Yes, My Car Does Need a Scarf.

Last week I was at Chester's ground, picking up the limited edition Chester third kit I'd ordered a few weeks before, when one or two other things caught my eye. I ended up leaving with my shirt, two calenders (one for me and one for my brother's christmas present) and a Chester FC car scarf. I was rather pleased with these purchases, everyone could do with a calender, the shirt is really nice and the car scarf can go with the Chester City one that's currently on the back window. My sister however, wasn't in quite the same mind as me. In her opinion all this football 'crap' (which she has the cheek to call it!) is useless, clutters up the house and looks rubbish.

Standing Room Only?

To stand or not to stand? That is the question that has resurfaced after Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster tabled a private member's Bill aimed at giving clubs in the top two divisions of the country the right to have safe standing areas back. This is both Liberal Democrat party policy and something which is supported by the Football Supporter's Federation (FSF). The top two divisions of the country were stripped of their right to have standing areas after the Hillsborough Disaster which saw 96 Liverpool supporters killed. The Taylor Report, which was set up to investigate and advise for the future safety of football fans, advised that standing terraces should be abolished to avoid anything like Hillsborough happening ever again.

Blues Live

Written For:-
Chester vs Radcliffe Borough. 11th December 2010

Missing a Chester game is never a good thing. Because this season I have gone to university, I miss most of the games and get Exacta withdrawal symptoms every time there’s a Chester game on. For away games I can only find out what is happening through a combination of devachat and Chester FC’s twitter page.

Match Review: Leeds Utd 2-1 Crystal Palace

Last Saturday saw my first ever trip to Elland Road to watch two teams I've never seen play before Leeds Utd and Crystal Palace. I went with two of my friends from Uni, who are both Leeds fans. One of them had been going to Leeds for years, and the other was also attending his first Leeds game. I always find going to a new ground very interesting, as you get to see how ‘they’ (ie. that team’s supporters) experience a football game.

To Russia With Love?

Well. It's not completely surprising is it? When it emgered that Prime Minister Putin wasn't going to travel to Zurich to try and persuade FIFA delegates for one last time, something seemed up. It was either that Russia knew they weren't going to win, or they had a pretty good idea that they were going to win. And congratulations to them. In the end, they did manage to put the most successful bid together as theirs was the one that won. Of course, in managing to win the backing of an extremely corrupt, self-regulating, non-governmental organisation, it may seem as though something fishy may be happening, but there is no evidence of this currently. And, I imagine, there never will be, although that necessarily be because the Russians were whiter than whiter (and I don't believe they were).

Rivals? Yes. But enemies?

Whilst reading an article on my favourite website, I came across an article ( here: http://www.twohundredpercent.net/?p=9995 ) which concerned 'fanatic fans'. It was a very interesting article, but one sentence in particular caught my eye. It was this: "These days, it feels as if you can’t be a real fan unless you hate your rivals as much as you love your own team."
Of course, I encourage you to read the whole article so as not to take the (tongue-in-cheek) quote out of context, but the general gist of the authour was that this opinion is a bit ridiculous, after all, football is only a game.

A little background knowledge/manifesto...

Hello! You may have guessed; my name is Richard and this is a football blog. However, this very first post will be very different to every other that will follow, as it's just about me. Or more precisely why I'm setting up this blog and what I plan to write about (roughly).

Winter Run in Analysis

Written for:-
Chester vs Skelmersdale Utd 20th November 2010

The tough winter period is a crucial time of year for any club. A good set of results can really boost a club going into the New Year, and Chester FC is no different, as they look to sustain the promotion push that currently sees us top of the league. With this in mind The Cestrian thought it would be a good idea to analyse the crucial fixtures coming up before the turn of the year.

The President's Cup

Written For:-
Chester vs Witton Albion 27th October 2010

After Chester’s 2-0 President’s Cup win over Leek Town nearly two weeks ago The Cestrian thought it would be a good idea to shed some light on the competition Chester were competing in.

