Chesterfield

Chesterfield FC is a professional football club from the market town of the same name in Derbyshire, located around twenty miles south of Sheffield. The current incarnation of the club was formed in 1919, but football and links to the club go back much further.

The first Chesterfield FC, which was an offshoot of Chesterfield Cricket Club, was believed to have been formed in 1866. They moved into the Recreation Ground at Saltergate four years later, but the club lasted just ten years. Another club of the same name began in 1884, before changing its name to Chesterfield Town shortly after. 

They were members of the Midland League and in the 1892-93 season they wore dark blue shirts with the Union Jack emblazoned across the front. After winning the league title in 1896, Town were accepted into the Football League for the 1899-1900 season. In 1909 they were demoted back to the Midland League after finishing bottom of the table for three successive seasons. 

In 1915 the club entered voluntary liquidation, although a club of the same name was formed and lasted for two years playing wartime football. In 1919 the local council formed a club called Chesterfield Municipal FC to fill the gap left void by the lack of a senior club in the town. They won the Midland League at the first attempt. 

However, the FA and Football League voiced opposition to a club run by a council. As a consequence, the club became independent and changed its name to Chesterfield FC in 1920. A year later, the 'Spireites' as the club would be later nicknamed, became founder members of Football League Division Three North. 

They won the division in 1930-31 and were promoted, but their spell in Division Two lasted just two seasons. They were once again promoted to Division Two as champions in 1935-36, where they remained until 1951. In 1958 Chesterfield were placed in Division Three after League re-organisation. 

Future England legend Gordon Banks made his debut for the club before being sold to Leicester City at the end of the season for £7,000. Relegation to Division Four followed in 1960-61, with the club remaining there until 1970. The club won the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1981, after dumping out Rangers in the semi-final. 

However, three years later, they were relegated, before winning promotion back to Division Three at the first attempt. In 1985, the club hit severe financial problems but were bailed out by the council,l who bought their training ground. In 1988-89, Chesterfield were relegated once again, and it wasn't until the arrival of John Duncan as manager in 1993 that prospects brightened. 

He took the side up via a win in the playoff final at Wembley in 1995 over Bury. The 1996-97 season saw the team, featuring a young Kevin Davies embarked on a remarkable FA Cup run. Nottingham Forest were one of their victims as they reached a memorable semi-final against Middlesbrough.

The team were denied a certain goal at Old Trafford when the ball was clearly over the line. Middlesbrough fought back to draw 3-3 before ending the dreams in the Hillsborough replay.
Click here to see highlights of the remarkable drawn game.

In 2000, with the team once again finding itself in the bottom tier, the club was sold by unpopular owner Norton Lea to a twenty nine year old entrepreneur called Darren Brown who already owned both the ice hockey and basketball clubs in Sheffield. 

My drawing of Saltergate, team kits, and club crests.
Click on the images to enlarge them.

By March 2001 Brown was gone facing fraud charges with the club having been deducted points for financial irregularities. Brown was later sentenced to four years in prison for charges including false accounting, furnishing false information and theft. In the meantime ownership was passed onto a supporters group who couldn't prevent the club having to enter into administration as the team somehow won promotion.

In 2007, Chesterfield once again found themselves in the League's bottom tier. At the end of the 2009-10 season, the club left the homely but outdated Saltergate to move to a new stadium on Sheffield Road, which had formerly been a glassworks. 

The new stadium was originally called the B2Net Stadium in a naming rights deal. In May 2011 the club were crowned League Two champions. The following season saw The Spireites lift the Football League Trophy at Wembley after defeating Swindon Town. 

However, their cup progress didn't transform into league form, as they were relegated once more at the end of the 2011-12 season. Paul Cook was appointed as manager in October 2012. The 2013-14 campaign saw Chesterfield win promotion as League Two champions, before reaching the play-offs in 2014-15, before Preston North End deflated any dreams of promotion in the semi-finals.

Cook departed for Portsmouth in the summer of 2015, to be replaced for a short spell by Dean Saunders. Former playing favourite Danny Wilson was appointed as team manager in November 2015. The club hit a crisis point a year later as chairman and major investor Dave Allen resigned from the club. 

Four further directors also left the club within a few days. Wilson was replaced by Gary Caldwell in January 2017 as the team ended the season in bottom place and were relegated back to the league's bottom tier. Jack Lester and then Martin Allen had spells in charge of the Spireites in 2017-18 as the club crashed out of the Football League. 

