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Blackpool 4 Chester 0 (FA Cup 4th Round) – Jan 24th 1948

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1 – Pre-Match

Chester had hoped for a home tie in the 4th Round but instead they faced a formidable trip to First Division Blackpool.

The Seasiders, who had beaten Leeds United 4-0 in the previous round, were regarded as joint favourites to win the FA Cup and had the most dangerous right wing pairing in the country in the shape of Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen. The Lancashire team had persuaded Stoke to sell Matthews for £11,500 the previous summer and he had formed a lethal combination with the equally skilful Mortenson. It was clear that Chester’s left-sided defenders faced a tough proposition but much was made of the fact that Dave McNeil and Eric Lee had successfully subdued Matthews in the two FA Cup ties against Stoke 12 months earlier.

Blackpool themselves approached the tie with caution having build a reputation as “The Team That Cannot Win A Cup Tie”. Between the wars they had been beaten at home by the likes of Luton Town, Watford and Oldham Athletic while they had also lost at Southport and Southend United. In fact, since joining the league in 1931, Chester’s FA Cup record had been as good as their opponents with both sides playing in the 4th Round on four occasions.

Reflecting on their recent cup record, Blackpool manager Joe Smith was quoted in the Cheshire Observer as saying “Do you wonder that nobody is inclined to be too confident about this Chester match?….I am taking nothing for granted. As soon as I knew that Chester were coming to town I told the boys “This is not necessarily a walk over””

Manager Frank Brown, who had won a Central League championship medal with the Tangerines in 1919/20, commented “It is one of the hardest ties we could possibly have had, but whatever the outcome I am sure our team will give Blackpool a real fight.”

Jimmy McIntosh - Blackpool and former Chester guest player Image courtesy of Blackpool Former Players Association
Jimmy McIntosh – Blackpool and former guest player for Chester
Image – Blackpool Former Players Association

There were a couple of familiar names in the Blackpool team. Centre forward Jimmy McIntosh had been a regular guest player for Chester during the war with his most notable performance coming in a 7-2 win over Wrexham in October 1942 when he scored a hat-trick. Meanwhile full-back Ron Suart had also made a couple of guest appearances at Sealand Road in 1944/45.

Chester warmed up for the game with a 1-1 draw at Darlington, in which new signing Ray Westwood scored his second goal in two league games, while Blackpool recorded a similar score at Wolves. The Seasiders approached the game as seriously as if they were playing a First Division side but had no special training other than a trip to the brine baths at Lytham and a planned game of golf.

There was no special training for the Chester players in Abergele either. With five part-time professionals unable to make the trip it was considered unviable, much to the disappointment of Abergele District Council who had made arrangements to host a dinner for the players. On the Thursday before the game most of the players went down to the Stadium for a final toning up and tactical talk and this was followed by an evening trip to the Regal Cinema. The following day they travelled up to Lytham St Annes where they stayed at a boarding house owned by a former employee of the Cheshire Observer.

Cup fever had overtaken Chester since the win at Crystal Palace and it was estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 supporters would make the journey. Some supporters had taken an option on buses before the draw was made and within half an hour of knowing the opposition every coach had been booked. Both Crosville and the Corporation had been inundated with calls and it was reported that parties had resorted to booking buses from Birkenhead and Shropshire. The Chester Chronicle stated that the convoy of buses would leave Chester at 9am with 2,000 supporters also expected to travel by train. The paper also suggested that there was hardly a pub, factory or office in the city which hadn’t arranged a trip.

Bloomfield Road had a capacity of 30,000 so the match was not made all-ticket. Chester were allocated 1,400 stand tickets which failed to satisfy the more than 4,000 applications that had reached the club on the Wednesday before the game. Stand tickets had been priced at 6s, 4s 6d and 4s while the paddock was priced at 4s 6d and 3s and the ground at 1s 3d.

The game was scheduled to kick-off at 2:30 while a replay was pencilled in for the following Saturday and made all-ticket.

2 – The Match

Chester named an unchanged starting eleven from the team that had beaten Crystal Palace in the previous round. Winger Phil Turner, who had been out of the side for two months with torn ligaments, had resumed training but wasn’t considered fully match fit.

