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30
May 2008
SEASON TICKET EXTENSION
The club have announced that
the early bird season ticket offer which expires
on 31 May has been extended and supporters can now
purchase tickets between 10:00-16:00hrs on Monday
2 June. This is because the Deva Stadium ticket
office is not open at the weekend.
• Season
Ticket and Matchday prices 2008/09
26 May 2008
TAYLOR SET TO SIGN Vauxhall
Motors striker Paul Taylor looks set to join Chester
this week after the two clubs finally agreed a fee
for the 22-year-old player. The Blues have twice
had offers declined for the promising forward but
talks have been ongoing for several days and it
looks like a deal has finally been agreed.
A Vauxhall statement read: “Paul Taylor is
to have talks with Chester City this week, subject
to a medical, with a view to a transfer between
the two clubs for an undisclosed fee.”
22 May 2008
ON THE BORDERLINE UPDATE PAGES
|
On The Borderline
update pages for the 2007/08 first and reserve
teams can now be downloaded from the history
section of the site. •
On
The Borderline update pages |
20 May 2008
DAVIES APPOINTS ASSISTANT Manager
Simon Davies has made his first signing of the season
as 32-year-old Hugh Griffiths joins him as assistant
manager. Griffiths was previously working as assistant
to Peter Davenport at Southport, leaving just before
the end of last season.
Davies said: “Hugh has an impressive coaching
pedigree. Not only does he hold virtually all the
available coaching qualifications, but he also has
a Sports Science degree and has some progressive
coaching ideas. Hugh will fit in well to what we
are trying to create at the Deva Stadium, and he
could well prove to be one of our best signings
of the summer.”
“We both played at Bangor City and we both
started doing work on our coaching badges at Wrexham.
I always tried to keep in touch with Hugh and he
was doing well while he was at Southport with Peter
Davenport. We are both continuing to attend a two-year
pro licence coaching course with the FA from July.”
Griffiths is looking forward to his new role, he
said: “It’s a great challenge. Chester
managed to avoid the drop and we’ve got a
new challenge to go at this season. Simon’s
a very ambitious person and I am as well. We’re
both new age coaches and we’ve got contacts
with big clubs.”
Chester have also promoted reserve coach Billy Gerard
who will now take on a similar role with the first
team squad, and have appointed Julian Owen as their
Fitness and Conditioning coach.
L-R Billy Gerard,
Simon Davies, Huw Griffiths and Julian Owen | Picture
© Evening Leader
19 May 2008
OFFER REJECTED BY MOTORMEN City
have had their offer for Vauxhall Motors striker
Paul Taylor rejected. Manager Simon Davies is now
expected to look elsewhere for a striker to partner
John Murphy for next season.
A Vauxhall statement read: “We have been unable
to agree a transfer deal with Chester City for the
services of Paul Taylor. Chester tabled an offer
last midweek for a total of £30k, and based
on first-team appearances. While this fell some
way short of our expectations, we did attempt to
broker a deal on a basis of a larger up-front fee
on the player’s signature to no avail.”
16 May 2008
CITY TARGET STRIKER The
Blues are reported to have tabled a £30,000
bid for Vauxhall Motors 22-year-old striker Paul
Taylor. This is the second time City have bid for
the player after the Blues had a £50,000 offer
rejected in the January transfer window. Taylor
scored 18 goals for the Motormen who were relegated
from the Conference North last season.
The offer was made by owner Steve Vaughan who said:
“A proven goalscorer has always been at the
top of our shopping list. We’ve submitted
the bid for Paul Taylor, but we have other options,
such as Bangor City striker Ashley Stott. A new
striker is a priority, because we need someone to
complement John Murphy in attack and provide competition
for places.”
PRE-SEASON FIXTURES
Chester have confirmed the
following pre-season friendly matches.
Tu |
Jul
15 |
Southport |
(A) |
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Tu |
Jul
22 |
Carlisle United |
(H) |
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Th |
Jul 31 |
Swansea
City |
(H) |
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S |
Aug
2 |
AFC
Telford United |
(A) |
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LEAGUE TWO FIXTURES
The League Two fixtures for
2008/09 wil be published at 10:00hrs on 16 June.
15 May 2008
LINWOOD RE-SIGNS Good
news for City fans as Paul Linwood has signed a
new improved two year contract with the club and
is expected to be named captain for next season.
The news comes after a week of talks between manager
Simon Davies and the defender voted Player of the
Year by City fans.
Davies said: “We spoke together about a new
contract a few weeks ago, but Paul quite naturally
wanted to see which league we would be in before
committing himself. It was important for us to get
Paul signed up. He has been massive for us. Paul
will be our club captain next season because he
shows qualities of leadership. He’s not a
shouter on or off the pitch, but he conducts himself
and reacts to situations in the way you would expect
a club captain to.”
Linwood told the Evening Leader: “I’ve
had several talks with Simon Davies and he sold
the club to me. I’m was happy to sign the
new contract because I was impressed with Simon’s
plans and with who he hopes to bring to the club
before the new season starts. The captaincy was
definitely a big selling point and the fact that
Simon said that he wanted to build the team around
me because it’s nice to have the responsibility.”
