Sealand Road Remains – 1

Posted on May 21, 2013 by kwchas

With the restoration of the plaque I thought it would be interesting to collate some pictures of other parts of the Sealand Road Stadium that have survived. I am hoping that this will be the first of a number of articles and I would urge anyone to get in contact if they have anything of interest.

The most obvious place to start is the roof of the main stand which was installed at the previously uncovered Hamil Road End of Port Vale’s Vale Park Ground in 1992. According to Simon Inglis’ Football Grounds of Britain book the stand roof was bought from Chester for a bargain price but the final bill for its transport, re-erection and repainting came to £350,000.

Main Stand 1990 Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com — Main Stand 1990
Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com

Demolition of the stand roof Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com — Demolition of the stand roof
Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com

Stand roof during demolition Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com — Stand roof during demolition
Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com

Inglis’ book also states that some surplus roof cladding from Sealand Road was also used at the other end of the ground in the small angled Family stand between the Railway and Bycars Lane Stands.

Coincidentally the first team to utilise the new covered Hamil Road End was Chester when they played a League Two fixture at the ground in September 1992 and were beaten 2-0. The following photographs were taken by Fraser Warburton at that game and with no adverts or Vale branding the stand still looks very much like it did at Sealand Road.

Hamil Road End Port Vale September 1992 Copyright © Fraser Warburton — Hamil Road End Port Vale September 1992
Copyright © Fraser Warburton

Corner of the stand at Vale Park Copyright © Fraser Warburton — Corner of the stand at Vale Park
Copyright © Fraser Warburton

Standing at Vale Park in September 1992 Copyright © Fraser Warburton — Standing at Vale Park in September 1992
Copyright © Fraser Warburton

Inglis’ book also states that some surplus roof cladding from Sealand Road was also used at the other end of the ground in the small angled Family stand between the Railway and Bycars Lane Stands.

In 1995, 4,550 seats were installed and Blues fans were able to sit under the stand roof for the first time for a Worthington Cup tie in 1998. Two Luke Beckett goals gave Chester a 2-1 victory in that game. There was a return to the ground the following year in the same competition for that memorable 4-4 draw in Terry Smith’s first game in charge.

Sitting under the stand roof - Port Vale v Chester in September 1998 Copyright © NWN Media — Sitting under the stand roof – Port Vale v Chester in September 1998
Copyright © Leader newspaper

The second item was salvaged form the demolition of the ground in 1992 by supporter Alan Potter who managed to carry it back to his house in Blacon which is quite an achievment given its size.

The admission price board was initially in place at the Sealand Road End as can be seen from my accompanying photo.

The entrance sign in its original location Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com — The entrance sign in its original location
Copyright © http://www.chesterfootballhistory.com

The final item is a gem from the old wooden Sealand Road stand and is the sign from above the away team dressing room that I was given several years ago.

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Plaque Unveiling

Posted on May 17, 2013 by kwchas

The installation was completed last week when Art Graphics of Saltney erected an information board alongside the sandstone plaque. This was followed by an unveiling on Saturday before the players embarked on the victory parade to the town hall.

The unveiling was attended by Rob Fleet, who retrieved the broken plaque back in 1992, as well as former ISA chairman George Rogers who had looked after the pieces in recent years. Also present were Pauline Meakins, representing the Chester Exiles who sponsored the information board, as well as Chester FC chairman Tony Durkin and members of the Senior Blues.

Plaque with Information Board

Plaque Unveiling - May 2013 Photograph - Rick Matthews

Plaque Unveiling – May 2013
Copyright © Rick Matthews

Before the event I was talking to Rob about the “Chester Football Club Limited” lettering that appeared above the plaque (see the picture in the February 1st article) and wondered what had happened to it. I had always thought they were individual letters attached to the wall but Rob says that they were embedded in breeze blocks and they were too big to remove. It begs the question did anyone salvage a letter as a souvenir?

