Chester 1 Bradford PA 2 (FA Cup 1st Round) – November 25th 1950

Posted on February 8, 2020 by kwchas

1 – Pre-Match

The 1st Round of the 1950/51 FA Cup paired Chester with fellow Third Division North side, Bradford PA. There was little to choose between the teams in the league with the visitors in 8th position and Chester two points behind in 12th place. However Frank Brown’s side were considered favourites having beaten Avenue 2-0 three weeks earlier at Sealand Road in what had been the first ever competitive meeting between the clubs.

The Yorkshiremen had been relegated from Division Two the previous season and this was their first campaign at this level since 1927/28. They had the reputation as a big spending club and the Cheshire Observer noted that over £60,000 had been spent in aggregate transfer fees on those players who had represented the club so far during the season. Perhaps the most notable name in the Bradford team was Jack Haines who had signed from West Bromwich Albion the previous season for £12,000. A pre-war Liverpool player he had won an England cap against Switzerland only two years earlier and had also played for Swansea Town and Leicester City. Despite this pedigree he had been in and out off the Bradford team and had recently asked to be placed on the transfer list.

A more familiar face to Chester supporters was left back Stan James who had made a number of guest appearances at Sealand Road during the war when he was stationed at Blacon Camp. He won a runners-up medal for Chester in the Third Division North Cup Final against Rotherham United in 1946 and the club had hoped to sign him from Bradford but the fee had proved prohibitive.

Bradford had been convincingly beaten in the league encounter at Sealand Road, thanks to first half goals from Tommy Astbury and Geoff Coffin and Avenue manager Fred Emery had recognised that his team had played badly and were capable of far better things. Meanwhile, Frank Brown was quoted in the Cheshire Observer as saying: “We are anticipating a hard game and must not under-estimate Bradford’s cup fighting ability…..We have ground advantage and our own supporters to cheer us on.”

Unfortunately Chester had failed to build on their commanding performance league win against Bradford. It had been followed by a 3-1 defeat at top of the table Tranmere and then a dismal home showing against Barrow resulting in a 2-1 setback. Frank Brown had boldly experimented by playing three centre forwards against Barrow. Ralph Morement, Tommy Tilston and Geoff Coffin had all donned the number 9 shirt during the campaign but the experiment failed to pay off as Chester wasted a host of chances to give the visitors their first away win of the season.

The big news in the week leading up to the game was the transfer of goalkeeper Ted Elliott to Halifax Town. The former Wolves man, had picked up an early season injury and lost his place to Harry Threadgold who had seized the opportunity with both hands and put in some brilliant performances. As a result Elliott had asked to be put on the transfer list and the deal was completed two days before the cup tie. Tattenhall-born Threadgold was not the only local player to be making the news as Cestrians Tilston and Coffin both signed professional terms prior to the Barrow game after being part-time at Sealand Road since 1944 and 1946 respectively.

There was no special training for the players before the cup tie which had a 2:15 kick-off.

2 – The Match

After the failure against Barrow, Frank Brown took a pragmatic approach for the cup tie by reverting to the same side that had defeated Bradford in the league game three weeks earlier. Jimmy Hankinson and leading scorer Albert Burgess were both recalled while Geoff Coffin took over the number 9 shirt from the injured Tommy Tilston and utility man Ralph Morement dropped to the reserves.

Despite taking an early lead Chester succumbed to a much improved Bradford team who had lost their three previous matches. In the end Chester were perhaps unlucky not to draw and were left to rue Frank Hindle’s missed penalty with the score at 1-1.

Chester got off to a perfect start and took the lead in 4 minutes when Coffin headed in a cross from Les Devonshire. Instead of building on the lead Chester surrendered the initiative and allowed the visitors back into what developed into an end to end encounter. Bradford came close to scoring when Hindle cleared a John Smith shot off the line with Harry Threadgold out of position while, at the other end, Mitchell Downie pushed away a Devonshire free kick and a fierce drive from the same player just passed wide of the post.

In the 29th minute Bradford capitalised on Chester’s failure to extend their advantage when the ever dangerous Billy Elliott came inside to head a Bill Deplidge cross past Threadgold. Chester had the perfect opportunity to regain the advantage on the stroke of half-time when Arthur Wheat was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball. Hindle was the man who stepped up to take the penalty but his weak effort passed wide of the post. The decision to hand responsibility to the normally reliable full-back was questioned by the Chester Chronicle who pointed out that this was his first ever penalty kick.

Bradford took the lead in the 66th minute when Smith headed down an Elliott cross for Deplidge whose shot gave Threadgold no chance. The Yorkshire side also struck the crossbar while Threadgold made a good save from Smith. Meanwhile Downie saved well from Astbury and both Burgess and Coffin missed good chances when well placed. The best opportunity for an equaliser came in the later stages when Billy Foulkes went on a mazy run from his own penalty area and slipped the ball to Coffin who shot straight at Downie. Bradford had to contend with a number of goalmouth scrambles but Downie continued to make some excellent saves and Chester were left to face an early cup exit.