One player who doesn’t look like he'll be
coming to City is ex-Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers
defender Carl Tremarco. The club had been linked
with him earlier in the week but have withdrawn
their interest as the player appears uncertain as
to where his future lies.
Picture ©
Evening Leader
14 May 2008
SANDWITH REJECTS NEW DEAL
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Kevin
Sandwith has rejected a new one year deal
at Chester and has been released. Manager
Simon Davies said: “I wanted Kevin to
play a part as a squad player for next season,
but unfortunately the idea didn’t suit
him and he decided to leave. It is disappointing
to lose someone like Kevin. It was a deal
that was put on the table for him but he decided
it wasn’t for him. We parted on good
terms and that’s where it was left.”
Picture ©
Evening Leader
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12 May 2008
SEASON TICKETS The
club have announced details of the Season Tickets
and matchday prices for 2008/09.
Matchday seat prices for next season have been reduced
by £1.00 to £15.00. Juniors under-16,
OAP’s and full-time students will be charged
£10.00 for admission to any area in the stadium.
Joint adult and juniors under 14 years of age, can
purchase individual combined match tickets for a
price of £15.00 in the West stand. The cost
of home terrace has risen by £1.00 to £15.00.
There are also large increases in Season Ticket
prices for juniors as well as a 25% increase in
a car park pass.
• Season
Ticket and Matchday prices 2008/09
10 May 2008
CITY RELEASE SEVEN
Manager
Simon Davies has begun rebuilding his squad for
next season by releasing seven players. Davies
held
individual meetings will all players concerned
before announcing that goalkeeper Phil
Palethorpe, defenders Simon
Marples and Sean
Hessey, midfielders Dean
Bennett, Tony
Grant, Adam Walker, and striker Simon
Yeo would not be retained.
Two further players, defender Kevin
Sandwith and striker Chris
Holroyd are considering new offers from the
club.
It’s also reported that three of City’s
promising young players Paul McManus, Shaun Kelly
and Paul Rutherford have all agreed new terms and
they will officially sign new contracts shortly.
Davies said: “This is never a nice time of
the year, when you have to tell players that they
don’t fit into your future plans. I would
like to thank all the players who have been released
for their efforts whilst they were with the club
and of course send them my best wishes for the rest
of their careers.”
9 May 2008
OWNER VAUGHAN ARRESTED It’s
reported that club owner Steve Vaughan is to appear
in the Magistrates Court at Chester today after
being arrested. He is charged with a public order
offence, using threatening, abusive or insulting
words or behaviour.
The arrest follows a day where the owner, together
with manager Simon Davies treated the rest of the
squad to a day out at Chester Races. Vaughan told
the Chester Chronicle: “I have got no comment
to make. I was at the races, the incident happened
and that’s the end of it.”
Police spokesman Rachel Newton said: “We were
called to reports of an ongoing incident on St Werburgh
Street at about 7.34pm. Originally it was a report
of an assault. A 46-year-old man from Heswall was
arrested and later charged with a public order offence.
He was bailed to appear in Chester Magistrates Court
on May 9. We cannot confirm his name.”
RESERVES SCRAPPED
The club have announced that
they will not be entering a reserve team in the
Pontins League next season. The last time they didn’t
enter a reserve league was in 2000/01. Manager Simon
Davies said: “We will be running a young squad
next season, and be playing in the FA Youth Alliance
again, but for reserve team fixtures we will meet
other clubs in friendly matches which we consider
to be a better option.”
7 May 2008
PRE-SEASON FRIENDLIES Details
are yet to be finalised but Chester City are expecting
to include home games against Swansea City and Carlisle
United in their pre-season schedule this summer,
the Blues also have fixtures against Southport and
AFC Telford United in July.
YOUNG DUO RECEIVE CONTRACTS
Two players from the youth
team, Andy Mitchell and Glenn Rule, who have turned
out for the first X1 this season have been rewarded
with full professional contracts by manager Simon
Davies so congratulations to them both.
PLAYERS OUT OF CONTRACT
The City players who are
out of contract this summer are: Phil Palethorpe,
Simon Marples, Kevin Sandwith, Dean Bennett, Sean
Hessey, Tony Grant and Simon Yeo. Whether any will
play a part in Simon Davies’ plans for next
season remain to be seen. Both Paul Butler and Tony
Dinning, who were dropped from the squad in the
final weeks of the season, are expected to move
on.
3 May 2008
ON THE FIXTURE LIST NEXT SEASON... Relegated
from League One today were Port Vale, Luton Town
Bournemouth and Gillingham. Promoted to League Two
from the Blue Square Premier are Aldershot Town
who will be joined by either Burton Albion, Cambridge
United, Exeter City or Torquay United.
BLUES DRAW ANOTHER BLANK
City
failed to score for the fourth successive match
as the disappointing season ended with a 0-0 home
draw against Macclesfield Town. City hardly troubled
the visitors all afternoon with Richie Partridge
missing the best of what chances there were on ten
minutes.
