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.
This gets the job done; I find out the score and actually quite enjoy chasing round the internet for Chester information! However, for home games there is a much better option; Blues Live.

Blues Live is an internet radio service that provides pre-match build up, match commentary and post-match comment for its listeners. Since first broadcasting the 6-0 win over Trafford on the 8^th October, it has proved very popular with listeners coming from as far away as the USA, Qatar, Finland and Spain. The commentary is provided by a number of different blues fans who are on a rota, so every game there is a new voice giving different opinions, but still great commentary. The service costs £3, a very small sum considering the quality of the broadcast. And every penny of that goes to the club.

So, with this excellent service in place I can almost recreate the match day experience whilst in exile from Chester. To make it more realistic I often sit in an uncomfortable plastic chair, open the window as wide as possible and wear my Chester scarf. Of course, there are a few things missing from the match day experience, actually watching football being the most obvious. There is, however, no shortage of humour when listening to the dulcet tones of John Murray, Jeremy Jones et al., anyone who listened to the utterly hilarious commentary of the Rice Crispy Square vs Lupus penalty shoot out will agree.

At times of course the commentary is not completely unbiased. Last week’s win over Skelmersdale United got the commentators very excited. One proclaimed; “It’s going to be 8-0!” Whilst the other observed; “Chester are completely in control of the game now. Just like me and you when we’re playing Pro Evo[lution Soccer]!” After all, the station is run by Blues fans, for Blues fans. It is understandable that they get excited by Chester winning too!

This, for me, is part of the charm of Blues Live. It is not only a really professional, informative service; the best way of hearing about Chester’s home games when you cannot make it to the Exacta. It is, like our club, run by volunteers. The people who care most about Chester FC and, as a result of this, their enthusiasm for Chester is entwined within their commentary. The commentators are there because they want to be. They want to provide you with all the information they can, and the best commentary they can too. So, the next time you cannot make a game because you are away somewhere exotic like the Caribbean or even if you find yourself on a damp weekend in Slough, why not don your Chester FC scarf and listen to Blues Live? The service is exactly the same as how Blues Live summed up last week’s 4-0 victory; “From a Chester point of view; mint.”