THE INDEPENDENTS January 2003

In this issue... Life’s a beetch sometimes...Or is it? | The Tranmere saga | Watching real football | Survival of the Fattest | ISA Annual Report | Supporters memories | View from the CCFC Commercial Department | Coming in from the cold | Supporting the Community | Supporters Trust | Exiles news | From the Committee | Senior Citizen’s day

Thoughts from the Chair
“Life's a beetch sometimes…Or is it?”
Since the last edition of “The Independents”, there have been a number of significant changes at the club, both on and off the pitch. Steve Vaughan's backroom staff have been bolstered by the appointment of Ian Knox as Commercial Manager assisted by Lesley Armstrong; Emmie Vaughan as Retail Manager; and ex City secretary Tony Allen picking up not quite where he left off around ten years ago. In addition, exec member and owner of Blues Brothers (ex Joe's Wine Bar), Ken Baker, has taken over the responsibility for the club bars. Along with Darren Liversage and Dave Burford as Chief Exec and General Manager respectively, this sees a revamping to match that of Mark Wright on the pitch during the summer. Daryl Clare (aka "what a waste of money") and Jon Brady have been added to a squad now ravaged by injury, suspension and a couple of departures.

After Graham's opening remarks, Steve explained that any plans he had towards Tranmere Rovers were purely a property deal, part of Vaughan Promotions business portfolio. He was clearly annoyed that his plans had been made public. The business plan was described explaining the situation (which was later circulated in document form and re-explained).

This included obtaining planning permission for the development of Ingleborough Road and Prenton Park sites, and their subsequent sale, provided agreements could be reached with Wirral Borough Council and the Football Trust. Johnson would be paid off. Existing Rovers shares would be sold on (to the Trust and other parties), and targeted £7M profits divided between Vaughan Promotions and TRFC. Rovers' profits would be used for a new stadium development and the youth academy. Lorraine Rogers would appoint a successor and other existing posts would be retained. TRFC would remain at Prenton until full approval of the scheme. As a contingency, Rovers would play home games at the Deva (e.g. like Chester at Macclesfield).

The document concluded with the following statement. "Vaughan Promotions being profitable is to the benefit of Chester City Football Club, as Vaughan Promotions has been to date, and will continue to be, the main backers of Chester City FC."

The meeting then took the form of a question and answer session with Steve Vaughan first being asked about his commitment to Chester City. He detailed his total commitment, with a financial input of around £1.5M. He explained that the article in the Observer (which ran the story) followed from a conversation with a Non League Paper reporter where two clubs under one roof had been mentioned. He told the meeting that this (i.e. ground sharing) would be simply a temporary measure if required during relocation of Tranmere. He had had several meetings with Lorraine Rogers but considered the deal was now probably "dead in the water" as a result of having to reveal his plans when there were other potential bidders.

The Football League would only be involved if the deal were accepted. (NB. An individual can own another club's ground provided he is not involved with the Football Club, e.g. Ron Noades).
Vaughan Promotions continue to have discussions with Chester City Council regarding the Deva Stadium and freehold acquisition. This is an ongoing situation.

Ken Baker (who has taken over running the Club bars) asked the supporters to look around at the refurbishment, and the progress on the pitch. This wasn't the action of someone preparing to leave.
Steve briefly explained why he left Barrow, after he had been accused and investigated over money laundering. He was the major creditor of Barrow having invested around £500,000.
Steve reiterated that we would not be playing at Tranmere. The offer for TRFC was full and final.The leak was unprecedented. It was a business deal and not a football deal. There are many deals done by Vaughan Promotions and its subsidiaries that do not come into the public arena.

General
It was stated that the club has no Switch facilities because of the poor credit rating inherited from the previous ownership. Plans for a second exit point from the car park, fencing and new gates were outlined. An official website will be investigated (order of precedence). Sponsorship has now been obtained for all matchballs, and nearly every game, after there had been little in place at the start of the season. A bus service to the Deva will be examined, as will match advertising.

Admission is £5-6: no problem parking or getting away after the game: no segregation, you stand or sit wherever you want, and you don’t have to worry about who wins (Boring! Ed). Most have good Social Clubs (better than us sometimes) with cheap beer. Many also have superior programmes in terms of content and value for money and others have Club Shops which put Chester to shame. Club officials are helpful, doing it for nowt. OK, groundhopping isn’t for everyone, but as someone who has now been to 40 of the 45 Unibond Clubs, I can assure you that it is fascinating and that it really does restore your faith in our National Game. You also see a lot of ex-Chester City players on your travels.