Bradford’s outstanding player proved to be outside-left Billy Elliott who caused problems all afternoon with a brilliant exhibition of wing-play which right-back John Molyneux could not match. While an uncoordinated Chester defence struggled to cope with a potent Bradford strike force the visitors proved stubborn at the opposite end with centre half Les Horsman particularly dominant. Wingers Devonshire and Foulkes were arguably Chester’s best forwards but they lacked service with neither Burgess and Hankinson being particularly effective. Wing-backs Tommy Astbury and Peter Greenwood were not as impressive as usual and Coffin should have scored more than one goal had he displayed more steadiness.

The attendance of 8,255 drew gate receipts of £701.

Chester – Threadgold, Molyneux, Hindle, Astbury, Lee, Greenwood, Foulkes, Hankinson, Coffin, Burgess, Devonshire

Scorer – Coffin 4

Bradford PA – Downie, Currie, James, Hodgson, Horsman, Wheat, Smith, Haines, Crosbie, Deplidge, Elliott

Scorers – Elliott 29, Deplidge 66

Attendance – 8,255

3- Post-match

Chester’s defeat cost them a meeting with the man who had lead them into the Football League in 1931. Charlie Hewitt had moved to Millwall after leaving Sealand Road in 1936 and the London side were drawn against Bradford in the 2nd Round. Hewitt’s side went on to win this encounter after a replay. In the league Bradford climbed to 6th place, seven places above Chester who struggled to maintain any consistency and neither troubled the top or bottom of the table.

Astonishingly the 1st Round elimination was the first time that Chester had been defeated at this stage of the competition since a defeat to Lincoln City in 1890.

Bradford man of the match, the promising Billy Elliott, had asked to be put on the transfer list before the FA Cup tie and went on to greater things. The following summer he moved to Burnley for £23,000 and was awarded the first of five England international caps in 1952. He later spent six seasons at Sunderland. Another man on the transfer list at Park Avenue was inside-forward Jack Haines. He remained with the club until 1953, when he was transferred to Rochdale, before signing for Chester in 1955 at the age of 35.

Four players featured in their final FA Cup game for the club. The man who missed the penalty, full-back Frank Hindle, ironically moved to Bradford in the summer after two seasons at Sealand Road. He never managed to find the back of the net for Chester in any of his 81 appearances and, despite making more than 200 appearances for his new club, he also failed to score at Park Avenue. Hindle died in Scotland in 2013.

Former Preston inside-forward Jimmy Hankinson failed to establish himself at Sealand Road and only made 15 appearances for the club. Although he was retained at the end of the season he appears to have left Chester during the summer.

Another player who only spent one season at Chester was outside-left Les Devonshire. The Londoner was a regular at outside left and only missed two league games in 1950/51. Like Hankinson he was retained in the summer but returned to London and signed for Crystal Palace where he remained for a further four years. He later played for Margate and Canterbury City and died in Middlesex in 2012. He was the father of future West Ham and England player Alan who has been a visitor to the 1885 Arena in recent years as manager of Braintree Town and Maidenhead United.

Another player who signed for Crystal Palace was Birkenhead-born Albert “Cam” Burgess who managed an impressive average of more than a goal every two games at Chester. He was leading scorer in each of his three seasons at Sealand Road and moved to Selhurst Park for £3,000 in September 1951. The nippy forward continued to find the back of the net regularly for Palace including a hat-trick in his 2nd game and 18 in his first 15 league starts. In a four game spell the following season he netted three hat-tricks. In July 1953 he moved back north, to York City for £850, and after one season returned to Cheshire with Runcorn. He died in 1978.

Exeter City 2 Chester 0 (FA Cup 2nd Round) – December 10th 1949

Posted on December 15, 2019 by kwchas

1 – Pre-Match

Chester’s reward for their 1st Round victory over Goole Town was a long trip to Exeter City, the furthest distance the club had ever travelled for a fixture. Like Chester, the Grecians were struggling in their league and propped up Division Three South with only 11 points from their 18 league games. They looked particularly susceptible in defence, having conceded 45 goals, and it was reported that they were experiencing the worst season in their chequered history.

Despite the poor league results spirts had been raised in Exeter after a 5-3 win at Millwall in the 1st Round and their manager, George Roughton had proclaimed that: “…if the lads play as well as they did at Millwall on Saturday we shall be in the 3rd Round.” Unfortunately this optimism had quickly evaporated as the Grecians were hammered 7-1 in a league game at Swindon Town the following week. Chester manager Frank Brown had scouted that game and the Chester Chronicle stated that he returned from the game “cock-a-hoop’.

From a personal point of view the tie held additional interest for Brown as he had played a handful of games for the Devon club during the 1921/22 season.

