Category Archives: Obituary

Bryn Jones (1939-2025)

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Former Chester full-back Bryn Jones, who made 30 Football League appearances for the club between 1964 and 1967, sadly passed away in January at the age of 85. Bryn will be remembered for an incident on New Year’s Day 1966 when he and fellow full back Ray Jones ended up in Chester Royal Infirmary together after both suffered a broken leg in the league match against Aldershot at Sealand Road.

Born in Bagillt Bryn started his career with local club Holywell Town, becoming a Welsh amateur international in 1961. At the start of the 1962/63 season Bryn signed for Bangor City but his stay proved brief and he returned to Holywell after only a few months. In January 1963 he was offered the opportunity to turn professional with third Division Watford but only made two Football League appearances for the Hornets before being released in summer 1964.

Peter Hauser brought Bryn to the Stadium in August 1964 and was quickly given his debut at right back against Bradford City as a replacement for the experienced Johnny Molyneux. His stint in the first team proved short-lived and following the next game against Torquay he was replaced by Ray Jones and spent the remainder of the season in the Cheshire County League team.

In September 1965 Bryn returned to the first team at left back establishing an effective partnership alongside Ray Jones before the New Year’s Day tragedy when both players broke a leg. With neither player adequately replaced the strong promotion challenge faded and it was December 1966 before Bryn was able to return to first team action. Unfortunately a further leg injury against Lincoln in February proved to be his final first team match and Bryn was amongst eight players given free transfers at the end of the campaign when he signed for New Brighton.

George Davies (1927-2025)

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George Davies, who played 35 league games for Chester between 1956 and 1957, has sadly passed away at the grand age of 97. Playing as a wing back at Sealand Road he made 35 league appearances between 1956 and 1957 and, gifted with a powerful shot, was the club’s regular penalty taker with three of his four league goals coming from the spot. After leaving the game he was a familiar figure in Hoole where he worked as a window cleaner.

Born in Rednall in 1927 George started his career in local football with village team Llanymynech then joined Oswestry Town where he spent the next four years becoming a regular during the 1949/50 season. In June 1950 he secured a move to Sheffield Wednesday and over the next six years made almost a century of Football League appearances for the Yorkshire club. During his time at Wednesday he featured in the team that lost 2-0 in the 1954 FA Cup semi-final against Preston North End at Maine Road, Manchester in front of 75,000 supporters.

In July 1956 George became one of John Harris’ first signings for Chester for what was described as a considerable fee. He made his debut in the first game of the season, a 2-2 draw at Wrexham, and went on to make 33 league appearances during the 1956/57campaign. The following season he appeared in the first two games but was then relegated to the reserves in favour of Aled Williams following a 3-2 victory over Crewe. After a short spell in the Cheshire County League team George joined Wellington Town in the Southern League for a small fee in November 1957. His stay at Wellington lasted one season at which point George left the game.

Interviewed about his career in 1995 George said that on the whole he preferred the game when he was an amateur at Oswestry. When he became professional he felt that some of the fun and enjoyment was lost from the game as money became a more important factor. His preferred position was left half and most of his games at Sealand Road were in this position. He recalled that his most memorable game at Chester was a Welsh Cup 6th Round game at Cardiff City who were then in the First Division. It was a major shock when Chester won 2-0 at Ninian Park with George scoring the first goal, blasting home from 25 yards.

He admitted that he was a bit of a dirty player and would have been sent off a few times in the current climate. Because he was a heavy set individual he had a tendency to use his shoulder a lot and he found that referees often needed to have a quiet word with him although, despite this reputation, he was never booked or sent off throughout his career.

Gary Simpson (1959-2023)

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Former centre forward Gary Simpson has passed away at the age of 64. Gary joined Chester in summer 1981 and made 63 Football League appearances over the following two seasons scoring 18 goals. 

Born in Chesterfield, Gary joined his local club as a schoolboy and after signing professional in 1977 made his Football League debut for the Spireites, at Plymouth Argyle, in November of the same year. Over the next four seasons he made 43 appearances for the Saltergate club without truly establishing himself as a first team regular. In 1981 Alan Oakes brought Gary to Sealand Road for £6,000 in an attempt to invigorate a team that had struggled to find goals since the departure of Ian Edwards and Ian Rush.

