September 2006 News

29 September 2006
LATE TEST FOR LINWOOD

City could be without defender Paul Linwood for tomorrow’s home clash with Bristol Rovers. Linwood (left) picked up a knee injury at MK Dons last Saturday and as a result was forced to miss the midweek draw at Macclesfield. The defender will face a fitness before kick-off. Jonathan Walters and Dean Bennett have both now recovered from recent injuries.

City haven’t won in front of their own fans since the opening day victory over Accrington Stanley and must be looking for maximun points to add to the four already collected this week.

The Pirates sit one place below City on goal difference following their midweek 2-1 home win over Hereford United and will include loan signing from Charlton Athletic James Walker.

Picture © Evening Leader

28 September 2006
BRIAN BIGGINS 1940-2006
Former Chester goalkeeper, Brian Biggins, died earlier this month. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

• Obituary

27 September 2006
SECOND HALF SHOWING BRINGS A POINT
Sandwith equalises

For the second time in four days City produced a spirited second half performance, after a poor first half showing, to pick up a point from Moss Rose, indeed it could have been all three but for some fine saves by Tommy Lee in the home goal.

Poor defending allowed Mark Bullock to open the scoring for Macc as early as the tenth minute but once again the introduction of substitute Jonathan Walters after the break seemed to kick-start the Blues who had former Silkman Kevin Sandwith to thank for their eqaliser (left).

After the match manager Mark Wright told the Daily Post: “In the second half there was only one side in it and we should have killed them off. We had a number of chances as well as having what I thought was a stone wall penalty turned down. On the positive side we have taken four points from the two away games we’ve played in the last four days and that is extremely encouraging. I am hoping to add a right-sided wing player in the next few days. I have had the green light from the chairman, and hopefully that deal can be concluded on Thursday or Friday.”

The Blues will no doubt be trying to build on the last two performances on the road when they entertain Bristol Rovers at Deva Stadium on Saturday. The Pirates play tonight and could catch City on 12 points with a home victory over Hereford United.

Picture © Evening Leader

25 September 2006
WRIGHT HAPPY WITH WIN
Manager Mark Wright was happy with the Blues performance as they came from behind to inflict the first home defeat of the season on Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday. Second half goals from Ashley Westwood and Jonathan Walters brought three points against a depleted Dons side that had taken a first half lead through Clive Pratt.

Wright said: “We’ve been very unlucky in the last few weeks. We’ve lost games we shouldn't have - in fact I thought we should have had at least four points from the matches against Notts County and Grimsby Town. We’ve been

missing too many chances, and it was great to see Jon (Walters) come back and score the winner.”

The Blues are next in action tomorrow night when they travel across Cheshire to play bottom club Macclesfield Town. City have no fresh injury worries though Mark Wright could well be tempted to start with Dean Bennett and Jon Walters who both made an impact after coming off the bench at Milton Keynes.

Defender Kevin Sandwith (left) makes a first-return to the club he left in the summer. The Silkmen currently lie bottom of the league and have have failed to win this season but battled back for a 3-3 draw with Torquay United on Saturday.

Picture © Evening Leader

22 September 2006
BENNETT SET FOR RETURN

The Blues could welcome back midfielder Dean Bennett (left) tomorrow as they travel to play fifth placed Milton Keynes Dons. Bennett has suffered with a back injury in recent weeks since picking up the knock at Hereford United and played in the reserves defeat in midweek.

Striker Jonathan Walters could also return for City after shaking off an ankle injury picked up at Wycombe two weeks ago.

The home side will be without Izale McLeod, Jon-Paul McGovern and Aaron Wilbraham who are all suspended as well as well as Gary Smith, Craig Morgan and Jamie Smith who are all injured.

Picture © Evening Leader

BYE FOR CITY
Chester have been given a bye for the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. The 32 teams not receiving byes have been split into four geographical sections for the first round – for which the full draw is tomorrow morning. Once the 48 clubs were divided into northern and southern sections, a preliminary draw took place today which saw eight teams, including Chester City, from each section drawn out to receive byes. Unlike previous years, Conference National teams are not involved.

20 September 2006
RESERVES BEATEN
The reserves were beaten 4-0 at home by Blackpool tonight.

RESERVES IN ACTION

The reserve side host Blackpool at Deva Stadium tonight in a Pontins Holiday League Division One West match. Trialing for City will be ex-Liverpool striker James Frayne (19) who was released from Anfield in the summer.