While Exeter had their problems there was also an underlying feeling of discontent at Sealand Road as the club languished in 20th position in Division Three North and displayed a remarkable level of inconsistency. After joining the Football League in 1931 the club had been a top ten fixture throughout the 1930s and this had appeared to carry through the war with a 3rd place finish in 1946/47. Unfortunately, despite some notable FA Cup ties, league form had slumped dramatically and with a 20th position in 1947/48 and 18th in 1948/49 the local papers were increasingly peppered with letters from disgruntled supporters. The day before the cup tie the News Chronicle featured Chester in their “My Team” spotlight under the headline “Down in the Dumps on Deeside.” and a wide range of letters outlined the problems with the current team.

With both teams struggling there was little to choose in what was a closely matched tie. The Chester players did not engage in any special training but as usual there was time for golf at Hawarden and the players set off for Devon by train on Friday morning. Meanwhile the Chester’ Supporters Club arranged a day excursion, leaving at just after midnight on the day of the game and around 70 supporters availed themselves of the 47/2d trip. For those supporters who stayed at home it was arranged for the score at Exeter to be given out at the reserve game against Crewe at Sealand Road every 15 minutes.

2 – The Match

In between the Goole and Exeter FA Cup ties Chester had suffered a setback where they failed to take their chances in a 4-2 defeat to Carlisle United at Sealand Road.

While the attack came under fire for their lack of incisiveness there were clearly defensive problems with the left flank in particular singled out for criticism. Against this backdrop Frank Brown elected to move Eric Lee back to the left-half position, where he had made his name in the first season after the war. Meanwhile Dave McNeil, who had played in the Goole FA Cup tie, replaced Reg Butcher who had struggled in the problematic left back role against Carlisle. Frank Hindle, who had been signed as a left-back continued at centre half, a role he had taken after Lee’s call-up for England amateur duties.

Despite the defensive changes the tie was as good as decided in the first 15 minutes as Chester conceded an early, sloppy goal and then were unfortunate to lose goalkeeper Ted Elliott to concussion shortly afterwards. The loss of Elliott saw winger Bill Pearson take over in goal as Frank Brown’s team played the remainder of the game with only 10 men. Even with this handicap the team acquitted themselves well and played the better football so Exeter’s late penalty and the 2-0 scoreline slightly flattered the home side.

Exeter started the game brightly and produced their best football in the first 15 minutes. After only four minutes defensive lapses cost Chester dearly as Lee and McNeil failed to deal with right winger Bill Harrower who had all the time in the world to get in his cross. With Elliott static on his line and full back John Molyneux hesitant, Duggie Regan finished expertly to give the home side the lead.

It was a goal that should have been prevented and Chester responded quickly as Harry Jackson’s first-time drive was blocked by a defender with keeper Bert Hoyle beaten.

Worse was to follow for Chester on eight minutes when Molyneux missed a tackle and keeper Elliott received a kick on the back of the head as dashed out to save the situation. After a few minutes attention the former Wolves man returned but it was clear he was in no fit state to continue and outside left Pearson took over in goal.

Despite this setback Chester continued to have their fair share of the play and winger Jackie Davies, the pick of the forwards, was unlucky not to score when he set off on a dazzling run through the Exeter defence only to shoot a few inches wide from ten yards. Davies continued to cause the home side problems with his tricky running and he almost scored an equaliser before half time but his shot was blocked by Stan Rowe.

Chester continued to take the fight to Exeter in the second half but despite good work from Tommy Astbury, Billy Foulkes and Davies the forwards were not able to take advantage and few clear opportunities were created. Albert Burgess did get the ball into the back of the net on two occasions but both were rightly disallowed for offside. Chester’s best opportunities came from corner kicks and centre half, Frank Hindle was particularly unlucky when his towering header was blocked on the line by Leslie Doyle with keeper Hoyle nowhere.

Hindle, who had an outstanding game, was also a threat marauding out of defence and he was unlucky on one run when he was blocked by his own player Burgess when running through on goal. It was therefore unfortunate that the former Blackburn defender was culpable for Exeter’s second goal two minutes from time when he upended Archie Smith with an over-enthusiastic challenge.

Regan scored from the resulting penalty with a mishit shot that went where neither he or stand-in keeper Pearson expected. Talking about the penalty after the game Pearson said “I went to the left. Regan told me as we came off that he had miskicked and the ball went to my right instead of to the left as he intended.”

It was a shame for Pearson that he was unable to keep a clean sheet after such a confident display. His jumping, diving and one remarkable save from Charlie McLelland was appreciated by the Exeter crowd who sportingly applauded him off the pitch at the end of the game. The former Grimsby man admitted that he was no stranger to the role having represented the RAF in goal and he also confessed that it was his favourite position.

Despite Pearson’s heroics it was a game that Chester didn’t deserve to lose and even with only 10 men they created enough chances to win the game. If they had remained at full strength they would have beaten what was considered a moderate Exeter side.