This led me on to another thought. I know that other parts of the ground were salvaged by supporters after the ground’s demolition and I thought it might be a nice idea to put together some photographs and stories in an article. I have already received pictures of the old stand roof in place at Port Vale when it was still distinctly recognisable as coming from Sealand Road.

Unfortunately I missed out on taking pictures of the old stand seats which were used at the Greyhound Stadium in Ellesmere Port. These seats have recently been removed but if anyone has a picture that would be great.

Please get in touch via the message form below if you have anything of interest or just add a comment.

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Return of the Plaque

Posted on May 7, 2013 by kwchas

After 21 years the Supporter’s Plaque has returned home and been positioned on the outside of the ground by the main office.

Altomont Townsend and the students at the college have done a superb restoration job and three students from the Bricklaying Level 1 course, Joe Lawrence, Jamie Morgan and Danny Dowling put the plaque in place on the wall today.

Finished plaque at the college.
Photo – Altomont Townsend

Installing the plaque
Photo – Tony Pate

Putting the plaque in place
Photo – Tony Pate

Bricklaying students with the finished plaque - Joe Lawrence, Jamie Morgan, Danny Dowling Photo - Tony Pate

Bricklaying students with the finished plaque – Joe Lawrence, Jamie Morgan, Danny Dowling
Photo – Altomont Townsend

The information board has been completed, thanks to sponsorship from the Chester Exiles, and this is expected to be erected alongside the plaque later this week.

In my previous posting I speculated that the plaque may have been made by Clegg’s stonemasons on Bumpers Lane but a more plausible explanation has since come forward. Steve and Colin Mansley, whose grandfather’s cousin was Chester chairman at the time, tell me that there was a Mansley’s stonemasonry business at Handbridge, where Blackwell’s Stonecraft Ltd is now located, and it seems more likely to me that the plaque originated from there.

The finished plaque in place

The finished article

On Saturday May 11th, at 12:30 pm, there will be an official unveiling of the plaque which is scheduled to take place before the players embark on their open-top bus trip to the town hall. Supporters are welcome to attend.

For the full story behind the restoration there have been three previous posts on the topic which can be found in the archives under Grounds.

Plaque Restoration Progress

Posted on April 4, 2013 by kwchas

Last week I went along to West Cheshire College to see how work on the Supporters Club plaque was progressing. In fact the stone is now almost finished and they are currently painting the letters. The department estimates that it will need between one and two days to complete the job although you need to bear in mind that restoration work can only take place once a week.

Plaque restoration progress at Chester College

We have been looking at a location for the plaque and hope to install it on the wall between the player’s entrance and the ticket office window, close to the supporter’s bricks.

There is a small piece missing from the right hand side of the plaque and stonemason Altomont Townsend thought it would be better to leave this rather than patch it up. I am in complete agreement with this as it serves to emphasise the restoration work that has been performed. Altomont also pointed out to me the symbolism in the broken plaque and the football club with the repair and return of the plaque imitating the work that the supporters have done in re-building and restoring the new Chester FC. It also acts as a strong link with the supporters from the 1930s who did so much to help the club in their early years in the Football League.

As well as spotting the paintwork on the lettering, which would have only lasted for a few years, Altomont also had some interesting theories on the making of the plaque. First of all he thinks it would have been made by someone associated with Clegg’s who were based in Bumpers Lane (no relation to tannoy announcer Robbie Clegg). They were the only stonemasons in the city but went bust in the 1970s or 1980s. It is also likely that the engraving was done by an apprentice, perhaps a Chester supporter, rather than by a professional stonemason. He bases this theory on the fact that he identied one or two flaws in the original work and it is certainly possible to spot that the five in the year does not quite match up with the rest of the date.

If anyone has any further information on the original making of the plaque then Altomont and myself would be very interested to hear from you.

Another Records Update

Posted on April 3, 2013 by kwchas

There has been another three victories since my last post so it is time for another update and some more observations before tomorrow’s fixture at Gainsborough Trinity.

