Chester City F.C. were a football club which existed from 1885 until 2010, being formed as Chester FC before the suffix "City" added to the club's title in 1983. From 1931 until 2000, and again from 2004 until 2009 they were members of the Football League, playing in the third or fourth tiers of English football. The club persistently had one of the poorest playing records of any Football League sides, and was re-elected to the League on no fewer than seven occasions. From the early 1980s onwards, the club was plagued with financial troubles, selling their Sealand Road ground in 1990 to clear debts and spending two seasons playing at Macclesfield before returning to the city to play at the new Deva Stadium.

Following their second relegation from the Football League to the Football Conference in 2009, these troubles came to a head, and the club was wound up by HMRC in March 2010.

Non-league football (1885–1931) Formation and early years Chester Football Club were founded in August 1885 as an amalgamation of Chester Rovers and Old King's Scholars and initially played their home games at Faulkner Street in the Hoole area of Chester. Chester's first recorded game was a friendly defeat against Earlestown on 12 September 1885, with their first home match a 3–0 defeat to Northwich Victoria. In 1886, Arthur Turner became Chester's first professional player when the club bought him out of the Army for £25.

Prior to 1888, there were no football leagues in England, and Chester's matches consisted of friendlies, the Cheshire Senior Cup, which they reached the final of for the first time in 1887/88 (losing 9–0 to Crewe Alexandra), and the Welsh Cup. In 1886/87, Chester entered the FA Cup for the first time, but was disqualified after the second round victory against Goldenhill due to fielding an ineligible player. In 1889/90 Chester reached the last 32 of the competition where the club was eliminated by Lincoln City.

In 1890/91 Chester joined the Combination League, and put in a strong performance in their first season, finishing third, while reaching the last 16 of the FA Cup, where they were eliminated by the eventual winners Blackburn Rovers. The next few years saw Chester as a mid-table Combination side, although by now success in the FA Cup proved more elusive, with five first qualifying round exits in six years. At the end of the 1897–98 season Chester were forced to leave Faulkner Street due to buildings encroaching on the ground, and moved to land which had previously been used for the Royal Agricultural Show in 1893.

Unfortunately, the stand at the Old Showground ground blew down three times in a matter of months, and the club did not have any security of tenure, leaving Chester looking for a new ground for the 1899–1900 season. The search proved fruitless, and the club disbanded for the next two seasons.

For 1901–02, however, Chester secured a ground at Whipcord Lane, and returned to the Combination. However, this ground was also to prove problematic: in the first round of the FA Cup, Chester were ejected after beating Birkenhead 5–4 in a replay, due to the pitch being too short to meet FA Cup requirements. Chester did not play again in the FA Cup until the 1905/6 season.

In the Combination, after finishing bottom on their first season back, Chester improved considerably, and managed the feat of being runner-up for five seasons in succession between 1903–04 and 1907–08 to four different teams. At the same time, in December of the 1906–07 season Chester moved to a new stadium on Sealand Road, which had considerably more space than Whipcord Lane, and on Good Friday 1907 Chester set a new attendance record of 6,670. Also in 1907–08, Chester won the Welsh Cup for the first time, beating Connah's Quay 3–1.

In 1908/9 Chester finally made the breakthrough of winning the Combination, losing only two games out of 30 in the season, and finishing eight points ahead of second placed Saltney. They also returned to the Welsh Cup final, although on this occasion they lost the final 1–0 to Wrexham. The 1909–10 season was less successful in league competition, with Chester finishing third, although they once again returned to the Welsh Cup final, where there were again beaten by Wrexham, this time 2–1.

For a number of years, Chester had been applying unsuccessfully to move to a league which offered a stronger standard of football, but in the summer of 1910, they were finally successful, and switched to the second division of the Lancashire Combination, with the reserve side remaining in the Combination. The switch proved a beneficial one, as Chester were promoted in their first season after finishing third.

The next three seasons saw Chester as a mid-table side within the first division of the Lancashire Combination, with the club reaching the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup in both 1911–12 and 1912–13. However, following the outbreak of World War 1 attendances dropped considerably, and although the Lancashire Combination played out the season, Chester withdrew from the league in March, and their record was expunged.

The Cheshire County League

After World War I, they became founder members of the Cheshire County League, which was substantially founded from clubs which had been part of the Lancashire Combination, including Witton Albion, Macclesfield, Northwich and Altrincham, providing Chester with more local derbies than previously. Over the next decade, Chester were consistently one of the strongest sides in the league, finishing as champions in 1921–22, 1925–26, and 1926–27. However, attendances were poor and the club's financial position was precarious, meaning that the Directors took the decision to seek election to the Football League.