Chester – Elliott, Molyneux, McNeil, Astbury, Hindle, Lee, Foulkes, Davies, Jackson, Burgess, Pearson

Exeter City – Hoyle, Johnstone, Rowe, Doyle, Davey, Greenwood, Harrower, Smart, Smith, McLelland, Regan

Scorer – Regan 4, 88 (pen)

Attendance – 11,025

3- Post-match

While Chester were unlucky to be eliminated from the competition they had at least gone down fighting. The following week they suffered another defeat, this time 3-0 at Stockport County, and this result prompted another defensive reshuffle. Hindle returned to the left back role and Eric Lee was reinstated at centre half, a move that appeared to stabilise the team as results improved in the second half of the campaign. In the end Chester recovered to 12th position with only four defeats after January 1st.

Exeter were drawn against non-league Nuneaton Borough in the 3rd Round and comfortable beat the non-leaguers 3-0. In the 4th Round they received a plum draw against Liverpool at Anfield where they were beaten 3-1. Back in the league results improved in Division Three South and they hauled themselves off the bottom to finish the season in 16th position.

Despite his concussion Elliott returned to the team at Stockport the following week and surprisingly didn’t miss a league game in 1949/50. Although he started the first two games the following season he was displaced by promising young keeper Harry Threadgold before joining Halifax Town in November 1950. He died in 1984.

Dave McNeil also played in the defeat at Stockport County but this proved to be his last league game of the campaign. It was 12 months before his next appearance, one of only six in 1950/51, and in 1951 he moved to Holywell Town for two years before a season at Northwich Victoria and three at Colwyn Bay. A product of local football he had initially signed as an amateur of Chester in 1938 and his loyalty was rewarded with a testimonial against an Everton X1 in 1951. Always remembered as the full-back who tamed Stanley Matthews in the 1947 FA Cup tie at Stoke City he died in 1993.

The promising Jackie Davies, who had performed so well at Exeter, suffered a badly fractured leg in a league game at Bradford City only two weeks later. Although the 23 year old forward briefly returned to the team at the start of the 1951/52 season the injury effectively ended his career. He died in 1973.

Centre forward Harry Jackson, who had scored a hat-trick against Goole Town, found himself edged out of the side in the second half of the campaign when he lost his place to local lad Geoff Coffin. He was released at the end of the season and signed for Hyde United. The former Manchester City and Preston player died in 1984.

Hero of the day Bill Pearson only played 12 league games for Chester before a persistent knee injury forcing him into retirement from the professional game at the end of the 1949/50 season. The Irishman continued to play amateur football in Yorkshire and died in 2009 after a long illness.

Chester 4 Goole Town 1 (FA Cup 1st Round) – November 26th 1949

Posted on August 31, 2019 by kwchas

1 – Pre-Match

After five consecutive away ties Chester finally received a home draw for the first time since hosting Bishop Auckland in the 1st Round in 1947. They were the first team out of the bag and paired with the winners of the Goole Town v Scunthorpe United tie which had finished goalless the previous Saturday. Both teams were in the Midland League but top of the table Scunthorpe remained favourites to go through against a side who were bottom of the table with only five points from 13 games.

The replay took place the following Saturday and manager Frank Brown travelled to Goole to watch the game which was abandoned, due to fog, with 15 minutes to go. The home side had been winning 3-1 and the scoreline was repeated the following Monday as Goole sprung a major surprise to reach the 1st Round for the first time since 1915.

Remarkably, the Chester tie was scheduled to be Goole’s 10th in the competition that season with four of their Qualifying Round ties needing replays. Having comfortably beaten Barton Town in the Preliminary Round they had needed replays to dispose of Frickley Colliery, Bentley Colliery, Brodsworth Main and Scunthorpe.

The extended cup run partially explained why Goole were rooted to the bottom of the Midland League having played far fewer matches than everyone else. Frank Brown was keen to say that he wouldn’t take the opponents lightly and reported that: “They are a strong workmanlike side who believe in the direct approach to goal.”

The part-time visitors had every reason to be confident as Chester themselves were having an up and down season and languished in 17th place although they had beaten Lincoln City 3-1 at Sealand Road the previous week. This improved performance had come on the back of four consecutive defeats and the club were keen to have a good cup run to revive the flagging enthusiasm of supporters.

The victory over Lincoln had seen Chester make an enforced change. Eric Lee had missed the game due to an amateur international trial match so Frank Hindle, a summer signing from Blackburn Rovers, had been moved from left back to centre half while long-serving Dave McNeil returned to the team for the first time since the opening week of the campaign. Both were set to retain their positions for the Goole match with Hindle’s sturdy build seen as invaluable against robust opponents.

One other positive for Chester was the form of 18 year old defender John Molyneux. The Warrington-born, England youth international had made his debut against Rochdale in September after two years careful development with the ‘A’ team and reserves. He had replaced veteran Eric Sibley, a summer signing from Grimsby, at right back and was considered to be a very bright prospect.