Unbeaten League Run

Following the 2-0 victory over Altrincham this now stands at an incredible 28 games. As mentioned in previous articles the overall club record is 31 games in the Combination between January 1908 and March 1909. This means that if Chester can avoid defeat against Gainsborough Trinity and Boston United the record will be equalled at Guiseley of all places.

Unbeaten Home Record

Chester are now unbeaten in 33 league and cup games at the Exacta Stadium. They are fast closing in on the post-war record set between November 1973 and January 1975 when Ken Robert’s Blues were unbeaten in 35 games at Sealand Road. In this current sequence there has been 27 league fixtures, two FA Cup ties, one FA Trophy match and three Cheshire Senior Cup games. This record can be equalled with the last home game of the season against Solihull Borough.

The overall club record was set in the early years of the 20^th century when Chester rarely seemed to lose a home game. Between September 1904 and September 1908 there went 42 league and cup games unbeaten. This covered two different grounds as the club moved from Whipcord Lane to Sealand Road in December 1906.

The record for league games only is 44 games from the start of the 1925/26 season to September 1927.

Unbeaten Away Record

The Blues are now unbeaten in the last 13 away league games a record that stretches back to the Boston United fixture in September. The Chester FC record currently stands at 15 games. This began with the 1-1 draw at Warrington Town in the very first game in 2010 and ended at Lancaster City the following March.

The club record for away league games unbeaten is 17 in the Cheshire County League during the 1930/31 season. The run started with a 3-3 draw at Runcorn in September and was ended by Manchester North End the following April.

If the current run continues the overall record will be equalled in the last game of the season against Worcester City.

Goals

The 100 league goal target is looking a formality with only three more needed to reach 100 for the third consecutive season. The 300th goal was reached with Tony Gray’s first strike at Colwyn Bay. It remains to be seen if the current team can go on to beat last year’s total of 102 and the 2010/11 total of 107. In the Football League the best was 119 in 1964/65 while the club record is a frankly ridiculous 170 set in the Cheshire County League in 1930/31.

Victories

There have been 31 victories so far this season and with six games to go this record will almost certainly be overhauled. Chester won 31 games in the Evo-Stik league last year and also won the same number in 1926/27 and 1930/31. Out of interest City were champions of the Conference in 2003/04 with 27 wins and in other promotion seasons won 23 in 1974/75 and 1985/86 and 21 in 1993/94.

Defeats

Last season Chester was only defeated in four games which equalled the total of the 2003/04 Conference winning side. Although the team that won the 1908/09 Combination championship lost a mere two games they only played 30 matches so it is a bit of an unfair comparison.

Hat-tricks

Tony Gray became the fourth different player to score three in a league game this season with his hat-trick at Colwyn Bay. He follows on from Ben Mills (v Guiseley), Iain Howard (v Stalybridge) and Craig Curran (v Bishop’s Stortford). It is the first time that four different players have scored league hat-tricks in a season since1964/65 when Gary Talbot (v Stockport County), Elfed Morris (v Aldershot), Jimmy Humes (v Wrexham) and Mike Metcalf (v Newport County) all hit three.The last time five different players scored three was in 1934/35 so come on Nathan Jarman.

Tony Gray completes his hat-trick at Colwyn Bay Copyright © Rick Matthews

Championships

It goes without saying that Chester has never won three back to back championships. Previously the club won two on the bounce in 1925/26 and 1926/27. I don’t want to tempt fate but hopefully this record will be beaten.

Blue Square North records

Following on from my article on March 14th Chester is threatening to completely tear up the record books for the Blue Square North. They have already equalled the 97 point total of Kettering Town in 2007/08 and beaten the same club’s record of 30 wins. The 97 goal total of Alfreton Town and Northwich Victoria has also now been equalled.

Chester Football History

On The Borderline goes online

Sealand Road Remains – 1

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Plaque Unveiling

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Return of the Plaque

Plaque Restoration Progress

Another Records Update

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