December 2000 News

31 December 2000
PORTER BAN
Andy Porter will miss tomorrow's match at Hereford United because of a one match ban. Defender Matt Woods is also expected to miss out again as he is suffering from a fractured eye socket and damaged nerves in his jaw after a freak accident at home three weeks ago when he slipped getting out of he bath.

30 December 2000
TELFORD MATCH OFF
This afternoon's home match with Telford United has been postponed because of a frozen pitch. There must also be doubts over City's fixture at Edgar Street on New Year's Day. Those travelling to the game should phone Hereford United on 01432 276666 to check before your journey.

VARIETY CLUB TROPHY
Chester's quarter-final tie away at Southport has been scheduled in for Tuesday 23 January, kick-off 19:45hrs.

FINNEY ON TARGET
Striker Steve Finney currently on loan at Altrincham scored a hat-trick in the recent 3-1 victory over Whitby Town.

FORTHCOMING ISA MEETINGS
The next members meeting of the ISA will take place on Monday 15 January at the usual venue the Royal mail Club in Station Road, Chester – the meeting starts at 19:30hrs. The annual general meeting of the association will take place on Monday 12 February (same venue and time). There will be a number of places available on the ISA committee to be filled at the AGM and any member wishing to stand for election should forward their details to: Chester City ISA, PO Box 308, Chester CH1 5ZF.

18 December 2000
CITY IN CUP ACTION
The Blues attempt to play their postponed Nationwide Variety Club second round replay at Hednesford Town tonight. The winners of the tie will be away at Southport in the quarter final. If you want to check the match is on then Hednesford's phone number is 01543 422870.

LDV VANS TROPHY
City will be away at either Port Vale or Notts County in the second round of the LDV Vans Trophy. Those two teams meet for their first round tie on Tuesday 9 January 2001.

MATCH VIDEOS
The following videos of home matches are available in the club shop priced at: £12.99
Season 1999/2000: Man City, Aston Villa, Cheltenham, Mansfield, Peterborough
Season 2000/2001: Doncaster, Kettering, Nuneaton.

There is also the video 'In The Net'... forty great City goals, from season 1999-2000 & 2000-2001, including archive footage from season 1985-86 priced at: £9.99.

All videos are also available from:
Northern Accent Television
PO.Box 3118
Chester CH4 8XE

Please add £1 P+P

15 December 2000
NEW DATE
City's away game at Telford United, postponed last week due to the Oxford cup game has been rearranged for Tuesday 30 January. There's no new date as yet for the home game with Boston United. Meanwhile Chester have confirmed that the Boxing day game with Hereford United will have a 15:00hrs kick-off.

PLAYERS IN CRASH
Four City players: Matt Woods, Martyn Lancaster, Nick Richardson and David Kerr – were involved in a car crash near to the Mollington Banastre yesterday morning. �They weren�t seriously injured,� said Barrow today. �Joe Hinnigan went down to pick them up and check them out because Matt�s car was a write off. �We�ll see how they are because in cases like this it�s not until the day after that the shock sets in.� [Evening Leader]

CARDEN OUT
Paul Carden misses tomorrow's tough match at Doncaster Rovers through suspension. That will probably mean either a return for Matt Woods or perhaps a start for Scott Ruscoe. City turned in one of their best performances of the season beating Donny 3-0 at the Deva in their first home match of the season. The teams are due to meet at the Deva again in January in the F.A.Trophy.

BLACKBURN ROVERS
City fans will be able to pay at the turnstiles for the match on 6 January at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers.

13 December 2000
NEW KIT
Chester will be sporting a new kit when they take on Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup on 6 January. Both City's home and away kits clash with Rovers' blue and white halves so a third kit will be ordered. City played in sky blue and black for the opening game at Rushden but manager Graham Barrow has already ruled this out. A black and white kit is a possibility.

PLAYERS ON LOAN
Two City players have been loaned out this week. Steve Finney has joined Altrincham while Andy Shelton has moved to Harrogate Town.

11 December 2000
MATCH OFF
Tonight's much postponed Nationwide Variety Club second round replay at Hednesford Town has once again fallen foul of the weather and has been postponed. The game is now scheduled for next Monday 18 December at 19:45hrs.

10 December 2000
F.A. CUP DRAW
Chester have been drawn away at Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the AXA F.A. Cup. The tie takes place on the first weekend in January. The home Conference fixture with Boston United scheduled for 6 January will now be rearranged. City manager Graham Barrow was more than happy with the draw: �I�ve got many links with Blackburn and it�s a great draw for me, I remember training with the first team players there when I was a youth and they were the first league side I ever watched. I remember seeing Jimmy Greaves play for Spurs at Ewood Park and I�ve got great memories of the club.�

You can follow City's F.A. cup progress through the TeamTalk site. There you'll find match reports, an interview with Grenville Millington and pictures from the long trip to Plymouth.

UNBEATEN RUN
Following Saturday's victory over Oxford United, Chester's unbeaten run now stretches for 16 games with their last defeat coming at Crewe in the Cheshire Senior Cup. This equals the best runs they experienced as a Football League club. Between March 25th 1977 and August 30th 1978 City were unbeaten in 13 League and 3 League Cup games until a 3-0 defeat at Hull City at the start of September. Prior to this they also went 16 League games unbeaten between September 7th 1946 and December 14th 1946. However they have a long way to go to equal the 30 game unbeaten run between January 4th 1907 and November 7th 1908 when they were unbeaten in 19 League, 2 FA Cup, 5 Welsh Cup and 4 Cheshire Senior Cup games.