Grenville Booth – Chester Chronicle cartoon

Chester’s only injury concern was on the left wing where another former Grimsby player, Bill Pearson, had picked up an injury against Lincoln. He was expected to be replaced by Grenville “Bunty” Booth, a locally-born school teacher who had made eight league appearances in the 1948/49 season but had yet to feature in the current campaign. Booth had been a regular with the Cheshire County League team but had made his first appearance for the club in wartime football. Although recognised as a half back he was seen as a reliable replacement for Pearson with his height and weight seen as a positive asset against the strong Goole side.

Goole were expected to bring around 1,000 supporters and the game was scheduled to kick off at 2:15pm.

2 – The Match

As expected, Bill Pearson failed to recover from his knee injury and was replaced by Grenville Booth at outside left otherwise Chester lined up with the same side that had beaten Lincoln City the previous week. Meanwhile Goole relied on the same starting eleven that had beaten Scunthorpe in the previous round.

In the end Chester had little difficulty in disposing of their Midland League opponents and once Harry Jackson had put Frank Brown’s team ahead in the first five minutes there was little doubt about the result. Jackson went on to complete a hat-trick as Chester dominated the game and were much the better side. Goole did have a short spell of pressure at the end of the first half but it became a case of how many goals Chester would score.

Chester Chronicle headline

Chester almost opened the scoring in the opening minute. First of all goalkeeper Robert Ferguson had to make a smart save low down from Joe Davies before a smashing drive from Jackson struck the inside of the post and bounced back into play. The respite only lasted until the 4th minute when Jackson collected the ball from Davies and calmly steered the ball past Ferguson.

Chester continued to control the game but just before half time Ted Elliott was forced into a brilliant save when he pushed a powerful effort from Pringle round the post.

Early in the second half Brown missed a golden opportunity for Goole before Kimber cleared off the line from Albert Burgess and Ferguson saved well from Jackson. In the 68th minute Chester extended their lead through Jackson and 10 minutes later the centre forward completed his hat-trick when he headed in a Billy Foulkes cross.

Cutts pulled a goal back for Goole, after Brown had hit the post, but the afternoon was rounded off when Burgess added a fourth with two minutes remaining.

It was a comfortable win for Chester and could easily have been more convincing. Grenville Booth did himself justice at outside left and almost scored a couple of goals including a header that hit the underside of the crossbar. Joe Davies also did well at inside right and deserved to be amongst the scorers with two great shots, one of which was brilliantly saved by Ferguson.

Chester – Elliott, Molyneux, McNeil, Astbury, Hindle, Kirkpatrick, Foulkes, Davies, Jackson, Burgess, Booth

Scorer – Jackson 4, 68, 78, Burgess 88

Goole Town – Ferguson, Kimber, Rogers, Sherwood, Towle, Pringle, Cutts, Hall, Hunt, Glasby, Brown

Scorer – Cutts 85

Attendance – 6,774

3- Post-match

The attendance of 6,774 was the lowest FA Cup attendance for a Chester game since 1938 when 6,672 attended the 1st Round match against Bradford City at Sealand Road. It was estimated that 500 Goole fans made the journey, half the original estimate, and the receipts were £525.

The FA Cup match marks the only meeting between Chester and Goole.

Harry Jackson became the first Chester player to score an FA Cup hat-trick since Sammy Armes against Darlington in 1933.

Grenville Booth returned to the Cheshire County League side and made no further first team appearances for the club. He went on to play for Colwyn Bay but remained a teacher in Chester. He died in 1990.

The 2nd Round draw handed Chester a long trip to Devon where they faced Division Three South side Exeter City.

Aldershot 1 Chester 0 (FA Cup 2nd Round) – Dec 11th 1948

Posted on August 10, 2019 by kwchas

1 – Pre-Match

After victory at Hartlepools in the 1st Round Chester were once again presented with an away tie, the fifth time in succession that they had been forced to travel. They were paired with the winners of the Ipswich Town v Aldershot tie which had been abandoned on the Saturday with the home side winning 1-0. Ipswich remained firm favourites to go through as they stood 8th in the Third Division South while the Shots were struggling near the bottom of the table.

Chester certainly expected to be making a trip to Ipswich and tentative arrangements were made to acquire hotel accommodation in the town. Manager Frank Brown, who travelled down to watch the replay, stated: “We should be meeting Ipswich but I don’t think we should be beaten if we can maintain our recent form and play the open football we did at Hartlepools.”

In the Chester v Wrexham programme, on the day of the replay, details were printed of the long coach trip to Ipswich. Departure was scheduled for 11pm on the Friday night at a cost of £1 8/-9d and time was scheduled for a meal after the match before returning home on what was a mammoth journey.

In the end Aldershot sprung a major surprise by winning 3-0, a result that merely increased Chester’s confidence that they could continue their record of appearing in the 3rd Round for every season since 1935. They had every reason to be positive against a team that had lost their previous three home games. Chester’s form had also taken a turn for the better since the signings of Albert Burgess, Ted Elliott and Duncan Harrigan. While the Shots had been beating Ipswich Frank Brown’s side had recorded a 2-0 win over Wrexham with Burgess again finding the back of the net with a brace.