Martin Williams (Martin suffers from S.A.D (type F), i.e. Football Season Affective Disorder, Ed)

The Manchester United chief executive has taken a shedload of flak for his comments on 5 Live. Rightly so. He may be head of the richest club in the land but that gives him no right to recommend the annihilation of 52 of his fellow travellers.

We happen to live in a market economy, a situation that Manchester United have exploited better than most. That gives anyone the right to set up in business and take on the Establishment. Why shouldn’t football’s Establishment be immune from the same hazards of competition? If Kenyon had his way Wigan Athletic would not be flying high at the top of the Second Division because Dave Whelan would have no incentive to bankroll them. Everton would not have been eliminated from the FA Cup because Shrewsbury would be – at best – part-timers in some regionalised Lower English Division (West). And any hopes we at Chester have of rejoining the Nationwide League would be as realistic as Jeffrey Archer’s hopes of regaining the chairmanship of the Tory party.

We would not even have a scoreline like ‘Chester 1 Liverpool 0’ from pre-season. The Liverpool Echo reported it under the headlines ‘Deva-stated’ and ‘Reds stars are humbled by Chester’ – cuttings which immediately found their way into my scrapbook but, I am told on top authority, enraged the plutocrats at Anfield so much that they actually complained to the Echo. Perhaps they should have addressed their complaints to their team on the night.

This is where groups like the ISA have a part to play. When the Peter Kenyons of this world spout forth, who stands up for the game’s smaller brethren? The FA? Not a chance. It is only the fans and the media who speak out. It is mainly in times of trouble that an ISA prospers. When everything in the garden is rosy, it’s easy for fans to forget about the politics of the game and simply enjoy turning up on a Saturday. Let’s face it, that’s how it ought to be. At the moment, we at Chester are enjoying a great season but that’s no reason to take our eye off the ball. Threats to the well-being of smaller clubs still abound, from the fall-out from the ITV Digital collapse to the monopolistic tendencies of Peter Kenyon. We must watch our backs with as much care as ever, be prepared to fight for other small clubs in distress, and never allow lofty diktats from the well-heeled to go unchallenged.

Committee Members serving in the period June 2001/02
George Rogers Chairman
Martin Williams Treasurer
Les Smith Sec/Press Officer
Sarah Evans Distribution Officer
Mike Clifford Social sec (in part)
Vi Jennerway
Angie Ingram (in part)
Mike Ashcroft (in part)
Duane Ashcroft (in part)
Alan Case (in part)

A season of discontent was followed by a summer of protest in which all the supporters groups took part. Once again, the actions of one man, Terry Smith, had angered the majority of supporters and playing staff alike. This culminated in a peaceful daily protest at the bottom of Bumpers Lane, adjacent to the stadium entrance. The closure of Sealand Road meant for a larger flow of traffic than had been anticipated, many of who sounded their horns in support. The gazebo which acted as both sunshade and rain shelter became a regular feature for the hardy souls who maintained the protest. George campaigned as a FANS (for a new start) candidate at the General Election, ably supported by Alan Case as his agent.

The events of the summer and the first few weeks of the season were reported in the Oct 2001 Newsletter and for the sake of brevity are not repeated here. In summary, gates fell to around 600 and despite indications to the contrary Terry Smith and his father failed to relinquish their ownership of the club to seriously interested parties, some of whose names were not in the public domain. There was also a lack of Club co-operation with the Supporters Trust. It should be made clear that whilst the ISA had maintained a hard line stance against Smith, no further protests were organised other than the presence outside the stadium, which was left to individual consciences. For example, the vociferous protests at away fixtures were neither ISA inspired nor orchestrated, most of the committee having chosen to absent themselves from all fixtures by this time. George was out-talked by Gordon Hill in a national radio "phone in". The club message was reinforced by secretary Michael Beech who backed Smith and believed fans should just support the team and not get involved in any other aspects of the club. Pauline Meakins (Exiles) and Barry Hipkiss (Officials) managed to get on air and showed the solidarity of the fans.