In the end an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 Chester fans made the trip but there was no happy ending as Blackpool ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. It proved to be an uncomfortable afternoon for goalkeeper George Scales, the hero of the Crystal Palace match, who was at fault for the two goals scored before half-time. Although Frank Brown’s side had plenty of possession they were unable to tame Stanley Matthews who reportedly had one of his best games since joining from Stoke.

Blackpool got off to a quick start but Chester were in no way overawed and fought back strongly. However, just when it looked like they had weathered the early storm, they fell behind to a freak goal. On eight minutes full-back Eddie Shimwell launched a mighty clearance from within his own half but Scales badly misjudged the bounce and the ball hit the frozen ground, and soared high over his head into the net. Freddie Willcox made a vain attempt to clear the ball but collided with the upright and had to receive attention.

Cheshire Observer headline

It was a disastrous early blow and the mistake seemed to affect Scales’ confidence. When Mortensen hit a simple low shot on 25 minutes the goalkeeper was late in diving and let in a goal which he would normally have comfortably saved.

Trailing by two goals, after only 25 minutes, Chester faced an uphill task but they stuck to their guns and had as big a share of possession as their illustrious opponents. Both Joe Brown and George Williamson had good opportunities but despite a good spell of pressure City were unable to breech the Blackpool rearguard.

At the other end Willcox cleared off the line when Alec Munro shot for goal after good work by Matthews.

In the second half Blackpool took control of the game with Matthews a constant threat. The Chester defence struggled to cope with his wizardry and Dave McNeil, who had mastered the right-winger the previous season, was often outwitted. Fortunately the central defenders were able to deal with the stream of crosses otherwise the damage might have been much worse.

After Scales had partially redeemed himself with a brilliant save from Matthews Blackpool extended the lead on 69 minutes when Jimmy McIntosh fed Mortensen who ran through the Chester defence to fire past the keeper.

Chester’s best chance fell to Tommy Burden, who worked hard throughout, but his shot was blocked by Joe Robinson. The centre-forward was also unlucky to see a header from Bobby Hamilton’s cross go across the face of goal and out of play.

Six minutes from time the Seasiders wrapped the game up when Harry Johnston’s shot beat Scales off the post. Chester kept on trying to the end but they had been beaten by a better side although they received plenty of plaudits with the Blackpool Evening Gazette stating: “This Chester team deserves all the praise which could be given to it. Some of its football was of a class which Third Division teams are not supposed to play.”

Blackpool – Robinson, Shimwell, Suart, Johnston, Hayward, Kelly, Matthews, Mortensen, McIntosh, Dick, Munro

Scorers – Shimwell 8, Mortensen 25, 69, Johnston 84

Chester – Scales, Willcox, McNeil, Williamson, Lee, Butcher, Hamilton, Astbury, Burden, Westwood, Brown

Attendance – 26,414

Chester Chronicle cartoon

3- Post-match

Amongst the congratulatory letters received by the club after the game was one from the Blackpool FC Girls’ Supporters Club who complemented the team on their display saying “I thought you put up a better fight here than many First division clubs have done.” they also expressed surprise that the club was only 17th in the Third Division North. In fact the FA Cup run was the highlight of a disappointing season and Chester’s final 20th position was the first time they had finished in the bottom half of the table since joining the Football League.

Opponents Blackpool also saved their best performances for the FA Cup and reached the final where they were beaten 4-2 by Manchester United in a thrilling match. This was the first time that Chester had been beaten by the eventual finalists since 1890/91 when they were hammered 7-0 by eventual winners Blackburn Rovers. In the league the Seasiders finished in what was considered a disappointing ninth position.

The Blackpool tie proved to be the final FA Cup match for six Chester players: George Scales, Tommy Burden, Bobby Hamilton, Joe Brown, Freddie Willcox and Ray Westwood.

Scales continued to make regular appearances for Chester as he shared goalkeeping duties first with Jimmy MacLaren and then Ted Elliott. By the start of the 1949/50 campaign Elliott was firmly established as first choice keeper and in September Scales joined Rhyl, initially on loan, before making the move permanent. He won a Welsh Cup winner’s medal with the Welshman in 1952 to match the one he acquired with Chester in 1947. On both occasions Merthyr Tydfil were the opposition.