In the week before the cup tie Chester embarked on what was becoming a traditional training session in Abergele. All the players made the trip with the exception of Reg Butcher, who had a market gardening business to look after, and Eric Lee who was a student at Loughborough college. As usual golf was high on the agenda with ball practice at Abergele United’s ground on the Tuesday along with sprinting and a tactical discussion on the Thursday. Talking to the Chester Chronicle, manager Brown revealed that he had a plan to defeat the Shots while also expressing his admiration for centre half Alf Rowland and goalkeeper Ron Reynolds

The Chester party travelled directly from Abergele to London on Friday afternoon where they stayed overnight before boarding a coach to Aldershot on the Saturday morning.

2 – The Match

There had only been one minor injury concern in the days leading up to the game with Elliott receiving treatment after picking up a leg injury in the previous week’s derby. However the former Wolves keeper responded to treatment and the side remained unchanged from the one that had beaten both Hartlepools and Wrexham.

Although there had been plenty of optimism before the game Chester slipped out of the FA Cup by a single goal despite having the bulk of possession, especially in the second half. The Cheshire Observer felt that they deserved at least a draw but the forwards failed to test Reynolds enough and with the home defence in outstanding form Chester’s inability to finish proved costly.

The game hinged on one incident after 20 minutes when Burgess squared the ball to Harrigan in a perfect position in front of goal. From only 10 yards out, and with Reynolds completely beaten, the former Aston Villa centre forward struck the underside of the crossbar and the ball rebounded back into play. It was a wonderful chance which should have been seized and with Chester on top at that point a goal would have altered the course of the game.

Only five minutes after this golden opportunity Chester fell behind to a sucker punch. A cross from Ron Hobbs was missed by both Reg Butcher and Eric Lee and met by Jack White who headed a perfect goal past Elliott. Although the keeper got a hand to the ball he could only push the ball against the inside of the post and his movement was hampered by a goalmouth that was a mixture of ankle-deep, mud and sawdust.

It was doubly unfortunate for the two Chester defenders who were the best performers on the day. Lee was virtually on his own in the second half, repelling Aldershot’s spasmodic attacks, while Butcher was the driving force in the team, pushing his men forward as they endeavoured to get an equaliser.

The Aldershot goal took the sting out of Chester for the remainder of the half although Burgess just failed to connect with a Bert Foulds cross and John Forsyth had chances only to shoot wide with one effort and delay too long with the second opportunity.

After the break it was nearly all Chester although they failed to create many clear cut chances. At the other end Elliott did well to save at point blank range from Frank Rawcliffe and there was a lucky escape when a Hobbs cross shot struck the inside of the upright and was cleared by Tom Mackie.

It was a disappointing result for Chester who had earned a good FA Cup reputation in recent seasons. The problematic area seems to have been the wing halves where Henry Sherwood and John Cropley were quicker to the ball and more determined than their opposite numbers Tommy Astbury and George Williamson. While the Aldershot men provided constant service to their inside forwards both the Chester men had poor games and struggled with their passing.

Despite these problems Chester were not disgraced and only had themselves to blame for not making better use of their chances. On another day it could have been very different.

Aldershot – Reynolds, Rogers, Sheppard, Sherwood, Rowland, Cropley, Hobbs, White, Rawcliffe, McNicol, Sinclair

Scorer – White 25

Chester – Elliott, Butcher, Mackie, Astbury, Lee, Williamson, Foulkes, Burgess, Harrigan, Foulds, Forsyth

Attendance – 10,000

3- Post-match

Chester’s elimination from the competition left them to concentrate on their poor league position. Despite a victory in the next home game, against Carlisle, they only won four matches in the second half of the season and ended 18th.

Aldershot went on to meet another Third Division North side in the 3rd Round but progressed no further after a 3-1 loss at Gateshead. In the league they continued to struggle and eventually finished second from bottom and had to apply for re-election. Rowland, the impressive centre half for the Shots, was transferred to Cardiff later in the season for £10,000.

FA Cup ties against First Divison opponents, Blackpool and Stoke City had been financially beneficial in the previous two seasons but the returns in 1948/49 were not so lucrative. Receipts at Hartlepools had been just over £500 while the takings at Aldershot were £842. Chester received half of these sums after deduction of expenses and taxes.

Several Chester players appeared in their last FA Cup tie for the club. Bert Foulds, John Forsyth and Tom Mackie were all made available for transfer at the end of the season. Foulds played several games at centre forward in the second half of the season and finished equal top scorer alongside Burgess with 14 goals so it was perhaps a surprise that he was transfer-listed. He initially moved into non-league with Yeovil Town for a season before returning to the Football League with Rochdale, Crystal Palace and Crewe. He died in South Africa in April 1993.

