News from Deva Stadium May 2019

28 May 2019
TWO MORE FRIENDLIES
Wigan Athletic are to visit Chester for a pre-season friendly game on Saturday 6 July, kick-off 15.00hrs. All proceeds of the game against the Championship will go towards the King George V Sports Hub project in Blacon.

The club commented: "We can confirm that all proceeds from this fixture will be raising funds for the proposed KGV Sports Hub. The Community Trust is working in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council to develop the £1.6 million sports hub in Blacon which will feature a floodlit 3G pitch, grass pitches and clubhouse, creating a top class facility for the community and Chester FC. We are grateful to Wigan Athletic for agreeing to this fixture in support of King George V Sports Hub and encourage Latics fans to attend on the day and help make this scheme a reality.”

Visiting Chester on the following Friday 12 July are National League South side Dulwich Hamlet. The Hamlet are on a mini tour in the north west during the week. The game will kick-off at 19.45hrs.

Jul 6

Wigan Athletic

(H)

15.00

Jul 12

Dulwich Hamlet

(H)

19.45

Jul 16

Carlisle United

(H)

19.15

Jul 20

Colne FC

(A)

15.00

Jul 23

1874 Northwich

(A)

19.45

Jul 27

Trafford

(A)

15.00

Jul 30

FC United of Manchester

(A)

19.45

ROBERTS REJOINS CHESTER

Chester have signed former player 29-year-old Kevin Roberts on a one year contract. The right back has played at Wrexham for the last two seasons.

Roberts first played for the Blues under manager Bobby Williamson in 2007 and went on to make 81 appearances for Chester, scoring 7 goals in the process. He left Chester following the demise of Chester City and joined Cambridge United where he made nearly 130 appearances for the U’s.

He left Cambridge for FC Halifax Town in 2014 scoring 2 goals in 106 appearances for the Shaymen. He joined Wrexham in 2017 and made 72 appearances for the Dragons.

Picture of Kevin back in 2010 � Rick Matthews

24 May 2019
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
Chester have announced two more away pre-season friendlies against Colne FC on Tuesday 20 July and FC United of Manchester on Tuesday 30 July.

BLUES SIGN DEFENDER
Chester have continued to build their squad for next season by signing 23-year-old left back Joel Taylor from Kidderminster Harriers. Taylor played 50 times for Harriers last season after signing in 2017 from Stoke City.

Joint manager Bernard Morley told the Chester Chronicle: “Joel Taylor is someone who me and Jonno have admired for a couple of seasons now and he’s someone who we are delighted to have signed.”

“When we set out our list of targets he was someone who was right up near the top of the list. As soon as we knew that there was an opportunity to speak to him we didn’t waste any time and from the first time we met him he showed he had the right attitude, the type of lad who fits in to what we want to do.”

“He’s a great left back at this level. He gets up and down and he has a great engine and he can be a threat going forward as well. It’s important we have quality across the side and genuine competition for places, and that is what Joel brings us in that position.”

20 May 2019
PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Gary Stopforth was named CFU Player of the Season at Saturday’s end of season awards night at the Mollington Banastre Hotel. Stopforth made 25 appearances for the Blues before an injury saw him sidelined until the end of the season. He recently signed a new one deal with the club. The full list of award winners are:

CFU Player of the Season: Gary Stopforth
Players Player of the Season: Danny Livesey
Golden Boot: Anthony Dudley
Away Travel Player of the Season: Gary Roberts
Goal of the Season: Dan Mooney at Brackley Town (the second goal)
Youth Player of the Season: Lloyd Marsh-Hughes
Seals Live Player of the Season: Anthony Dudley
Womens Player of the Season: Michelle Pasco
Clubman of the Year: Paul Bodman
Community Trust Community Award: Cain Noble and George Macready.

Picture � Rick Matthews

NATIONAL LEAGUE NORTH
The team allocation for next season’s league has been provisionally drawn up and, subject to appeal, will be confirmed at next month’s league AGM.

