• Editorial
• Is Rock 'n Roll The New Football?
• KR's Tuesday Night Deva Jinx
• View From The West Stand
• Archaeology Corner
• Manic Moment
• Home Thoughts From Abroad
• Book Review
• Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire

KR’S TUESDAY NIGHT DEVA JINX

Kevin Ratcliffe will be remembered fondly by City fans for years to come mainly for his keeping the show on the road last season 1998/9. Not only did he stay loyal to the cause long after absentee chairman Mark Guterman had abandoned ship, he also persuaded the players to stay on despite the temptation to go to clubs that would at least pay them a weekly wage.

One thing Kevin may wish to forget however is his Tuesday night record at the Deva. The number of times City won under his charge at the Deva on Tuesday nights can be counted on the fingers and thumb of one hand: Wigan (Coca Cola Cup 95/96), Northampton (95/96), Swansea (96/97), Northampton (96/97), Preston (friendly 97/98)

In Kevin�s first season at the Deva we played seven Tuesday night games and lost one of them � to Rotherham in the Auto Windscreens Shield. Not too many tears were shed over that one. But the four draws in League games counted against us in our charge for promotion.

In 1996/97 of eight games played at home on Tuesday�s there were two wins, two defeats and four draws. The defeats came against Carlisle (A team ten million times better than the one now down at the wrong end of Division Three) and Cardiff City. Between December and April we won all except six home games � four of which came on Tuesday nights.

1997/98 was another season which promised a great deal but failed to deliver. Kicked off with the aforementioned Preston victory, it was followed by another Coca Cola Cup defeat to Carlisle. We played four more games after this on a Tuesday and collected just three points from them. Torquay clinched a sell deserved win in this sequence thanks to a superb display of pace from Rodney Jack. Was Crewe really the best he could do? Another disappointing season of Tuesday results. It was clear this increasingly weird phenomenon was confined to Tuesday games as we defeated Hull at home on a Friday and Swansea on a Wednesday night.

Last season, even more than ever � Tuesday night has been disaster night as far as Chester are concerned. Defeats were inflicted by Cambridge United, Sunderland (Worthington Cup), Hartlepool (Auto Windscreens), Scarborough and Brentford. Just two other competitive defeats have been suffered at home all season. So one really does wonder why we seemed to struggle on Tuesday evenings. The only other games both ended in draws against Port Vale (Worthington Cup) and Hartlepool.

Did Kevin Ratcliffe turn into a werewolf on Tuesday nights? Is there a clause in players contracts which said that win bonuses are void on Tuesdays? Are they scared of our floodlights? Are they affected by smaller than average crowds?

Perhaps the jinx has been exorcised this season. Our only home wins have been on Tuesdays � Port Vale in the Worthington Cup and Cheltenham in the League.

We await Kevin�s memoirs with interest.

Andrew Boyd