Scotsman Mackie, who impressed with some strong tackling in the Aldershot match, had an unlucky time in his short spell at Sealand Road. After receiving concussion in the First Round tie at Hartlepools he was unlucky to break his collar bone in the Christmas Day fixture at Crewe. The injury kept him out of the game until April, when he returned to the Cheshire County League side. However, he could not regain his first team place from Dave McNeil and signed for Runcorn during the summer having only made seven first team appearances. He died in Scotland in February 1989.

John Forsyth, another Scotsman who had started his career at Dumbarton before the war, was a regular at outside left during the 1948/49 season playing 32 league games. A diminutive winger he also played for New Brighton and died in Wallasey in February 1995.

After a good start, with four goals in his first seven games, Duncan Harrigan began to find goals harder to come by and appearances were intermittent once Ray Westwood returned to the side with Foulds taken over at centre forward. After leaving Chester during the summer he signed for Colwyn Bay and died in February 2005.

Both George Williamson and Reg Butcher played for Chester in the 1949/50 season without appearing in an FA Cup tie. There had been some debate about Willimason’s best position and many people felt he was more comfortable at centre half rather than the half back position where he was deployed at Aldershot. He made 35 appearances during the 1948/49 season but was in and out of the team the following year and asked to be put on the transfer list in March 1950. During the summer of 1950 he moved to Bradford City and revealed his full potential with 223 appearances over the next six years. He was one of the Parader’s most outstanding performers in the 1950s and later played for Colwyn Bay and Oswestry Town and died in 1994.

Captain and Man of the Match Reg Butcher continued to be a regular at right back for the remainder of the campaign but the arrival of Eric Sibley, followed by the emergence of promising youngster John Molyneux saw his appearances limited in 1949/50 although he still managed another 20 league games to take his Chester total to 155. Butcher had originally come to Sealand Road in 1937 after a brief spell as an amateur with Liverpool and they remained his only professional club. The departure of Trevor Walters to Caernarfon in March 1949 had left Butcher as the last player to have played both pre and post war football for the club. In May 1950 he was awarded a testimonial against Blackpool and left the game to concentrate on his fruit and veg business. He died in Birkenhead in October 2000.

Reg Butcher – Chester Chronicle cartoon

Hartlepools United 1 Chester 3 (FA Cup 1st Round) – Nov 27th 1948

Posted on July 6, 2019 by kwchas

1 – Pre-Match

For their first match in the 1948/49 FA Cup competition Chester were handed an uninspiring draw at Third Division North rivals Hartlepools United. The North-East side stood in 15th place in the table, two places and one point above Chester, and had won the league fixture at the Victoria Ground in September by two goals to one. The Cheshire Observer bemoaned the club’s fortunes and pointed out that this was the fourth consecutive away draw while the other local sides, Crewe, Tranmere, New Brighton and Wrexham, had all been drawn at home.

The omens were not good for Chester who were without an away win all season and had only picked up two points on their travels, at Crewe and Doncaster. However Hartlepool’s home record provided some hope as they had won four, drawn three and lost three of their 10 league matches. The previous Saturday they had drawn 1-1 with mid-table Mansfield and Frank Brown was optimistic stating: “I think we shall get through and I shall be satisfied if we can force a replay.”

Albert Burgess
Image – Chester Chronicle

Although Chester were struggling in the league there had been an improvement on the playing field since the double signing of inside-forward Albert Burgess from Bolton Wanderers and Duncan Harrigan, a reserve centre forward from Aston Villa. Manager Frank Brown had been keeping an eye on Burgess for some time and beat off competition from three other clubs, including two from the Second Division, to sign the Birkenhead born striker. The fee was considered substantial and matched the amount paid for Ray Westwood the previous year with the deal aided by the sale of inside forward Tommy Best to Cardiff City.

Both players had made their debuts at Oldham Athletic in mid-October and had found the net the following week in a 3-0 win over Accrington Stanley at Sealand Road. That victory had been followed by matches against the top three where, despite only picking up one point, the team had performed admirably, particularly in forcing a goalless draw at Doncaster Rovers. The Saturday before the Hartlepools game Chester had beaten bottom of the table Bradford City 3-0 with Burgess and Harrigan once again finding the net.

Duncan Harrigan
Image – Chester Chronicle

The speed of the two new players was considered a big asset especially with regard to beating a Hartlepools’ offside trap that had proved problematical in the league game at the Victoria Ground. Although there was no special training away from the city the players were able to prepare together and a lot of the tactical talk centred on the experience gained from the previous encounter. Relaxation was provided in the form of golf at Vicar’s Cross and country walks.

There had been one previous meeting in the competition with Chester comfortably beating Hartlepool’s 4-1 in 1931, the first FA Cup tie after joining the Football League.

The kick-off was schedule for 2pm and Chester travelled up to the North-East by train from Liverpool the day before the game.

2 – The Match

There was only one change to the Chester team that had beaten Bradford City the previous week with Ted Elliott replacing George Scales in goal for the first time since fracturing his toe in the defeat at Rotherham at the end of October.