Altrincham
AFC Telford
Alfreton,
Blyth Spartans
Boston United
Brackley Town
Bradford (Park Avenue)
Chester
Curzon Ashton
Darlington
Farsley Celtic
Gloucester City
Guiseley
Hereford
Kettering Town
Kidderminster Harriers
King’s Lynn Town
Leamington
Oxford City
Southport
Spennymoor Town
York City

17 May 2019
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES
Chester have announced their first of their pre-season friendlies which begin with a home game against League Two side Carlisle United on Tuesday 16 July, kick-off 19.15hrs.

Jul 16

Carlisle United

(H)

19.15hrs

Jul 23

1874 Northwich

(A)

19.45hrs

Jul 27

Trafford

(A)

15.00hrs

10 May 2019
ON THE BORDERLINE UPDATE PAGES
Club historian Chas Sumner has produced two PDF updated stats pages for the 2018-19 season for those who like to keep their copies of On The Borderline updated. They can be downloaded from the links below.

• Player details | Player stats

7 May 2019
NEW CONTRACTS FOR WARING AND STOPFORTH
Forward George Waring has agreed a new one year deal at Chester. The 24-year-old Chester born player joined the Blues from Tranmere Rovers in January and has scored five goals in 15 league appearances since then.

Gary Stopforth has also agreed a new one year deal with the club. The midfielder had an outstanding first half of the season, scoring one goal in 20 appearances, before a knee injury, which was operated on in January, forced him to miss the remainder of the season.

Also signing on for another year are defender Matty Waters and goalkeeper Theo Roberts.

3 May 2019
YOUNG DUO SIGN NEW DEALS
Matty Thomson and Iwan Murray have signed new one year contracts at Chester. Both are products of the successful youth academy system and broke through into the first team last season. Thompson made 8+3 league starts last season whilst Murray made 6+6 league appearances scoring a goal at Ashton United.

Meanwhile defender Bradley Jackson has also signed a new one year deal at the club. Jackson arrived at Chester in December with an initial deal that took him to the end of the season, he made 19+2 league appearances last season.

FIRST CONTRACT FOR YOUNGSTERS
Both Cain Noble and Lloyd Marsh-Hughes have been given their first professional one year contracts with the Blues, both have progressed through the youth academy.

2 May 2019
BLUES RELEASE ELEVEN
Eleven players have been released by managers Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley after their contracts at the club had expired. The players leaving Chester are: Jamal Crawford, Alex Downes, George Green, Rhain Hellawell, Steven Howson, Connor King, Sean McAllister, Ben McKenna, Jon Moran, John Pritchard and Dominic Smalley.

Both Gary Roberts and Matty Hughes have been invited back to train pre-season and will be signed on providing their fitness levels are approved by the management. The Chester born midfielder Roberts said: “There is a deal on the table for me and I will be pulling on a Chester shirt again next season provided I do what we have agreed, and I have every intention of doing that. I am playing for my hometown team, a club I love and we're wanting to properly go at it next season and I want to be a part of that.”

The club have confirmed they will run on a hybrid model next season that will see the players training four times a week as opposed to two which they have been doing. This has been made viable through commercial development and a small increase in the playing budget that Stuart Murphy has funded.

Defender Steve Howson had already stated his desire to retire from semi-pro football. The 33-year-old defender was offered a new contract for next season but told the Chester Chronicle: “It was a tough decision because I love the game and love playing and I would have loved to have been a part of Chester for next season, but it is probably amateur football for me now. You have to do what is right for you and your family, though, and I think I would have regretted it in the long term if I wouldn’t have taken this job. I didn’t want to carry on playing if I couldn’t give it my all because that’s not me.”

“I’ve known Bernard and Jonno since I was a kid and we’ve been through loads together. I was offered another year to be a part of the squad, maybe not to play as much but to do some coaching and help out with the younger lads as there will be a few more next year.”

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