He left Rhyl in summer 1952 and became long-term landlord at the Pen-y-Bryn Hotel in Llanrwst. He died in 1993.

Tommy Burden had joined Chester in November 1945 from Wolves and was one of the success stories of the early post war years. As well as scoring the winning goals at Tranmere and Crystal Palace he managed an impressive 40 goals in 82 league games. His performances attracted the attention of Leeds United who were then managed by his former boss at Wolves, Major Frank Buckley, and he signed for the Yorkshire club in summer 1948. At Elland Road he was converted to left half, made 243 league appearances and was captain for his final four years in Yorkshire. A disagreement with manager Raich Carter saw him transferred to Bristol City for £3,000 in October 1954 where he remained a stalwart for the next eight years and recored another 231 league appearances. In May 1961 he briefly joined Glastonbury. Away from football he worked in the shoe trade and died in 2001.

Bobby Hamilton
Image – Chester Chronicle

Former Hearts junior Bobby Hamilton had also signed for Chester in November 1945 after being stationed in the city during the war. Although he was used on both the right and left flanks at Sealand Road there seems to be some question as to which was his best position . During the 1946/47 season he was mainly utilised on the left and was only switched to the right when Jackie Arthur was unavailable as appears to be the case for the FA Cup tie against Plymouth. The following year he again started on the left but injuries to Phil Turner saw him feature on the right wing where he played in the 1947/48 FA Cup run. However, a letter in the Chester Chronicle at the time suggests that Hamilton looked uncomfortable at outside left and was much better on the right.

Although Hamilton was one of the players who had attracted the interest of Sheffield Wednesday in 1947 he ended up signing for non-league Yeovil Town in 1948. He featured at outside right in the Yeovil team that famously beat First Division Sunderland’s “Bank of England” team in 1949 and continued to play for the Somerset side until 1952. He died in 1999.

Outside left Joe Brown joined Chester as an amateur from Port Sunlight and made 13 league appearances for the club before being released by Frank Brown at the end of the campaign and signing for Runcorn. The Bebington born winger remained at Canal Street for many years and faced Chester Reserves in the Cheshire County League as late as 1958. He died in 2004.

Full-back Freddie Willcox had joined the club from Everton and made 16 league appearances in the 1947/48 season. Recalling the Blackpool game in 2007 Freddie said that he received mild concussion after colliding with the post in attempting to prevent the first goal and couldn’t remember anything about the rest of the match.

Towards the end of the season he broke his tibia and fibia in a tackle, an injury that eventually brought a premature end to his career. In the 1948/49 season he featured for the Cheshire County League side and eventually signed for South Liverpool who he captained against Chester in a Welsh Cup tie that went to three games in 1949/50. After retiring from football he worked at Ford’s in Halewood and died in 2015.

Freddie Willcox in 2007 with the programme for the match
Image – Rick Matthews

Former England international Ray Westwood was a major signing when he joined Chester from Bolton Wanderers for £2,400 on Boxing Day 1947. Although his class was evident, in the FA Cup ties against Crystal Palace and Blackpool, the 35 year old inside-forward struggled with injuries in his time at Sealand Road where he managed 13 goals in his 38 league appearances. At the time it was calculated that each appearance cost the club £70, an amount they could ill afford at a time when they were starting to struggle financially.

Before the start of the 1949/50 season he refused to accept terms and, after being made available for transfer, signed for Darwen. He continued playing for the Lancashire Combination side until 1951. A cousin of Manchester United and England international Duncan Edwards, he died in 1981 at the age of 69.

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Crystal Palace 0 Chester 1 (FA Cup 3rd Round) – Jan 10th 1948

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1 – Pre-Match

Chester may have hoped for one of the big boys from Division 1 in the FA Cup 3rd Round but the tie at Crystal Palace gave them an excellent opportunity of making further progress in the competition. Much like Chester, the Division 3 South side had suffered an up and down campaign. Although they had failed to win an away league match they had proved to be a tough nut to crack at home with only one defeat to their name.

Speaking about the draw in the Chester Chronicle, manager Frank Brown was hopeful stating: “It could have been kinder to us but we have a real chance. The playing pitch at Selhurst is big, and that will suit our boys.”