The take-over by Stephen Vaughan was both sudden and unexpected in that the stated intention in meeting Smith was to purchase Wayne Brown for Droylsden. He evidently made Smith an offer he couldn't refuse. Reports of Mr Vaughan's tenure at Barrow and the headlines that announced his ownership of Chester hardly inspired confidence. The phrase "out of the frying pan…." sprang to mind. However, Steve quickly met with ISA Committee representatives who took the opportunity to request a number of actions be put in place. These included reinstating Official Supporters Club chairman Barrie Hipkiss to his previous role at the Club, restoring the kit to blue & white stripes, and taking immediate steps to repair the damage being done to the playing side. Within days, most of the requests had been put into action and were detailed at an open ISA meeting by Steve Vaughan himself. These also included recommendations re part-season tickets, OAP and children's admission prices , reinstatement of stewards, and improvement in the attitude of a number of staff. The appointment of Steve Mungall (in place of Gordon Hill) as caretaker manager brought immediate results in the shape of three wins and the return of fans to the Deva. The dialogue between the club and the ISA had been set up, and continued to strengthen throughout the season. Steve Vaughan showed he was willing to sort out the legacy of Smith and to meet with the fans whenever he was invited and Steve Mungall was the first manager to attend an ISA members meeting. A fans forum was held at the Deva (Nov 7) in which a new managerial team was introduced. (Now all replaced).

Committee member Alan Case resigned from the ISA on becoming a Director of the Football Club together with Michael and Sheelagh Horne who also terminated their ISA Membership. The ISA consulted the contributors to its trust fund who recommended that the monies be used to purchase shares. £10,000 was invested. The ISA agreed to sponsor the match ball vs Barnet and the league game vs Scarborough (which became the FA Trophy game vs Solihull Borough) totalling over around £1000. As usual, members' names went into the draw to be ISA guests at the matches. We also contributed to the club coffers at the rate of £20 per goal following a Club initiative. The ISA Christmas Disco/Social was poorly attended despite all the hard work put in by Mickey, George and others.
Success on the pitch was short lived and Mark Wright was brought in early in the year with our Conference status very precarious. This was further indication that Steve Vaughan meant business which he reiterated at the ISA AGM in February. Approximately 30% of the 2002 membership (total 260) returned the questionnaire concerning the use of ISA funds. Four key areas of immediate spend were identified, together with a clear directive that significant funds should be retained for future years. The areas that were most recommended for major spend were Sponsorship, Youth Development, additional (ISA) share purchase and the Supporters Trust, the latter two exhibiting a massive diversity of opinion. As significant share purchase and sponsorship for the current season (including a loan to the club shop) were already in place, recommendations in the other areas based on the returns were made to the membership at the AGM. £2500 was awarded to the Trust and £2000 towards Youth Development. Chester City Ladies were awarded £500 and Chester City ISA FC £300. Mike and Duane Ashcroft were elected onto the ISA Committee. Martin and Les offered to stand down from the committee if replacements could be found.

On the pitch, Mark Wright turned things round and we climbed out of trouble principally by tightening the defence and not giving goals away. As the season drew to a close, a top half finish was a distinct possibility, and would have been realised but for a last match defeat at Dagenham. A truly remarkable improvement.

It was decided to cancel the end of season ISA disco due to lack of ticket sales. ISA player awards were made on the pitch prior to the final home league game. Mark Beesley took the player of the season for his hard work often ploughing a lonely furrow up front, Lee Woodyatt won young player, and Michael McIllhatton and Michael Rose shared the goal of the season. Mickey Clifford stepped down from the committee to be replaced by Angie Ingram who later took over the duties of social/minutes sec. Mickey's enthusiasm and his energy, especially in arranging social events, will be greatly missed.

The end of season ISA members meeting which featured Iain Jenkins and Gary Brabin was highly entertaining but poorly attended; possibly the aftermath of a long hard season for players and supporters alike. The committee elected to have a quiet summer, for the first time in several years, though George continued with his unstinting efforts including voluntary work in the club shop. Thanks are given to all other members who helped, especially Barrie Hipkiss, though their efforts were not always recognised by some within the club at the time. Martin and Les continued to fulfil the treasurer and membership/press secretary roles respectively, in the absence of any other volunteers.

Finally, it was also pleasing to report that all proceedings against George (resulting from an attack on him at Burton Albion) were dropped and he was left in the words of George's solicitor, “still of good character”.

The televised Barnet match 18 Jan (SKY TV 6pm kick off), venue- the Alexandra pub in Wimbledon. This is about two minutes walk from the rail/tube station (turn right out of the main entrance, cross over the traffic lights and the pub is on the right). The showing is still to be confirmed but, with no other televised matches on the night, we do not see any problems. It's a good pub with decent beer and food and, despite the result, everyone enjoyed themselves for the Nuneaton game.

Next meeting: Thurs 13th Feb from 7pm at the Knights Templar pub, Chancery Lane. Nearest tubes: Chancery Lane & Temple.