Chester's first attempt to seek election was in 1928, when Chester failed to be elected, finishing bottom of the election voting with only two votes. In 1929, Chester gain failed to obtain election, and on this occasion failed to receive even a single vote. The decision was made to focus attention solely on obtaining election to the League, and in order to help with this Charlie Hewitt was appointed manager in 1930, bringing with him a strong record as manager of Connah's Quay including Welsh Cup and Welsh National League titles. The appointment, and the players whom Hewitt brought in, was an immediate success, with 170 goals scored in 42 league fixtures, with forward Arthur Gale netting 102 times in all competitions.

In advance of the election for Football League membership, the Directors personally visited all First and Second Division clubs to canvass support. In the event, in the first round of voting Chester were tied, on 27 votes each, with Nelson, therefore requiring a second vote to break the tie. Chester received 28 votes to Nelson's 20 votes in this second round, and became members of the Football League.

The Football League (1931–2000)

Into the league

After a summer of excitement, Chester played their first Football League match against Wigan Borough in Division Three North on 29 August 1931 at Sealand Road in front of a gate of 12,770. Chester won 4–0 but the result was to be declared void after Borough resigned mid-season from the league. Therefore, the first Chester Football League result to stand was a 1–1 draw at neighbours Wrexham four days later. Chester quickly adapted to the League and finished an impressive third in the table, led by Tommy Jennings scoring 30 goals in 39 league matches. The 1932/3 season was also a strong one for the club, with a series of strong attendances, highlighted by the 16,835 who saw Chester play Wrexham, and a fourth-place finish in the League. The club also performed well in the FA Cup, beating second division Fulham 5–0 in the third round, with Foster Hedley netting four times, before bowing out 3–2 at Halifax in a fourth round replay. And in the Welsh Cup Chester triumphed for the second time, beating rivals Wrexham 2–0 at Sealand Road.

The 1933–34 season was the first since entering the League where Chester did not challenge for promotion, slipping to tenth in the table; indeed, the team needed to win eight of their last ten fixtures to finish that high, having been fifth from bottom after the 9–0 defeat at Barrow on 10 February. The turnaround was sparked by the club making three signings on 15 March, of Arthur Wilson, Charlie Sargeant and John Wallbanks, a striker who scored 12 goals in the last ten matches. Led by the goals of Wallbanks, Chester's good form continued into the 1934–35 season, and the club lay top of the table at the start of April. However, following the transfer of Wallbanks to Bradford PA, one win in the last six matches was not enough to maintain the lead, and Chester finished the season in third place, missing out on promotion.

1935–36 saw Chester's highest ever league position, as the club finished second in Division 3 North behind Chesterfield, although this was at the time not sufficient for promotion. The team scored 100 times over the league campaign, including an astonishing 12–0 home victory over York City at the start of February. In cup competitions, the team also performed strongly, reaching the Welsh Cup final before going down 2–0 to Crewe Alexandra, and winning the Division 3 North Cup. The Blues' consistent run of strong league positions continued in 1936–37 with a third-place finish, with the team also retaining the Division 3 North Cup.

By their high recent standards, the 1937–38 season was something of a disappointment for Chester. They regressed in the League to ninth place, despite registering heavy wins of 7–2 against Port Vale and 6–0 against Hartlepool United during the season. Cup competitions also represented a relative failure, with their sole FA Cup tie being a third round exit against Leeds United, and an early exit to Shrewsbury Town in the Welsh Cup. 1938–39 saw something of a resurgence, however, with the club ending the season in sixth place, and a long FA Cup run culminating in a fourth round exit to Sheffield Wednesday after two replays.

Chester started the 1939–40 season strongly, winning two and drawing one of the three matches played before the outbreak of World War 2. Following the commencement of hostilities, the regular league programme was cancelled, and replaced by wartime football.

The War Years

During the war time Chester continued to play in a regionalised war league, which mixed teams from a variety of levels- Chester played in the same division as teams ranging from New Brighton to Liverpool. With many men away on active service, attendances dipped sharply, with the 1940–41 season seeing Chester draw only 300 for the home game against Burnley. The leagues also featured an irregular number of games, with Chester playing Wrexham four times in 1940–41, and no fewer than six times in 1942–43. In the main, Chester's results in the war league were inauspicious, with the club's best season being 1944–45 when it was 19th out of 54 teams in the (first) League North.

Post-war decline

Chester started the 1946–47 season with a very different squad to that which had been so successful before the war. The season brought a third-place finish and another Welsh Cup triumph, but grim times lay ahead. No top half placings would be achieved until the lower divisions were merged in 1958, when Chester were placed in Division Four. They would still have to wait another six years until they finished above halfway in a league table.

Moving up