The Londoner’s had reached this stage of the competition by beating Port Vale followed by Bristol City but were finding goals hard to come by having only scored 23 in 23 league games. Their main strength had been in defence but this had been tested in recent weeks and three goals had been conceded at both Torquay and Northampton.

Chester had struggled in the league since eliminating Tranmere Rovers in the 2nd Round. A defeat at Oldham Athletic had been followed by two setbacks against York City over the Christmas period. For the first league game of 1948, at home to Tranmere, goalkeeper Jim MacLaren had been dropped in favour of George Scales while Joe Brown had returned to the problematic outside left position. Meanwhile a bout of influenza for Trevor Walters had seen Eric Lee move to centre half. The changes had the desired effect and Chester completed their third victory of the season over Rovers by a comfortable 4-0 scoreline.

One player who missed the league game at Tranmere was new signing Ray Westwood, a pre-war England international from Bolton Wanderers. The 35 year old inside forward had made more than 300 league appearances for the Burden Park club and his signing, for a record £2,400 on Boxing Day, had been regarded as a major coup.

Ray Westwood and Frank Brown –
Image Chester Chronicle

Westwood had scored within 10 minutes of his debut, in the home game against York, and his steadying influence had been regarded as a positive sign despite the 3-2 defeat. However flu had prevented his inclusion against Tranmere although he was expected to be in contention for the Palace game.

Despite the expense involved, a trip to London sparked the interest of fans and the Chronicle reported that supporters all over the city were arranging coaches and train travel down to the capital. The match was not all-ticket but 250 tickets at 4/- had been reserved for Chester in the centre stand at a Selhurst Park ground that was reported to hold between 60,000 and 80,000 spectators.

In preparation for the FA Cup tie Chester once again chose to return to Abergele for special training. The arrival of the Chester team was an event for the town with the Publicity Association stating: “It is good news and a grand advertisement for Abergele to hear that Chester’s directors decided upon Abergele again against the claims of Brighton. Chester FC will join a long list of prominent individuals and organisations who have great faith in the health giving properties of the Abergele air.”

The Cheshire Observer reported that the players got a great welcome when they arrived at the North Wales resort on the Monday before the game and they stayed at “their lucky boarding house at Pensarn within a minute’s walk of the sea front and within easy reach of long country walks”. The players had a strict lights out at 11pm every night.

The stay took the usual format of training with plenty of leisure activities. On Tuesday morning the players had a round of golf before training at Abergele United’s ground in the afternoon. In the evening the squad attended a performance of “Victory Circus”, an animal revue at the Queen’s Theatre in Rhyl. On Wednesday the players did some sprinting on the promenade before a long walk around the grounds of Gwyrch Castle and a whist drive at the local golf club in the evening. Thursday’s programme included more sprinting and massage with a darts match against a local team in the evening.

The Chester team departed North Wales directly for London on the Friday where they stayed at the Imperial Hotel. In what had clearly been a well-organised week Frank Brown commented that the the players had taken the training very seriously and had ben able to completely relax. New signing Westwood was happy with the preparation saying: “I have had a grand week getting to know and settling down with my new colleagues – a great set of chaps.”

The match was scheduled to kick-off at 2:15pm.

Chester players training on the Annexe in January 1948.
Image – Chester Chronicle

2 – The Match

Chester made one change from the side that had beaten Tranmere in the league the previous week. The experienced Westwood returned to the starting eleven in place of Tommy Best while Eric Lee retained his place at centre half despite the recovery of Trevor Walters.

Around 1,000 supporters, led by cheer-leader Micky Moran, made the trip down to London, and were rewarded with a magnificent display. The game was settled by a superbly taken goal from Tommy Burden but they were indebted to an outstanding second half goalkeeping performance from George Scales who had the game of his life. The Cheshire Observer reporter, Ralph Houdley, stated that he could not remember a better exhibition of goalkeeping and the former understudy to Frank Swift at Manchester City fully deserved his standing ovation at the end of the game.