The National League wasn’t any easier, with John Sheridan replacing Allen in January 2019. The new man lasted a year prior to the appointment of John Pemberton. By then the Chesterfield FC Community Trust had bought ownership of the club. James Rowe was made manager in November 2020, taking the side to the playoffs where they lost at the first phase to Notts County. 

Former hero Paul Cook returned in February 2022 to lead the side. They again reached the playoffs, beating FC Halifax Town before falling to Solihull Moors. Progress was once again achieved in 2022-23 as Bromley were dispatched in the playoffs.

However, Notts County won a classic final 3-2 at Wembley with Chesterfield three minutes from hanging on to win promotion. It was a different story in 2023-24 as Cook’s outfit romped to the National League title by twelve points with Will Grigg leading the scoring. They reached the playoffs in 2024-25, losing their semifinal tie with Walsall.

Chesterfield FC will play in the EFL League Two in the 2025-26 season.

My visits

Chesterfield 3 Cardiff City 4 (Friday 20th December 1985) Division Three (att: 1,773)

I attended this game in a car with some pals driven by Cardiff supporting pal Gary Griffiths to get a new ground in. As away fans we were placed in the end section of the Main Stand as there weren't enough in attendance to justify opening the terracing. This suited us fine on a damp and cool evening.

Saltergate really was old-fashioned, but I liked it. The Main Stand was a raised seating deck with a disused old terrace in front. The Kop or Saltergate End was to our left and consisted of a covered terrace. Opposite was the Compton Street Pop Side. This was a long covered terracing with a TV gantry perched over the half way line. 

Finally, the disused Cross Street End was an open, low bank of terracing backed by a castellated wall. The City fans were in a joyous mood as it looked as though their bitter rivals, Swansea City, were about to go to the wall. 

They were less happy when their side went 3-1 down in the second half. I was happy enough. The atmosphere was vibrant, and the pies were lovely. We used the empty foil as ashtrays! There was to be a huge fightback. The Bluebirds got the game back on level terms.

Then Mark Farrington scored an absolute screaming volley from about twenty-five yards to take the spoils. Our driver was most happy! We celebrated by going for drinks in nearby Staveley. I believe I may have been absent from my crumby job the following morning, owing to the fan belt going on the car on the way home. Allegedly.

Chesterfield 0 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 12th January 1991) Division Four (att: 3,217)

I travelled to this game on a mini bus driven by Badger with some senior Seadogs after completing night shift at the Post Office. I was tired as I was overdoing things during the day, but  was also ready for a good drink. Luckily for me Pete Wilson and John Kellett were on board armed with their Good Beer Guide.

We ended up in the Derby Tup on Sheffield Road, which specialised in guest ales. Bunner, who was normally a lager drinker was fascinated as to why we waxed lyrical about real ale, so he decided to go on it with us. 

He regretted it later! We got to the ground full of pop, but a few of us still went round and had a last beer in the clubhouse behind The Kop, as I'd read that away fans were welcome. We were put down part of the Pop Side. Boro were having a decent run with George Oghani terrifying defences. 

To give some idea of our consumption, some of us chanted the familiar "Ooo George Oghani" when the pale-faced Andy Mockler scored the only goal. I crashed out on the bus on the way back and woke up sitting next to a hitchhiker! 

We got back and went straight out downtown, to the familiar haunts of the Opera House and Showboat. I eventually ended up in The Talbot, where my parents went for a late drink. I think they were worrried about me.

Chesterfield 0 Scarborough 1 (Saturday 13th August 1994) Division Three (att: 3,099)

This was another minibus adventure, only by now I was the organiser. It had been agreed that different lads would take their turn at driving so that the regulars could get out of what must have been a crap job. They really did deserve a medal. I'm just glad that they didn't film our drunken antics.

Anyway, for this opening game, it was Bunner's turn. We stopped as usual for pre-match beers on the way into town and then got to the ground early enough to discover the nearby pubs. Some of us used the clubhouse, but the welcome wasn't anywhere near as welcome as on our previous visit.

Boro were in a bit of turmoil just for a change after chairman John Russell had sacked popular manager Steve Wicks for a lack of financial prudence. Oh, the irony! He had brought in former playing legend Billy Ayre. The pre-season hadn't given us much hope for optimism, but Russell made the promise of big signings.

It was a sunny day, and we found ourselves in the Cross Street End. Chesterfield had former York City keeper Chris Marples in their goal. He was just about as unpopular an opponent as we ever had in our League days, and as usual, he got maximum abuse. The home side had a man sent off for a deliberate handball on the line as Steve Charles converted the resulting penalty.