Manager Mark Wright will be casting an eye over the youngster who is out to win a full-time contract. Wright said: “We will have a good look at James in training, and in reserve team games, and then make a decision on his future with the club. He comes to us with a good pedigree and good references, so it is up to him to prove that he is worthy of a full contract.” The game tonight will kick-off at 19:00hrs.

• Reserve fixtures | Table

18 September 2006
HOME BLUES FOR CITY
Just as the Blues looked to be heading for a second successive stalemate, goals in the 90th and 94th minute from Grimsby Town brough City’s third home defeat in five matches and continued to heap misery on another alarmingly sub-2,000 crowd. The Blues have failed to win now for eight matches and have slid to 19th in League Two.

The manager Mark Wright pointed to a lack of firepower for this latest reverse as he told the press after the game:

“The bottom line is we are all here to be shot at and the crowd had every right to complain. The players are not doing their jobs. I don’t think either of our strikers had a shot and they must take it on the chin. We got in some good positions but we just aren’t converting our chances.

We should have been 3-0 up at the break, as there was only one team in it. But we didn’t take our chances, and it cost us. I don’t think my strikers had a shot all game and that’s not good enough. When the man-of-the-match goes and makes a massive error, it’s hard to take, it’s not the way I defended when I was playing. You should never hesitate in your own box, and I’m really annoyed with the way the goals came about after we looked so comfortable.

The crowd have every right to have a dig and have a go at us. Stephen Vaughan in the first half ran to the byline at pace and all he could hit was the near post and we’re all hanging outside the back stick. Even Pele couldn’t have hit that ball to the back stick.

I’m not a happy manager – I don’t mind if the crowd give me stick, but the one thing they can’t accuse us of is not knowing what we’re doing – because we do.

Laurence Wilson was in some great positions when it was still 0-0, but he has to get at people. He had a chance at one point, but he hit it first time which wasn’t good enough. He has so much ability and we wanted him one-on-one with the right back, taking him on and getting penalties, getting closer, and scoring goals. I’m frustrated and really annoyed about the way the two Grimsby goals came about. It wasn’t acceptable in anyone’s book, I don’t care what anybody says.

The bottom line is that we’re all here to be shot at – managers, players, club staff, but the players didn’t do their job and that is not acceptable.”

Picture © Evening Leader

15 September 2006
DUO DOUBTFUL
Both summer signings from Wrexham Jon Walters and Dean Bennett are doubtful for the visit of Grimsby Town to Deva Stadium tomorrow. Walters suffered an ankle injury at Wycombe last Saturday while Bennett’s back injury has been more long-term. The Mariners currently lie two places below City on goal difference and have lost all four League games on their travels this season without scoring. City will be looking for their first win since the victory at Bury back on 8 August. Tomorrow’s game kick’s-off at 15:00hrs.

JOHNSTONE’S PAINT TROPHY
The draw for the first round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy (formally the LDV) will take place a week tomorrow, 23 September, on SKY Sports’ Soccer AM programme. First round games will take place during the week commencing 16 October.

14 September 2006
LINWOOD FEE SET BY TRIBUNAL

Chester have been ordered to pay Tranmere Rovers £15,000 for defender Paul Linwood following today’s tribunal held by the Football League. The Blues must also hand over 10% of any sell-on they may receive above this amount in the future.

Before joining the Blues in the summer, Linwood had previously made 42+11 first team appearances for the Prenton Park club as well as 8+1 on loan at Wrexham during August-October 2005. The tribunal order is binding, there is no case of appeal.

After the Old Trafford hearing club chairman Steve Vaughan said: “We received an extremely fair hearing and I feel that the judgement is fair. We anticipated that we may have to pay anything up to £30,000, but in the end I think all parties are reasonably happy with the outcome.”

13 September 2006
CITY DROP A PLACE
Accrington Stanley’s 5-0 victory over Wrexham tonight lifts them above City into 16th place on goal difference.