Gary was unfortunate to sign for the club as financial problems began to bite and with a small squad Chester were out of their depth in Division 3 finishing bottom of the table winning just six games and managing only 36 goals. Gary himself finished leading scorer with 12 of these goals including two at his former club Chesterfield in an unexpected 5-3 win. 

The signing of John Thomas, following relegation to Division 4, saw some of the goalscoring pressure taken off Gary and he added another six goals as the club stabilised in mid-table. Nevertheless the financial situation was worsening and at the end of the 1982/83 season Gary was one of eight players released by the club as manager John Sainty was tasked with halving the wage bill. 

After leaving Sealand Road Gary joined a host of former Chester players at Oswestry Town and also played for Bangor City and Connah’s Quay Nomads. 

Alan Oakes welcomes Gary to Sealand Road

John Sainty (1946 – 2023)

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John Sainty, who has sadly passed away at the age of 77, served Chester as manager for 12 months between November 1982 and November 1983. When John was appointed he was faced with the unenviable task of managing a club at one of its lowest ebbs as severe financial constraints affected many decisions. In many weeks he had to rely heavily on non-contract players in order to field a team but he did mastermind two notable victories. In the Milk Cup, in 1983/84, the Seals overcame a 3-0 first round first leg deficit against Bolton Wanderers with an impressive 3-0 triumph at Sealand Road to go through on penalties and this was followed, in the second round, by a first leg 1-0 win over second tier Leeds United at Elland Road with a goal from Andy Elliott. 

John started his footballing career as an apprentice at Tottenham Hotspur before going on to play in the Football League with Reading, Bournemouth, Mansfield and Aldershot. After serving on the coaching staff at Norwich he moved with John Bond to become assistant at Manchester City and Burnley before replacing Cliff Sear at Sealand Road. Initially appointed as ‘caretaker coach’ for a six week period this role was extended until Easter when he was finally confirmed as manager. Chester finished the season in 13th place, a respectable achievement given the financial economies which had seen John lose two members of his coaching staff, Jim Walker and Vince Prichard.

For the 1983/84 season the newly renamed Chester City faced even deeper financial problems and after losing leading scorer John Thomas to Lincoln John also had to contend with an even lower budget as the wage bill was slashed in half. Although he did bring in future Welsh international Andy Holden it was a measure of how difficult the situation was by the fact that two players, Paul Raynor and Trevor Phillips, rejoined the club after being released when Chester had been relegated in 1982.

A season of struggle was inevitable and with only one league John was relieved of his duties with Chester bottom of Division Four.

John went on to serve Glossop North End and Mossley as a manager before serving as assistant manager at Stockport County and then moving back down south to become Academy Director at Southampton and managing Lymington & New Milton and Bemerton Heath Harlequins in the Wessex League.

Steve Finney (1973-2022)

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Former Chester City striker Steve Finney has sadly passed away at the age of 48 after a short illness. Steve was playing part-time football for Barrow when he was given an opportunity to return to the Football League by Terry Smith who signed him for Chester in October 1999. He went on to make 13 Football League appearances, including 9 from the bench, and was one of the players retained by Graham Barrow for the first season in the Conference. Alongside Paul Carden he was the only player to start the last game in the Football League, against Peterborough, and the first fixture in the Conference, against Rushden and Diamonds, and he made a further four starts and five substitute appearances before being released in late 2000.

Steve Finney

Born in Hexham Steve started his career as a youth player with Preston North End and went on to make his Football League debut for the Lancashire side in the 1991/92 season. He had the most successful spell of his footballing career at Swindon Town after joining from Manchester City in summer 1995. A goal on his debut, against Hull City, immediately endeared him to supporters and he went on to score 16 goals as Swindon were promoted to the second tier. 

After representing Cambridge United, Carlisle United and Leyton Orient Steve dropped into part-time football with Gretna and Barrow but after circulating his CV to north west clubs he was contacted by Terry Smith who brought him to the Deva Stadium in 1999. He made his debut, as a substitute, in a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln but after featuring in the next seven games he was only used intermittently during the rest of the campaign. 

For the first season in the Conference Steve started the first three games before dropping to the role of substitute and the signing of Steve Whitehall marked the end of his City career. His final match proved to be a Nationwide Variety Club Trophy match against Hednesford Town before a move to Altrincham after a successful loan spell.

At the time of his death he was part of the management team with Ullswater United in the Westmorland League.