The President’s Cup has been running since 1981, the first winners being Buxton, and is now currently one of three cup competitions ran by the Evo Stik League. The other competitions are The Chairmen’s Cup, competed for by the two winners of the respective first divisions, and the Challenge Cup, which has every team in the Evo Stik League playing in it, with premier division sides being given a bye to the third round.

Neil Young's Managerial Profile

Written For:-
Chester vs Lancaster 23rd October 2010

Last week The Cestrian looked at the playing history of Chester FC’s manager Neil Young. This week we focus on his managerial history, which began after he suffered a dislocated shoulder playing for Droyslden and was forced to retire from playing football.

But rather than leaving football altogether he began his career in football management with local Sunday league side Queens Park. Neil Young said “We won everything that you possibly could win on a Sunday. We won the Cheshire [Sunday] Cup three out of four years, which hadn’t been done for a while at the club. From there I [was] offered the Poulten Victoria job, which at the time in West Cheshire was a big job. I was a young lad at the time, 24 or 25. It was massive achievement to get that job and I had three very good seasons there.”

Neil Young's Playing Career History

Written For:-
Chester vs Leigh Genesis 16th October 2010

This week The Cestrian interviews an important member of Chester FC, our manager Neil Young, and focuses on his playing career, which is something he found “worrying”.

Neil cast his mind back to his first football team and began, “I actually played for our kit man [Jimmy Soul] at 8 years of age, for a team called Oxham Villa at under 12s, at the time I was 8. I played for Wirral Schoolboys at under 11s and played in the Everton Cup Final at Goodison Park, but we lost, believe it or not, 5-0. Robbie Fowler helped himself to a hat-trick on that day... great memories at the time. Gary Jones was in the same team as me. Carl Ruffer is the same age, and he was in the team at Ellesmere Port at the same time.”

The League Challenge Cup

Written For:-
Chester vs Rushall Olympic 13th October 2010

Tonight Chester FC enters  the Evo Stik League Challenge Cup for the first time, so The Cestrian thought it would be a good idea to shed some light on the competition.

The League Challenge Cup has been running since 1968 and was first won by Bangor City. Since then it has become the only cup competition that all members of the Evo Stik leagues compete in, with Premier Division clubs being given a bye to the third round.

Football in the Community

Written For:-
Chester vs Garforth Town 11th September 2010

Football is often said to be a part of the local community. This is not only because of the proximity of a club to a locality, but also because going to a game is a social event. It provides entertainment to those who have travelled there and is also an opportunity to see old friends or make new ones. Outside of the stadium ‘the football’ is often a topic of conversation at work or on the bus. And, of course, no night would be complete without boring somebody to death about Chester FC at the pub!

Ilkeston Town FC

Written For:-
Chester vs Chorley 18th September 2010 (Not Published)

 

Last Tuesday Ilkeston Town became the latest football club to be liquidated. They join an ever lengthening list of clubs that Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs have taken to court and declared insolvent. Ilkeston argued they could pay the £47,000 debt to the taxman in £1,000 instalments, saying that the club was up for sale and in talks with potential new owners and that they were also negotiating the sale of a player for £20,000. However, this was not deemed to be enough by court registrar Christine Derrett who wound the club up after a two minute hearing saying, “I’m sorry, the company is plainly insolvent and I therefore make the final compulsory order.” This leaves the Blue Square North division a team short and the supporters of the club left to pick up the pieces and hopefully reform the club for next season.

Pre-Season Round Up

Written For:-
Chester vs Trafford 8th September 2010

 

Pre-season is a strange time in the footballing calendar. At this time of year every club is in a state of flux, having come through the experience of the previous season looking to build and improve on last year’s performance.

For us Chester fans pretty much anything would be better than last season. It has been great just seeing Chester back on the pitch! This season is likely to be completed without the worries of debt, court hearings and winding up orders that eventually consumed Chester City. Now we can concentrate on the most important thing about Chester FC, the football!

What is Supporter's Direct?

Written For:-
Chester vs Trafford, 8th September 2010

Since the reformation of Chester FC there have been many changes to our club. Cosmetic changes such as new players, league, kits and badge are always the most obvious. However the most important and fundamental transformation our phoenix club has gone through is simple: we have a new philosophy.