cleggy coming through crystal clear, although too clear for some, but it's a difficult job trying to get the volume to everyone's satisfaction - in fact I'd go on to say that this was nigh impossible.

A quick walk round the Harry Mac then back to the tunnel area just in time for the Army Guard of Honour, and a great round of applause from the Chester fans, acknowledging the troops, one of which had been shot in the mouth whilst in Afghanistan.

Then we paired the mascots up with the players in the tunnel as the referee brought both sets of players out to Fat Boy Slim's "Right Here, Right Now" tune.

A superbly observed one minute's silence was then followed by the match itself, and it didn't take Chester long to get their noses in front, as just before the half hour mark the goal came - after several missed chances already, and it was captain George Horan who put the Blues one up with a goal which seemed to come off the centre half's shoulder, but nobody was complaining!

A few more missed chances and Chester really should have put this game out of sight as I watched from the door up by the Sponsors & Directors area with head in hands happening several times!

Then half time, and time to take a breath, and speak to some more of the fans, including a good mate of mine who was sitting just in front of the press bench, and as usual discussed the first half performance.

Second half then, and normal position resumed, back up by the door, holding it open - I get quite on edge during matches, so find it hard to settle - so end up watching from a plethora of places!

12 minutes into the second half and that elusive second goal is found, as Wildey superbly (what seemed) backheeled the goal into the corner to send all the fans wild (no pun intended honest!), and from that moment on you just knew that we were going to win this game.

Then a great chance for Wildey to score his second, but he lobbed the ball over the keeper following a howler of a goal kick, but Chester's number 10 watched to see his effort bounce off the cross bar and behind for another goal kick.

Then, the unthinkable, Chester were awarded a penalty. Yes, in this our 17th game of the season, we finally had one, and up stepped Wildey to hammer home for a 3-0 lead, and send the Blues fans into raptures, and that was it the end of the scoring, but thoughts were then diverted elsewhere.

Chorley. Yes, the team with more penalties than any other team in the country, had been 1-0 up at the break, but suddenly their Twitter update reported that Harrogate had equalized and news spread amongst the fans very quickly, but better was to follow, as Harrogate then took the lead, and held out to hand Chorley their first League defeat of the season, and better news was to follow as both Skelmersdale & Witton had been held to draws.

So, celebrations at the final whistle, but work not over as whilst ushering man of the match George Horan to the Blues Bar, I recived news that one of our older & most dedicated fans Betty Challoner, had slipped outside the bar and cracked her head, so off to seek the Doctor, thankfully fellow Blues fan & Director Mark H, had already started the ball rolling and the Doctor was on the way very quickly.

After a while checking on Betty, it was time to leave for the day, as I had a meal to head off to following the game, but left the Exacta Stadium with a Cheshire grin on my face knowing that today was a great day football wise, and we had extended our lead.

So, that was it for Saturday, time to celebrate with a few glasses of wine, whilst listening to the fireworks go bang outside!

Final score today. Chester 3 Mossley 0!