A group who turned out to be relations and friends of Boro full-back Darren Knowles were making a real noise in the Main Stand. We left the ground in really good form, even predicting that this was going to be our season. 

I missed out on the fixed odds as the last score to come in let me down, much to the mirth of my fellow passengers. Bunner decided that the bus would be going straight back to Scarborough so we could celebrate there. I wonder how that happened?

Saturday 13th September 2008

I had been to nearby Staveley Miners Welfare to see Scarborough Athletic in action. Because my train home wasn't until 7pm I walked up to Saltergate for a last look. The gates were all locked but I had a walk around bringing back some pleasant old memories.

The ground hadn't hardly changed since my first visit, save for some structural improvements, the removal of the ugly yellow high fences and seats bolted onto the Pop Side.

England Under 21s 1 Norway Under 21s 0 (Monday 10th September 2012) Euro 2013 Qualifier  (Att: 9,947)

Over the previous twelve months, I’d been to Watford and then Middlesbrough to support Stuart Pearce’s England Under-21 charges in the quest for qualification for Euro 2013. My Dad had gone to The Riverside with me and had enjoyed it thoroughly, so when the venue was announced for the deciding game and I found I was on annual leave from work. 

It was a no-brainer to decide to go along. I booked a room for us at Wetherspoon’s Portland Hotel in advance near Chesterfield Market and ordered the excellently priced tickets, which were just a tenner for me and a fiver concession for Dad.

 

I travelled up by courtesy of the superb value Megabus plus, which was in reality a train from St Pancras. I booked in to the hotel and watched the Olympic and Paralympic heroes parade through the streets of London before meeting Dad and an old schoolmate Guy Watson for pre match beers in the pub below the rooms.

I was looking forward to seeing the new home of The Spireites as I had always enjoyed my visits to the pretty town, with the traditional ground leading to it being used in the excellent film The Damned United.

After our beers, the three of us caught a very cheap taxi, from a very random company, which dropped us outside the stadium. I immediately thought that it looked like a larger version of Chester’s Deva Stadium, but it was busy outside; partly because of the large superstores across the park. 

Guy went his own way to the stand on the far side, while we went inside to obtain just about as good a pie as I’ve had inside a ground. Mind you it ought to have been for £3! We took our seat near the Norwegian bench with several scouts and coaches including Stan Ternent and Nigel Pearson a few rows back.

The crowd was made up of plenty of youngsters with adults, many getting their first taste of a big game. Sadly the England Band were also there, poisoning the air with their tuneless drivel. As we were in a relatively small ground, there was simply no escape from The Great Escape.

The match was very important in terms of qualification. 

Both sides were guaranteed a play-off place, but Norway needed to win to top the group and be seeded in the draw. Anything but defeat would do for England. The hosts started out well, with Jon Jo Shelvey putting himself about with great effect. He was booked for disagreeing with being penalised for a heavy challenge, but his vim and vigour were welcome in a line-up that seemed to prefer a slow build-up and keeping the ball. 

The visitors were more pleasing on the eye by way of chasing the game. Both starting forwards had plenty of gusto. The deadlock was broken on the stroke of half-time after a defensive error let in Connor Whickham, who finished calmly. After the break, Norway continued to attack. England resorted to square and backward passes. 

A young Norwegian sub nearly set up an equaliser with a rapid run, which opened up the home defence. The shot from his teammate nearly snapped the crossbar before being cleared. We were initially unsure as to whether the ball had crossed the line. A couple of other half-chances were also spurned.

England took the sting out of the last few minutes to earn a hard-earned, and not totally deserved, victory. My Dad and I nearly fell off our seats with laughter after Danny Rose was announced as man of the match. At full-time, we headed back on foot for a couple of pints, a KFC takeaway and a fine malt night cap while trying to keep up with Andy Murray’s progress on the pub TV without live pictures or sound and just subtitles to go on. 

Overall, we’d had an excellent night out. The next morning we checked out, read about Murray’s victory and then headed for the station for our train to London for part two of three of our sporting week, which was England v Ukraine at Wembley. 

We also kept a very close eye on the cricket scores of the day in the hope that when we attended Essex v Yorkshire later in the week, our heroes could still win promotion. 

The images of the inside of Saltergate have been taken from the internet and a text book as I didn't take any photos of my own at the time.