Very few Chester fans made the long journey to the North East and both the Chester Chronicle and Cheshire Observer saw fit to mention the Hope family who set off with the family dog by train at 3am and arrived in Hartlepool at midday after no fewer than six changes. In the event the trip proved memorable with daughter Joyce commenting it was: “a tedious journey, maybe, but the result made it worthwhile.”

The Hope family’s away day proved to be so successful largely due to the hard work spent on tactics by Frank Brown. Utilising the pace of forwards Harrigan, Burgess and Bert Foulds, Chester adopted a more direct approach to beat Hartlepool’s renowned offside trap. As the Cheshire Observer commented: “…there was the desire to get the ball into the Hartlepool’s net by the nearest route and in the quickest possible manner.” It was described as Chester’s best performance of the season and the 3-1 scoreline might well have been more emphatic. Veteran Hartlepool manager Fred Westgarth admitted “We were well-licked” and there were no complaints about the defeat.

Most of the credit for the victory went to the forward line with left winger, John Forsyth in particular, proved to be a real handful having his best game since signing from New Brighton. However, Chester were also indebted to centre half Eric Lee who subdued centre forward Harry Hawkins and never put a foot wrong.

The game opened in gathering fog and Chester’s first chance fell to Billy Foulkes who hurried his shot with the ball flying wide of the post. At the other end Elliott had to be alert to make two desperate dives at the feet of the home forwards.

Chester took the lead in the 12th minute when Forsyth whipped the ball across to Foulkes. The right winger delayed his shot, which was blocked by Ray Thomspon, but the ball fell to George Williamson who smashed the ball into the net leaving keeper Norman Rimmington helpless.

George Williamson
Image – Chester Chronicle

The goal spurred on Chester who continued to press forward and Rimmington saved at point-blank range from Forsyth. There was another excellent chance when Harrigan cleverly hung back to beat the offside trap allowing Forsyth to run from the halfway line but with only the goalkeeper to beat he shot wide of the post. Rimmington made further good saves from Burgess (twice) and Harrigan while the latter was also unlucky when his cross-shot missed the target. With Chester surging forward there were so many players in the Hartlepools’ half that when a long clearance found Laurence Nevins he was left with a clear run on goal but Lee performed one of his spectacular tackles to save the day.

On the balance of play Chester deserved to be two or three goals ahead at the interval but they came under sustained pressure early in the second half when full back Tom Mackie was stretchered off the field after going into a tackle with James Isaac. The departure of Mackie saw the home side sense an opportunity and in their best spell of the match they forced an equaliser when John Price headed past Elliott with the Chester defence claiming that the inside left was in an offside position. The goal, on 52 minutes, further encouraged Hartlepools and for five minutes Chester were put under intense pressure but Elliott and his colleagues held firm.

Fortunately for Chester Mackie returned to the field of play after 10 minutes treatment for what turned out to be cramp and the visitors took control of the game. On 68 minutes they regained the lead when Reg Butcher took the ball to the edge of the penalty area and passed to Burgess. From a poor angle the former Bolton man crashed the ball against the crossbar but Harrigan was on hand to steer the ball across the line.

Seven minutes later the tie was put beyond doubt when Forsyth netted with a superb cross shot. Harrigan nearly added a fourth when he used his speed to outpace the Hartlepool’s defence but shot wide of the post. In the final five minutes, with the fog closing in, Elliott made the save of the match from Nevins’ piledriver as the home supporters left the ground in their hundreds.

It had been a great performance from Frank Brown’s side and the Hope family were rewarded for their loyalty by travelling back with the Chester party of players and directors.

Hartlepools United – Rimmington, Leonard, Thompson, Donaldson, Hughes, Newton, Burnett, Isaac, Hawkins, Price Nevins

Scorer – Price 52

Chester – Elliott, Butcher, Mackie, Astbury, Lee, Williamson, Foulkes, Burgess, Harrigan, Foulds, Forsyth

Scorer – Williamson 12, Harrigan 68, Forsyth 75

Attendance – 8,563

3- Post-match

Chester’s victory made it two FA Cup victories out of two against Hartlepools. Since then the clubs have been drawn together twice with a win for Pools in 1952/53 and Chester in 1976/77.

The draw for the 2nd Round gave Chester another away tie against either Aldershot or Ipswich Town. Their tie had been abandoned after just over an hour with Ipswich winning 1-0.

Chester Football History

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Tag Archives: Albert Burgess

Chester 1 Bradford PA 2 (FA Cup 1st Round) – November 25th 1950

Exeter City 2 Chester 0 (FA Cup 2nd Round) – December 10th 1949

Chester 4 Goole Town 1 (FA Cup 1st Round) – November 26th 1949

Aldershot 1 Chester 0 (FA Cup 2nd Round) – Dec 11th 1948

Hartlepools United 1 Chester 3 (FA Cup 1st Round) – Nov 27th 1948

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