WRIGHT HAPPY WITH IMPROVEMENT

Manager Mark Wright declared himself satisfied after City ground out a point with a 0-0 home draw against Notts County last night. The Blues enjoyed plenty of possession but once again failed to test the opposition goalkeeper with a single shot throughout the 90 minutes; in fact the Blues didn’t even force a corner. The lack of an out-and-out striker is becoming more apparent with every match and will be top of Wright’s priorities.

Wright said: “I thought it was a very good performance by the lads, their commitment was first class. We just lacked that little bit of a cutting edge when we got into their box, but overall I was very pleased with the performance.”

The Deva Stadium crowd of only 1,818 followed a series of disappointing results that has seen the Blues pick up only one from the previous 15 points, another home game this Saturday and live football on TV will also have contributed to the low turnout.

City next entertain Grimsby Town on Saturday, kick-off 15:00hrs. The Mariners currently lie two places below City and have lost all four league matches on their travels this season.

Picture © Evening Leader

12 September 2006
VAUGHAN STAYS WITH CITY

City captain Stephen Vaughan has turned down the chance to join Boston United on loan.

He told the Daily Post: “I am extremely flattered by the approach from Boston, but I am the Chester captain, and I am Chester City through and through. I want to be a part of the progress we will make this season. We have a great bunch of players here at the Deva, and while the results in the last few games haven’t gone for us, when this new squad gels it will be a force to be reckoned with.”

Meanwhile City are back in action tonight when they entertain seventh placed Notts County at Deva Stadium, kick-off 19:45hrs. The Blues will be without striker Jon Walters who picked up an injury on Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.

Picture © Evening Leader

11 September 2006
VAUGHAN ENQUIRY FROM BOSTON
League Two outfit Boston United have approached Chester regarding a loan deal for captain Stephen Vaughan. The Lincolnshire outfit currently have only 14 fit players and Boston manager Steve Evans approached Chester on Sunday with an initial enquiry. He told Boston’s official website: “If the loan deal goes ahead and Stephen does well we will certainly look to make it permanent because he is good in a number of positions.”

ANOTHER DEFEAT FOR CITY

City slipped three places to 16th following Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Wycombe Wanderers. The Blues failed to really test the home side after they were reduced to ten men after just 26 minutes following the dismissal of Anthony Grant for a second yellow card. The only goal of the game came two minutes later as Kevin Betsy rose unchallenged six yards out to head home Scott Golbourne’s cross.

After the match a disappointed assistant manager Graham Barrow (left) said: “Sometimes it can be harder to play against 10 men, but we were not firing up front. It just wasn’t good enough – we didn’t really stretch them or get behind them, in the last 10 to 15 minutes we didn’t put them under any pressure to speak of. We needed to throw the kitchen sink at them, and we just didn’t do that.”

City need to bounce back quickly from this latest setback and will have the opportunity tomorrow night when they entertain Notts County at Deva Stadium, kick-off 19:45hrs. The Blues will be without striker Jon Walters who picked up an injury on Saturday and is expected to be sidelined for two weeks.

DEFEAT ALSO FOR YOUTH TEAM
The youth team lost their latest match at Oldham Athletic on Saturday 1-0.

• Fixtures | Table | Stats

EXILES MEMBERSHIP 2006/07
Membership fees for this season are as follows.

Full member	£12.00
Student/Under 16/OAP/Unemployed	£9.00
NEW Family (any number at the same address)	£20.00
Overseas (outside Europe)	£15.00

•Membership Form (PDF)

WIN £100 - EXILES PREDICTION COMPETITION
You can download the new Competition form from below. As usual the guaranteed first prize is £100. All entries must be received by the end of September.

•Competition Form (PDF)

8 September 2006
WESTWOOD RETURNS TO THE SQUAD

Defender Ashley Westwood (left) returns to the City squad for tomorrow’s League Two match at fifth placed Wycombe Wanderers (kick-off 15:00hrs) having recovered from a hip injury sustained at the Wrexham game; Dean Bennett though is ruled out. City have only picked up one point from the last 12 with manager Mark Wright blaming basic defensive errors for the poor run of form.

He told the Chester Evening Leader. “We’ve looked at ourselves and trained very hard this week, because the goals we’ve been conceding have been basic mistakes. We can only tell the players what is right and wrong before they go out to play, and the fact that we’ve got a lot of new faces gives them a little bit of a lifeline. But at the same time it doesn’t wash with me any more – they’ve got to be bigger and braver. The players aren’t under pressure and I’m not under pressure from the chairman. I know the fans want results, but the margin between success and failure in our league is very slight.”

