Category Archives: Statistics

Chester Managers – FA Cup Record

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Having reached the FA Cup 1st Round, and facing Football League opposition for the first time since 2014/15, I thought it would be interesting to look at the FA Cup statistics for Chester managers over the years.

It is obviously difficult to make a direct comparison between the pre- 2010 Chester and reformed Chester FC that has only entered the competition at the Qualifying Round stages but it is still interesting to see that Calum McIntyre has now managed the club in 18 FA Cup ties prior to the Cambridge United game. This puts him 4th behind Frank Brown, Ken Roberts and Harry McNally while his win record puts him level with Alan Oakes and one behind Frank Brown.

Prior to 1930 the team was picked by committee so Frank Brown and Harry McNally hold the record for most FA Cup ties managed in a season. During the 1938/39 campaign Chester played seven ties under Brown beating Second Division Coventry City on the way and taking Second Division Sheffield Wednesday to a second replay in the 4th Round. Harry McNally also managed the club in seven ties, during 1986/87, including three games against Rotherham United before coincidentally being eliminated by Sheffield Wednesday in a 4th Round replay.

Alan Oakes has arguably the most impressive FA Cup record with 10 victories in his 17 games in charge. This includes taking Chester to the last 16 on two occasions, in 1976/77 and 1979/80. Both these campaigns featured victories over teams in a higher division, Luton Town in 1976/77 and Newcastle United in 1979/80. Since reforming in 2010 the only times Chester have beaten teams from a higher division has been under Steve Burr (Southend United 2014/15) and Calum McIntyre (Hartlepool United 23/24 and Morecambe 25/26).

Only three managers have achieved victories over clubs two divisions higher. In 1969/70 Fourth Division Chester beat Second Division Bristol City 2-1 under Ken Roberts. In 2000/01 Graham Barrow’s Conference side beat third tier Oxford United 3-2 while two seasons later Mark Wright’s Blues beat another third tier team, Colchester United at Layer Road. This remains the only occasion that Chester have beaten a team two divisions higher away from home so Calum has the chance of equalling this record at Cambridge.

The worst FA Cup record belongs to Louis Page who managed the club in three ties over three seasons in the mid 1950s and lost them all.

ManagerFirst FA Cup SeasonLast FA Cup SeasonPlayedWonDrawnLostFurthest Round
CHESTER/CHESTER CITY
Charlie Hewitt1930/311935/36168264Rr
Alex Raisbeck1936/371937/3831024R
Frank Brown1938/391952/532411584Rr2
Louis Page1953/541955/5630031R
John Harris1956/571958/5982332Rr
Stan Pearson1959/601961/6252032R 
Bill Lambton1962/631962/6310011R
Peter Hauser1963/641967/68116053R
Ken Roberts1968/691975/76249784R
Alan Oakes1976/771981/821710165R
John Sainty1982/831982/8320111Rr
Trevor Storton1983/841983/8410011R
John McGrath1984/851984/8510011R
Harry McNally1985/861991/92218674Rr
Graham Barrow1992/931993/9462223R
Mike Pejic1994/951994/9521012R 
Kevin Ratcliffe1995/961998/9973043R
Terry Smith1999/20001999/200042113R
Graham Barrow2000/012000/0153113R
Steve Mungall2001/022001/0210014Q
Mark Wright2002/032003/0453022R 
Ian Rush2004/052004/0532013R
Keith Curle2005/062005/0642113Rr
Mark Wright2006/072006/0751223Rr *
Bobby Williamson2007/082007/0810011R
Simon Davies2008/092008/0910011R
Jim Harvey2009/102009/1020114Qr
TOTAL183763374
* – Chester lost to Bury in the 2nd Round but were reinstated after Bury played an ineligible player
CHESTER FC
Neil Young2012/132013/1451224Q
Steve Burr2014/152015/1652122Rr
Jon McCarthy2016/172016/1710014Q
Marcus Bignot2017/182017/1810014Q
Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley2018/192021/22114344Q
Calum McIntyre2022/231810441Rr
TOTAL41171014

Top 50 Goals Scored

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Having listed the top 50 appearances for Chester in the Football League along with Chester FC since 2010 it seemed reasonable to list the top 50 goalscorers during the same period.

The Football League details cover the period from the 1931/32 season to 1999/200 and then from 2004/05 to 2008/09. Once again the figures do not include the Conference years. During this period there were 4127 league goals and 424 different goalscorers. 89 of the goals were own goals.

League goals scored between 2010/11 and 2024/25 includes the 32 goals from the aborted 2020/21 campaign bringing the total number of goals scored to 1020 of which 17 were own goals. The remaining 1003 were split amongst 166 players and these are the top 50 (actually its top 53).

Copyright ©  Chas Sumner http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com All Rights Reserved

Top 50 League Appearances

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At the start of the year a former player asked where he stood in terms of Football League appearances for the old Chester club. I produced a table of all 767 players who played a Football League game and below is the top 50. It covers league games from 1931 to 2000 and 2004 to 2009 so the Conference years are not included. The first column combines starts and substitute appearances but I have also split them off in column two and three.

I thought it would also be a useful exercise to do the same thing for Chester FC appearances from 2010/11 up to the end of the 2024/25 season. Again this is league games only but note that it includes appearances from the aborted 2020/21 campaign when 17 games were played.

