“It has been extremely well documented that we have a dispute with two of our players, Tony Dinning and Paul Butler, our stance is that they have acted outside the remit of their contracts, and the situation is in the hands of our legal people.

Club owner Steve Vaughan has hit back following the statement by the PFA of Friday that stated the majority of players were receiving late payment. He said:

“I am extremely angry about this article and I am determined to find out why it was written and who authorised it. We are in dispute with Tony Dinning and Paul Butler who we consider have acted in a way that is outside the remit of their contracts. This is what has possibly prompted the article. All the parties involved are aware that the matter is in the hands of our solicitors, who are dealing with the issues.”

A transfer embargo has been placed on Chester following action from the Professional Footballers Association (PFA).

A statement on the PFA website staded that: “The majority of the players currently at the club have not received any payment for two months, or more. The PFA have, therefore, advised the Football League of the monies outstanding to the players, and the Football League has applied Regulation 46.1 and placed an embargo upon the transfer of any registration by the club until such times as the payments due to the current playing staff are made.”

The club hae been quick to respond with a statement from managing director Bob Gray this morning, he said: “All the current players who are contracted for next season have been paid up to date. It has been widely publicised that we are in dispute with Paul Butler and Tony Dinning and we have made arrangements to meet officials of the Football League to sort out this shambles.”

“I think it is shabby that the PFA have seen fit to release a statement on their website, when they are in full possession of the details of our proposed meeting. We have taken legal advice and we shall vigorously defend our stance in the Butler/Dinning dispute.”

• PFA statement

Chester manager Simon Davies has expressed his frustration as the on-going talks with Vauxhall Motors frontman Paul Taylor and his agent drag on. The two clubs have agreed a transfer fee but the player has yet to agree personal terms. Davies has laid the blame on lack of progress with the agent, he told the Evening Leader:

“The talks with Paul Taylor’s agent have been frustrating. People say that no news is good news, but I’m not so sure in this case. The longer we talk the more I think the Paul Taylor deal won’t happen. The agent is making progress very difficult and that has been frustrating because I feel signing Paul would be good for Vauxhall Motors, good for Chester City, and good for the player.”

Chester have been given a home draw against League One side Leeds United in the first round of the Carling Cup. The game is scheduled to take place in the week commencing 11 August. The will be the first visit of Leeds to Deva Stadium. The sides last met at the same stage of the competition two season ago with the Yorkshire side winning 1-0 at Elland Road thanks to an Eirik Bakke goal.

The club have accepted an offer from Stockport County for 29-year-old midfielder Kevin Ellison. Ellison nearly made the move to the Edgeley Park side last January but he now looks set to join the newly promoted outfit. Ellison now needs to agree personal terms before moving. He has played for County previously between 2001-04. Ellison, who has had two spells with City, was the top scorer last season with 11 goals. In total he has made 69+0 appearances for the Blues, scoring on 22 occasions. Chester owner Steve Vaughan said: “We’ve had an offer from Stockport County for Kevin Ellison and, as we’ve said on previous occasions, we never stand in a player’s way if they can move to a club in a higher division.”

The club have still not received police authority to stage their pre-season match against Liverpool on 12 July. The date picked, the only one their opponents could make, clashes with Chester races and the local police say that both events taking place at the same time would leave their resources stretched.

The club announced the lucrative friendly last week before they had been given the all-clear. Club managing director Bob Gray said: “All we want to do is bring decent pre-season friendlies to the football club. People will say ‘why didn’t you realise there was a race meeting on?’ Well, you don’t look at that scenario for pre-season friendlies. I can’t see there being any trouble between Chester and Liverpool supporters.”

He added: “The situation is that the police are stretched and the police feel that the city would be too congested if we staged a football match and a race meeting. All I can do is go back to the police and say ‘if we have a 12 noon kick off and put a 3,500 gate on it, would you look at the situation and give us a straightforward answer?’ That’s the next step.”

A spokesman for Cheshire Police told the Chester Chronicle: “At this stage, no decision has been taken as to whether the Chester v Liverpool game will go ahead.”

“Unfortunately, the game as played on July 12 would coincide with the biggest meeting of the year at Chester Races. We have to consider the safety of all concerned – those attending the races, the football match and people in the city centre.”

Take a look back at the ups and downs of last season through the photographs of the Evening Leader’s Rick Matthews. • 2007/08 Season in photographs

Manager Simon Davies is keeping up his search for a striker to partner John Murphy next season. The club have been linked with Paul Taylor from Vauxhall Motors and Forest Green�s Stuart Fleetwood over the last week and talks with players and agents are still taking place. “I’ve spoken to Stuart Fleetwood’s agent, but he’s getting a lot of interest from leagues above ours so it looks unlikely at the moment, unless they weren’t to sort things out. We’ve registered a lot of interest, because he’s a good player, but it’s out of our hands when it comes to bigger clubs coming in.” said the Blues manager.