Continuing our look at the whereabouts of last seasons players:

Ryan Sugden (pic left) may have only played one season at Chester but the hard working striker made a lasting impression with his direct style and running off the ball. Ryan made 26 starts and seven substitute appearances in the Conference for Chester and scored 12 goals – all of them before Christmas. He also scored a hat trick in the FA Cup against Radcliffe Borough, the first Chester player to score three goals in the competition since Paul Crossley back in 1977. Suggs made his City debut, as a substitute, in the first game of the season against Kettering and then started the next game against Telford where he scored the only goal of the game. A sending off in the FA Cup at Morecambe seemed to disrupt his season and after his suspension he failed to find the net again for Chester. Ryan also represented the England National Game X1 against Italy while with Chester. Bradford-born Ryan had started his career in the School of Excellence at Oldham Athletic and after a hatful of goals for the youth team and reserves made his league bow at the end of the 1998/99 season. Perhaps his most memorable moment as an Oldham player was scoring an injury time equaliser against Blackpool which condemned the Seasiders to relegation to Division Three in 1999/2000. Illness problems restricted his appearances at Boundary Park and in February 2002 he moved to our Conference rivals, Scarborough where he played alongside Darryn Stamp and Steve Brodie. During the summer Ryan moved to Burton Albion, where he had spent a period on loan in April 2001. It proved an extremely short stay at Eton Park and at the end of August he was transferred to Morecambe for a five figure sum fulfilling his desire to return to full time football.

Steve Harkness (pic right) was one of the biggest names to sign for the club in recent seasons but only made ten appearances before retiring from the game to concentrate on his business interests. Carlisle-born Steve, a former England Youth international, made his Football League debut for his home town club back in the 1988/89 season. At the age of 17, after just 13 appearances for Carlisle, he made a dream £75,000 move to Liverpool. A versatile player, who could play at full back, midfield or as a central defender he finally gained a regular place in the Liverpool side at the start of the 1995/96 season but was then unfortunate to suffer a broken leg against Coventry City, an injury which kept him out of the game for 12 months. In his ten seasons at Anfield Steve made just over 100 league appearances and also had periods on loan with Huddersfield Town and Southend United. In March 1999 Steve made a £750,000 move to Benfica but returned after only six months and nine appearances to sign for Blackburn Rovers for £400,000. In September 2000 Steve was on the move again, this time in a £200,000 deal with Sheffield Wednesday where he made 30 appearances at full back. In summer 2002 his contract was terminated with mutual consent and he joined up with his old Anfield playing colleague, Mark Wright, at the Deva Stadium.