For the record there have been 309 different players to feature in a league game and listed below are the top 50.

Copyright ©  Chas Sumner http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com All Rights Reserved

Top 20 Attendances

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A recent request for a list of Chester’s highest attendances prompted me to look through the records and expand the search to find the top 20. I thought the results might provide interesting reading:

1 – 20,378 Chelsea FA Cup 3rd Round replay 18/01/52 L 2-3

2= 19,000 Leeds United League Cup 4th Round 13/11/74 W 3-0

2= 19,000 Newcastle United League Cup 5th Round 18/12/74 W 1-0

2= 19,000 Aston Villa League Cup Semi-Final 22/01/75 D 2-2

5 – 18,816 Sheffield Wednesday FA Cup 4th Round replay 25/01/39 D 1-1

6 – 18,706 Stoke City FA Cup 4th Round 25/01/47 D 0-0

7 – 18,251 Newcastle United FA Cup 3rd Round 22/01/66 L 1-3

8 – 18,004 Wrexham Division 3 North 29/08/36 W 4-1

9 – 18,000 Plymouth Argyle FA Cup 3rd Round 11/01/47 W 2-0

10 – 16,835 Wrexham Division 3 North 04/02/33 L 0-3

11 – 16,375 Tranmere Rovers Division 3 North 28/03/36 D 1-1

12 – 16,283 Wigan Athletic FA Cup 2nd Round 04/12/65 W 2-1

13 – 16,160 Wrexham Division 3 North 28/02/48 W 4-1

14 – 15,882 Derby County FA Cup 3rd Round 02/01/71 L 1-2

15 – 15,255 Stockport County Division 3 North 24/04/37 D 1-1

16 – 15,202 Wrexham Division 3 North 01/10/55 W 2-1

17 – 15,106 Wrexham Division 3 North 29/09/34 W 6-2

18 – 15,024 Wrexham Division 4 26/12/69 W 2-0

19 – 14,921 Wrexham Welsh Cup Final 03/05/33 W 2-0

20 – 14,782 Wrexham Division 4 27/02/65 W 6-1

I have seen various figures quoted for the Chelsea FA Cup tie in 1952 but have gone for the more precise figure of 20,378 rather than the rounded up one of 20,500 that is often used. I have also little doubt that the attendances of 19,000 for all three League Cup ties were probably based on the capacity of the ground at the time rather than a fully accurate total.

Given that there is a general belief that Chester always lose when there is a larger than expected attendance It is interesting to see that only four of the top 20 games resulted in defeat and three of these were against teams at least two divisions higher.

Fastest Goalscoring Debutant

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When Matt Sargent scored after 87 seconds with his first touch of the ball against Kettering Town the question was asked if a Chester player had ever scored a quicker goal on his league debut.

The previous record holder for the reformed club was Johnny Hunt who scored after 4 minutes in the first game of the 2015/16 season when Chester beat Braintree Town 1-0.

Special mention should be made to Jamie Menagh who scored in the 8th and 10th minute in a 4-1 win over Lincoln City in December 2013 while Akwasi Asante scored a hat trick in 69 minutes against Darlington in December 2018 on his debut.

The following table is a definitive list of goalscoring league debutants since the club reformed in 2010 with the quickest first.

  • Matt Sargent v Kettering Town 19/3/22 – 87 seconds
  • Johnny Hunt v Braintree Town 8/8/15 – 4 minutes
  • Wayne Riley v Kidderminster Harriers 25/8/14 – 5 minutes (substitute 78 score 83)
  • Rob Hopley v Warrington Town 24/8/10 – 6 minutes
  • Jamie Menagh v Lincoln City 21/12/13 – 8 minutes
  • James McCarthy v Skelmersdale United 20/11/10 – 11 minutes (substitute 72 score 83)
  • Jordan Archer v Barrow 24/10/17 – 11 minutes
  • Brendon Daniels v Vauxhall Motors 23/2/13 – 12 minutes
  • Luke Holden v Whitby Town 12/11/11 – 14 minutes
  • Matt McNeil v Rushall Olympic 13/8/11 – 14 minutes
  • Matt McGinn v FC United 24/8/11 – 17 minutes
  • Levi Mackin v Rushall Olympic 7/1/12 – 17 minutes (substitute 73 score 90)
  • Danny O’Brien v Altrincham 16/2/16 – 26 minutes
  • Akwasi Asante v Darlington 1/12/18 – 27 minutes
  • Jack Redshaw v Blyth Spartans 25/9/21. – 27 minutes (substitute 59 score 86)
  • Chris Simm v Ossett Albion 22/1/11 – 43 minutes
  • James Caton v Grimsby Town 12/4/14 – 45 (substitute 45 score 90)
  • Okera Simmonds v Curzon Ashton 22/1/22 – 47 minutes
  • Matty Taylor v Welling United 1/2/14 – 55 minutes
  • Declan Weeks v Kidderminster Harriers 6/10/20 – 57 minutes
  • Cain Noble v Maidstone United 21/4/18 – 58 minutes
  • Jerome Wright v Burscough 17/8/11 – 62 minutes
  • Danny Williams v Vauxhall Motoirs 30/10/12 – 65 minutes
  • Conor Wilkinson v Aldwershot 2/11/13 – 67 minutes
  • Matty Hughes v Aldershot 7/10/14 – 80 minutes