Chester City F.C.

This article is about the original club from Chester that existed until 2010. For the re-formed club, see Chester F.C.

Chester City
Full nameChester City Football Club
Nickname(s)The Seals
The Blues
Founded1885; 139 years ago (1885) (as Chester F.C.)
Dissolved10 March 2010
GroundDeva Stadium, Chester, England
Capacity6,500 (5,500 seated)

Chester City Football Club was an association football team from Chester, England, that played in a variety of leagues between 1885 and 2010. The club played its home games at Sealand Road from 1906 to 1991 and moved to the Deva Stadium in 1992 after playing two seasons of home games at Macclesfield Town's Moss Rose. Chester held cross-border derby matches with Welsh club Wrexham.

The club was founded in August 1885 and entered The Combination five years later. They won the Combination title in 1908–09 and were admitted into the Lancashire Combination in 1910, gaining promotion out of Division Two in 1910–11. They entered the Cheshire County League in 1919 and were crowned champions three times: 1921–22, 1925–26 and 1926–27. Chester were elected into the Football League in 1931 and remained in the Third Division North until they were placed in the Fourth Division in 1958. Promoted in 1974–75, they were relegated in 1982 and were renamed Chester City the following year. City were promoted out of the Fourth Division in 1985–86 and regained their third tier status in 1993–94 after being relegated the previous season.

Chester City were relegated out of the Football League in 2000, but managed to regain their Football League status after winning the Conference title in 2003–04. Relegated back into non-League football in 2009, Chester City was placed into administration. HM Revenue & Customs served a demand a £ 29,000 Winding-up order on the club in January 2010.[1] The Conference National subsequently suspended Chester – which had been put up for sale – for breaching its financial rules and for cancelling matches. A month after the winding-up order was served the club was expelled from the league, with all its results for that season expunged and future fixtures cancelled.[2][3][4] In March 2010, Chester was formally wound up after unsuccessfully trying to join the Welsh Premier League.[5][6] With the official winding-up of Chester City, supporters immediately began organising the formation of a new phoenix club.[7] The resulting new club, Chester F.C., was officially established in May 2010.

  1. ^ "FA Statement: Chester City/Football Conference". TheFA.com. 13 August 2009.
  2. ^ "Chester handed 42-day adjournment". BBC News. 27 January 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  3. ^ Oxford United left without a game as Chester are expelled from Conference Herald Series 26 February 2010
  4. ^ "Chester City results erased from Blue Square Premier". BBC. 8 March 2010. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
  5. ^ "Chester City seek Welsh Premier spot". BBC Sport. 9 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  6. ^ "Chester City wound up in High Court". BBC Sport. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
  7. ^ "Chester City FC: Blues supporters name new City Fans United club 'Chester FC'". Chester Chronicle. 25 March 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2023.