Although Chester beat Port Vale in the Worthington Cup last season the victory over Oxford United was the first time they had beaten a team two divisions above them in the FA Cup since a 2-1 victory over Bristol City in the Third Round in 1969/70.

Chester's fightback from 2-0 down was the first time they had recovered a two goal deficit to win a game since winning at Doncaster Rovers 4-3 on December 17th 1993. On this occasion they were 3-1 down. The last time they came from two goals behind in a home game was on August 16th 1972 when they beat Shrewsbury Town 4-3 in the League Cup after trailing 0-2.

In the FA Cup we have to go back to the 1938/39 season to find the last time that Chester won a tie after trailing by two goals. On this occasion they conceded two goals to Hull City in the first 15 minutes at Sealand Road. Chester recovered to draw 2-2 and won the replay 1-0 at Hull. They achieved the same feat against Northwich Victoria in 1921 when they trailed 2-0 and 3-1 before snatching a 3-3 draw and winning the replay. However the last time they won an FA Cup tie in 90 minutes, after trailing by two goals, was in the 1913/14 season when Nantwich scored three goals in seven minutes to take a 3-1 lead. Chester pulled back the deficit to win the game 5-3. Nantwich were also on the wrong end of Chester's only other two goal recovery which came in the 1890/91 season. On this occasion Nantwich took an early 2-0 lead only for Chester to finally come out on top with a 5-4 victory.

Chas Sumner

NEW MASCOT

City unveiled their new mascot (left) on Saturday and are now looking for a name for him/it! All names should be given / sent in to the commercial department. The person who suggests the winning name will be awarded a "unique prize".

Send your suggestions to:
The Commercial Department, Chester City FC, Deva Stadium, Bumpers Lane, Chester CH1 4LT.
Telephone/Fax: 01244 390243

8 December 2000
CHARGES DROPPED
Chester police have dropped all charges on chairman Terry Smith regarding the alleged assault on former safety officer Eddie Riley, this related to an incident before the home match with Northwich at the Deva on 12 September.

COME AND JOIN US
City manager Graham Barrow has appealed to the city public to get down to the Deva tomorrow and support the Blues as they look to beat second division Oxford United in the AXA FA Cup. �We only had about 600 supporters on Tuesday night and look at the atmosphere they created. Imagine what a two or three thousands fans could do. �You talk about home advantage in cup games. That means crowd advantage and we all know that we could be 90 minutes away from glory.�

The draw for the third round takes place live on ITV at 17.45hrs on Sunday. City's (or Oxford�s) number will be 52.

SUPPORTERS TRUST
An application form to join the Chester City Supporters Trust is available here.

6 December 2000
CITY THROUGH
City's second victory over Football League in seven days takes them through to the second round of the LDV Vans Trophy, and they'll be anxious to make it a third scalp with the visit of Oxford United on Saturday in the FA Cup. Paul Carden's second half strike was enough to see the Blues through last night and avenge their first round exit to the same opposition last season.

City have no further injury problems ahead of Saturday's clash and striker Mark Beesley is expected to have recovered from his back injury. Paul Beesley will return to the heart of the defence following his two match suspension.

5 December 2000
WRIGHT TO START?
Darren Wright is expected to start for City tonight in their first round LDV Vans Trophy clash against Hull at the Deva. Striker Mark Beesley is still recovering from a knock he received on Saturday. Defender Paul Beesley misses the match through suspension. Graham Barrow may also opt to start with both Craig Gaunt and the promising Scott Ruscoe who has looked sharp since his return from injury.

4 December 2000
FA TROPHY DRAW
Chester have been drawn at home to Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the FA Trophy. The game takes place on Saturday 13 January.

REDUCED PRICES
Chester have reduced admission prices for tomorrow night's LDV Vans Trophy clash with Hull City. The admission has been reduced by £2 from normal matchday prices. Prices tomorrow are: adult Standing £8 (conc £4) adult seating £10 (conc £5). The match kick's-off at 19:45hrs.

YOUTH TEAM
Without a game for weeks (due to the bad weather) City's youth team lost a friendly with Stockport County on Friday 2-0.

1 December 2000
TRUST LAUNCHES
Last night saw the official launch of the Chester City Supporters Trust. The meeting at the Town Hall was attended by 200 City fans and proved a most successful night. Letters of support from Chester MP Christine Russell and Culture Secretary Chris Smith MP were read out, as was a message of support from the Chester Supporters� Group. Four members, Richard Lynes, Graham Ross, Bill Brookes and Lee Walton will be elected to the board of the Trust. The Trust have since issued the following press statement.

WOODS DOUBTFUL
Matt Woods is doubtful for tomorrow's home clash with Woking, while Paul Beesley is suspended. New signing Simon Vickers won't be playing as he's short of match fitness.

ISA CHAIRMAN RESIGNS
Kevin Whitehouse has resigned as chairman of the Chester City ISA. The current vice chairman Andy Price will takeover as acting chairman until the association's annual general meeting in January 2001.

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