MARK HARROD TEAM OF THE YEAR
FOR every football fan, they say losing your beloved club is the worst thing imaginable. Maybe supporters of Chester FC could be about to argue otherwise!
It’s an all-too familiar tale: a club goes pop after years of mismanagement – and guess who’s left to pick up the pieces?
Maybe the fans that dragged the club back up from its knees should write a book. A best-seller may await as the story of Chester’s relentless rise back from whence they came has gone perfectly to plan.
They’d only just got the scent of Champagne out of the players’ shirts, but another trip to the dry cleaners wasn’t far away. Another year, another sore head. But you’d be hard pushed to find anyone there moaning about yet another promotion party.
City were no more in March 2010, the once-proud Blue Square Premier club wound-up with suffocating debts. Three years and three emphatic title wins later, they’re back at the scene of their worst ever hour – and they were clear winners of this National Game Award, in association with Budweiser Club Futures.
The Non-League Paper’s readers have spoken, overwhelmingly backing Neil Young’s men to take the Mark Harrod Team of the Year gong back to Cheshire.
“It’s a wonderful honour – but needless to say this is the Club of the Year award so it’s for everyone at Chester,” the manager said.
“When the club were forced to restart three years ago, you wouldn’t have believed the fans would see three promotions back-to-back, let alone titles.
“To get back to where it all went wrong in such a short period of time is of great credit to how the club is run. It’s all done properly now – and Chester is better off for it.”
The Exacta Stadium trophy cabinet will need extending at this rate. They have just added the Blue Square Bet North title to last year’s Evo-Stik NPL Premier success.
That all came some twelve months after reborn Chester FC got off to the perfect start by taking the Evo-Stik NPL North championship at the first time of asking.
With a hat-trick of titles in the bag, perhaps being forced to start again in Step 4 was a blessing in disguise?
Managing to rack up 107 points on the way to title number three, Young’s guns ended the campaign 16 points clear of their nearest rival Guiseley.
To top it all off, bitter rivals Wrexham stumbled in the promotion play-off final – meaning they and Chester will cross swords next season once again.
The Dragons, as well as the rest of the Conference Premier, have been given fair warning.