Chester Chronicle view of the game

In a hard-fought game the first half was evenly contested and Chester almost had a dream start when Bobby Hamilton’s well-placed pass found Westwood who rushed his shot and sliced the ball wide. Joe Brown had a good chance to score but elected to pass when he would have been better off shooting while Palace’s Alf Somerfield shot over from a good position.

In the 36th minute Chester took the lead when Westwood found Burden with a gem of a pass. The centre forward deceived Joe Millbank and crashed a magnificent left foot shot past Dick Graham into the Palace net. It was a beautifully worked goal and typical of the former Wolves forward who capitalised on the only opportunity presented to him in the game.

The home side, stunned by the Chester goal, responded quickly and Lewis’s free kick was pushed against the crossbar by Scales and scrambled away by Lee. At the other end Westwood almost added a second but this header from a George Williamson free kick narrowly passed the upright.

It was a different story in the second half when Chester were subjected to wave after wave of Palace attacks with Scales and a resilient rearguard preventing the home side snatching an equaliser. In between making outstanding saves the Northwich born keeper was in the wars and needed attention from trainer Vic Brown on no less than five occasions as he displayed a remarkable show of bravery.

Within five minutes of the resumption a thunderous free-kick from Thomas Reece was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Scales and from the resultant corner Jack Lewis charged the keeper against the upright leaving him briefly concussed. As soon as play restarted he was diving at the feet of Somerfield and receiving a kick to the head for his troubles which required more treatment from the overworked Chester trainer.

Further outstanding saves followed from Albert Robson (twice) and Reece and for half an hour the defence was put under immense pressure. Even when Scales lost possession and was lying on the ground the defenders stood firm and blocked shots by packing the goal.

Eric Lee clears another Palace attack.
Image Chester Chronicle

An equaliser looked imminent and Robson and Reece had further shots brilliantly saved but with ten minutes remaining the pressure started to relent and Tommy Astbury had a volley well saved by Graham with Williamson heading just wide from the resulting corner. In the closing minutes Scales capped a magnificent display with another great save from Reece and when the final whistle blew the Palace players rightly congratulated the keeper on his superlative display.

It had been a determined performance from Chester in a thrilling cup-tie and they were roundly cheered off the field by their relieved supporters who had endured a nervous afternoon.

While Scales made the headlines with his second half display plaudits also went to the rest of the defence who performed heroically. There had been doubts expressed beforehand about the deployment of Lee at centre half in place of Walters but the amateur kept a tight hold on Somerfield throughout. Meanwhile Reg Butcher was a tower of strength and Williamson, who was the outstanding player in the first half, never missed a tackle.

While Palace could consider themselves unlucky Chester’s refusal to cave in to pressure earned them a place in the 4th Round.

Crystal Palace – Graham, Harding, Dawes, J Lewis, Millbank, Reece, Mycock, G Lewis, Somerfield, Robson, Clough

Chester – Scales, Willcox, McNeil, Williamson, Lee, Butcher, Hamilton, Astbury, Burden, Westwood, Brown

Scorer – Burden 36

Attendance – 22,084

3- Post-match

Eric Lee’s appearance at centre half was a taste of things to come. Although the number five shirt was shared by Williamson and Walters for the remainder of the campaign it became the regular position for the Chester-born defender from the start of the following season through to 1956/57.

In the week following the game two letters appeared in the Cheshire Observer written by former Cestrians living near Selhurst Park. These forerunners to the Chester Exiles were full of praise for the performance from their native city team. This was only the second time the club had played a match in London, following an FA Cup win at Clapton Orient in 1934, so it was a rare opportunity for exiled supporters to see Chester in the flesh. In those days, long before the internet, one of the writers mentioned that the only way he could follow the club was by reading copies of the Observer which were forwarded to him every week.

Crystal Palace’s defeat did little to help their league form and they only won one of their next ten games but improved results in March and April saw them finish 13th in Division Three South.

This proved to be the only meeting between the sides in the FA Cup. The next time they crossed swords was in August 1958 when Chester visited Selhurst Park for their first ever away game in Division Four with the game ending in a 3-3 draw. Coincidentally Palace were also the opponents for the first ever match in Division Three in August 1975. On that occasion Malcolm Allison’s Eagles won 2-0.

The 4th Round draw handed Chester an away trip to First Division Blackpool and a second meeting with Stanley Matthews.