The Blues finished the season third from bottom
of a division they looked like topping in October.
The alarming slump from there cost manager Bobby
Williamson his job in early March. Since then the
Blues have won on just one occasion in 12 attempts,
picking up seven points and scoring just six goals.
On the plus side the defence kept a third successive
clean sheet, just when they needed it.
Following the game manager Simon Davies said: “We’ve
ended the season with three goalless draws, but
if you take the positives from that, we’ve
had three clean sheets, which has been enough to
see us stay up.”
“It was a lethargic display against Macclesfield
Town, but the lads gave everything on Tuesday night
and I think that all the frustration was finally
released, which made for a lacklustre display. It
has been a tough three months for me since I’ve
been in charge. We will all have a break, but I
can’t wait for next season to start.”
Davies’ first important task now will be to
name an assistant manager and to appoint a new youth
team manager, the position he vacated. His main
priority for the squad will no doubt be a striker
and though he has a few players in mind no names
have (rightly) been mentioned.
The players will take a few weeks off now before
they report back for full time training on 1 July.
Davies plans to bring the players in for a couple
of days a week prior to that date though.
Davies said: “We’ll be back a bit earlier
for pre-season. I’ve told the lads and I don’t
know if they’re too pleased with that one,
but we’ll be back slightly earlier this time
to make sure we’re in good condition for next
year. You can get pre-seasons when in the first
two weeks they’re in, they’re getting
rid of the rubbish from the summer. Instead of wasting
time getting rid of this extra body fat, we’ll
be doing that before they come back.”
•
Final
League Two table
Picture ©
Evening Leader
PLAYER OF THE SEASON
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Congratulations
to Paul Linwood who picked up the Player of
the Season award prior to today’s game
with Macclesfield.
• Previous
winners
Picture
© Evening Leader
|
2 May 2008
HOLROYD SET FOR FINAL RETURN? Chris
Holroyd (left) could return to the City side tomorrow
as the Blues wrap up a roller coaster season with
a home game against Macclesfield Town, kick-off
15:00hrs. Holroyd has had a lengthy lay-off with
a hamstring injury but could feature tomorrow as
Kevin Ellison remains sidelined with a thigh injury
that kept him out of Tuesday night’s clash
with Stockport County.
City manager Simon Davies has also hinted that young
Kevin Roberts may be rested for the game. Roberts,
a product of the Deva youth system, has had a tremendous
first season in the senior side having scored three
goals in 30+8 appearances. Manager Davies said:
“We’ll be putting our strongest team
out to win the game. The only one I would toy with
leaving out is maybe Kevin Roberts. He looks dead
on his feet right now. I’ll be having a chat
with Kevin.”
Macclesfield are expected to name a youthful starting
X1 as manager Keith Alexander uses the occasion
to look at several of his squad that he has yet
to see play.
With the pressure off for tomorrow’s Cheshire
derby manager Davies is looking to end the season
on a high. “We can relax as we’re not
looking over our shoulders about which division
we're going to be in. We’ll go and give Macclesfield
the respect they deserve. We’ll go and approach
the game properly and we’ll go to get three
points on Saturday. We’re going into this
game now with a different sort of pressure and we’ll
go to win the game. We’ll just relax and play
our football and maybe not be as tense.”
The Blues are looking to complete the double having
beaten
the Silkmen 2-1 at Moss Rose back in September
with goals from John Murphy and Laurence Wilson.
Picture ©
Evening Leader
NEW SPONSORSHIP DEAL ANNOUNCED
The
club have announced that Cestrian Trading are to
be the new shirt and stadium sponsors from next
season. The shirt deal is for two years while the
stadium will be renamed the Cestrian Stadium in
a five year deal once the paperwork has been finalised.
Cestrian Trading are another of owner Steve Vaughan’s
companies and describe themselves as an international
trading company, importing/exporting throughout
Europe and the Middle East and specialising in the
trade of mobile communication products and CPUs.
Vaughan said: “Everything is close to being
signed and these are exciting deals for the club.
The deals will be worth about half a million pounds
to the club over the period of a few years.”
The announcement comes a couple of days after UK
Sameday announced that they would no longer be sponsoring
the club after three years of unquestionable support
to the club.
CLUB TO OPEN CITY CENTRE
SHOP
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The club
have announced that they have received planning
permission to open a shop in the city centre.
The location is the bottom of Watergate Street
in the former post office premises. The club
have had a shop in the centre of town before
many years ago in Grosvenor Road. City fans
will be hoping that the new venture will be
up and running in time for the new season.
The shop will be run in conjunction with a
company called Gazelle
Sports.
Managing Director Bob Gray told the Evening
Leader (on 12 May): “There is a lot
of refurbishment that needs doing. It’s
going to take time.” Asked about when
the development could start, Mr Gray said:
“It’s unsure. It depends on finances
because we haven’t got a lot of money
kicking around. We have to find money to fund
it through season ticket sales and other money
and if the owner can give us more money.”
Picture ©
Evening Leader
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