Chester FC: Our City, Our Community, Our Club

Whilst the majority of football fans around the country are eagerly anticipating the climax of the Premier League season, they are oblivious to a fans-owned club winning their second league title in just their second year in existence down in the lowly seventh tier of English football.

Chester FC is a club close to my heart. I've always been a Chelsea fan but growing up in Chester I went to see my local club on an almost weekly basis. Back then they were Chester City. A small town club who attracted a few thousand fans each week to watch them struggle to stay in the football league. They were never going to be a big club but they had their moments with some great cup runs. I recall being brought to tears after a 6-0 thrashing away to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

In the late 1990s, Chester City began to really struggle. They went into administration and were later relegated out of the Football League, ending their 69 year stay. In 2001 Stephen Vaughan became Chairman of the club and after a few years grinding it out in the Conference, City were promoted back to the Football League in 2004. However, after years of financial mismanagement and irregularities at the hands of the Vaughan family, City were relegated back to the Conference and in 2009 docked 25 points for going into administration. They were £7million in debt with £5.5million owed to Stephen Vaughan.

In February 2010, Chester City were suspended from the Conference for failing to fulfil their fixtures and a month later they were wound up. It was a dark day for football fans in Chester but a day everyone saw coming. The club was run into the ground by owners who only cared for their wallets. Owners who ultimately didn't care about the club.

That's where Chester FC comes in. In the final days of Chester City, supporter's group City Fans United put in motion plans to form a new club from ashes of the former club. Chester FC would be a club owned by the fans and run by the fans. Anyone can buy a share in the club but no matter how much money you put in, you only get one share. CFU ensured the club would always be owned by the fans.

Open top bus parade in April 2012, courtesy of ChesterFC.com

In 2010, on appeal to FA, Chester FC were instated to Northern Premier League Division One North in the 8th tier of English football winning the division at the first time of asking. A solid start to their second season kept them in contention for another promotion. One defeat in their final twenty-five league games meant they ran away with the title. They will start the 2012/13 season in the Conference North and in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup.

Chester FC are a fantastic example of how fans can run the club they love. Too many clubs are in danger of administration and liquidation. Rangers have shown that even being Champions of your nation on a regular basis might not be enough to keep the club afloat. Chester FC will never be in trouble of administration again because the fans won't let it be. They love the club and its survival is far more important than overspending for short-term glory.

Chester FC have shown how a football club should be run. Let's hope the world takes notice.

Another cheating footballer but should we care?

This week we have seen national newspapers revealing secrets about a footballer's private life once again. It seems that this sort of thing is happening on a monthly basis. So far this year we have already endured days of front page articles about John Terry's bedroom misadventures and the seemingly endless Ashley and Cheryl Cole affair. However, this week Chelsea players took a back seat in the game of 'who can be the worst role model' when it was revealed Wayne Rooney had an affair with a prostitute while his wife was pregnant.

Now I have never been a fan of the red-top papers and I've never understood this country's fascination with rumours and gossip regarding celebrities. I will not bash these papers in any way though. What other people want to read is up to them. What I don't like is how these newspapers time the release of these articles. Right from the first day of the World Cup earlier this summer, the press have been proclaiming just what a disgrace the England team is and calling for Capello to be axed. Now we have our first international break of the season. This is supposed to be the start of a new England. We stroll to victory over an admittedly weak Bulgaria team and just as the side prepare to travel away to what should be our toughest game during the campaign, The News of the World decide to let everyone know about Wayne's domestic mishap. This lead to people questioning whether Rooney should be in the squad or even travel to Switzerland.

Now can somebody tell me why The News of the World would release this story at this time? It seems they want to unsettle the England team. Distract Rooney from the game. It's as if they want England to fail, giving them more ammunition to fire towards Capello.

As it turned out, Capello did take Rooney to Switzerland. He played well. He put all the tabloid stories behind him and scored England's first goal in an impressive 3-1 victory. He will now return to the country to face a barrage of questions and allegations. As a Chelsea fan I hope this does in fact distract him from his game. However, from an England perspective I worry about what stories the press have lined up for England's next games. Why do they not brush these stories under the carpet until we reach a lull in the international calander? The answer? It's because despite how much they claim to be behind the team in the build up to a major tournament. Despite their claims that this is a new era in English football, a new generation for us all to get behind. At the end of the day, they are out to make money. If this means disrupting the national side, knocking them off their stride as they go for glory, they won't care. As long as they get paid, it won't matter how many years we go without winning a competition.

What I want all of us to do next time an England game rolls around is ignore the papers. Ignore the press. Ignore all those who aren't saying this is going to be another great win for England. Let's just focus on the game.