Wycombe have won their last four matches including an impressive victory at Swansea City in the Carling Cup. On City’s last visit to Adams Park in October 2005, the sides fought out an entertaining 3-3 draw while a Stewart Drummond goal was enough to give the Blues victory over the Chairboys in the return match last April.

Picture © Evening Leader

6 September 2006
CHESHIRE CUP WIN
Chester are through to the second round of the Cheshire Senior Cup after beating Altrincham on penalties tonight. With the RobinS taking the lead midway through the first half City looked to be heading out of the competition until Drewe Broughton equalised in stoppage time. There were no further goals in extra-time and City went on to score all four of their spot-kicks to go through 4-2.

5 September 2006
WIJNHARD ON TRIAL
Former Leeds United striker Clyde Wijnhard is to train with City. The 32-year-old Dutch striker started his career with Ajax, before spells with Willem II, Leeds United, Huddersfield Town, Preston North End and Darlington. Last season he scored 12 goals in 25 appearances for Macclesfied Town.

“Clyde has shown a lot of intelligence on the training ground, and I have been impressed with what he has done. There is a possibility that we could bring Clyde in on loan, and we will make a decision by next week.” said manager Mark Wright.

3 September 2006
WIN FOR YOUTH TEAM
Two goals in the last 15 minutes from Paul McManus and Shamim Ali gave the youth team a 2-0 victory over a dogged Rochdale at a wet and windy Airbus on Saturday morning. The next match is away against the reigning Alliance League Champions Oldham Athletic on Saturday 9 September, and we hope to give a better account of ourselves than we did last year where the result was 7 -2 to Oldham Athletic.

1 September 2006
POOR RUN CONTINUES

Two goals from Lee Peacock were enough to give League Two leaders Swindon Town a comfortable 2-0 victory on their first outing at Deva Stadium on Friday night. The sides were level at the break but Peacock opened the scoring soon after and dubled the Robins’ lead on 74 minutes heading home Andy Nicholas’ free-kick not long after the visitors had been reduced to ten men following he dismissal of Jerel Ifil. City's best effort of the night came on the hour mark from a curling shot by Laurence Wilson that was heading for the top corner before it was well saved by Peter Brezovan in the Town goal.

After the defeat Manager Mark Wright (pictured) admitted his side had been beaten by a much better team. He told the League Paper: “At half-time I said to the lads that we were in, the game, but that we shouldn’t concede early in the second half, but then they got in front and you can't get it back against good sides like this. If Swindon do not gain promotion this season, then I am not a very good judge. They are big and strong and the front two are the best that I have seen in this league.”

“For the first time in my managerial career I can honestly say we deserved to get beaten. We did not get any real chances, we were in the game up to half time but shot ourselves in the foot by conceding just after the interval. We huffed and puffed but we ran into a brick wall.”

“However, again defensive mistakes let us down. They are an extremely competent side, and if they are not one of the three automatically promoted clubs at the end of the season, then I will eat my hat.”

The Blues have now only picked up one point from the last twelve available, at Torquay, and are next in action on Saturday when they visit fifth placed Wycombe Wanderers.

Picture © Evening Leader

1 September 2006
CITY TACKLE LEAGUE LEADERS

League Two early pacesetters Swindon Town make their first visit to Deva Stadium tonight. Dennis Wise’s team have won all five of their opening league matches this season with home wins over Barnet, Rochdale and Stockport while away from the County Ground they've had success in the north east at Darlington and Hartlepool. The unbeaten run brought the Manager of the Month award for Wise this week.

The Robins showed their intent to bounce straight back to League One yesterday when they bolstered their squad by signing 38-year-old former England international Paul Ince from Wolverhampton Wanderers.

City will be looking to build on the point gleaned at Torquay on Saturday thanks to a last-gasp Roberto Martinez strike. Phil Bolland and Glenn Cronin are still on the injury list while Ashley Westwood’s hamstring problem may sideline him again.

Tonight’s match will kick-off at 19:45hrs.

CONTRACTS TERMINATED
Jermaine McSporran, Freddie Potter and Adam Wade have all had their contracts terminated to bring City below the 60% salary cap required under Football League rules.