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Tranmere Rovers 0 Chester 1 (FA Cup 2nd Round) – Dec 13th 1947

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1 – Pre-Match

After the 3-1 victory over Bishop Auckland, Chester were paired with fellow Division Three North side and local rivals Tranmere Rovers in the 2nd Round. It was a tough draw against a Rovers team that had shown improved form since the opening weeks of the season. Back in August Frank Brown’s side had secured their only away win of the campaign with a 3-2 victory at Prenton Park thanks to a last minute goal. The bookmakers certainly knew where the smart money should go as Chester were rated at 2,000 to one to win the FA Cup compared with Rovers at a mere 1,000 to one.

From a financial point of view it was considered to be a good draw but, perhaps surprisingly, the game had not been made all-ticket. Prenton Park was estimated to hold between 18,000 and 20,000 and a crowd of 17,359 had already attended their local derby against New Brighton in September. Chester expected a minimum of 3,000 fans to make the short journey to Birkenhead and every available coach in the area had been chartered.

Within the ground Chester had been allocated 140 seats at 3s in the 500 capacity centre stand while the unreserved 1200 capacity wing stand was priced at 2s 6d. The paddock and covered stand behind the goal was priced at 1s 9d and the rest of the ground at 1s 3d.

Only two weeks had passed since the Bishop Auckland game and Tranmere’s confidence was high following a good showing at Halifax when they had recovered from 2-0 down, with just over 20 minutes to go, to draw 2-2. The same could not be said of Chester who had been on the end of a heavy 4-1 defeat at Stockport, regarded as their worst display of the campaign.

The game was scheduled to kick-off at 2pm and in the event of the teams being level after extra time the replay would take place the following Saturday and would be all-ticket.

2 – The Match

The trouncing at Stockport saw Frank Brown make sweeping changes to the team as he pinned his faith on the formation from the previous season. The big change was at centre half where veteran Trevor Walters was restored to the starting eleven with George Williamson taking the place of Frank Marsh at right half and Eric Lee returning to the more familiar role of left half.

There was some surprise at the dropping of Freddie Willcox, and he was replaced at right back by Reg Butcher, who had featured in that position in 1946/47. It was less of a shock to see that Dick Yates had been excluded and his place at centre forward taken by local boy Geoff Coffin. Meanwhile Tommy Astbury had recovered from a knee injury, which had forced him to miss three games, and he returned at the expense of Tommy Best while Harry Colville continued on the left wing.

Although Chester travelled to Prenton Park more in hope than confidence the manager’s gamble paid dividends as his side played with some of their old swagger and secured a place in the 3rd Round thanks to a goal from Tommy Burden thirteen minutes from time. While it was not a brilliant game Chester had the majority of possession and fully deserved the victory which was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested.

In a game dominated by defences the recall of Walters made all the difference and he stood out as a colossus as the Tranmere forwards struggled to make any headway against his rock-like presence. In addition Williamson proved that he was best suited to the half back role while Lee enhanced his reputation with a superb second-half display. Such was the performance of the Chester defence that Jim MacLaren had little to do in goal and it was only in the closing stages that he was forced into a couple of smart saves.

In the first half Chester’s best chance came when Burden sent a beautifully weighted pass through to Bobby Hamilton and his well-judged cross found Coffin but the young striker’s header was over the bar. On the stroke of half time Williamson almost gave Chester the lead but his header, from a Hamilton corner, passed a few inches wide of the upright.

After the break MacLaren saved well from Bridges while Coffin fired into the side netting and Hamilton shot wide after good work from Burden. The winning goal came in the 77th minute when Lee headed forward and the ball fell to Burden whose shot struck the inside of the far upright and rocketed into the net. Tranmere rallied in the closing stages but the Chester defence held firm and almost added a second but Payne made the save of the match from Hamilton.

Although the vast majority of Chester fans were delighted with the result there was still a small group who demonstrated to the directors after the match about the dropping of certain players.

The victory put Chester into the 3rd Round for the fifth consecutive season and a chance of drawing one of the big clubs from the top two divisions.

Tranmere Rovers – Payne, Johnstone, Connor, Steele, Bell, Malcolm, Harlock, Lamb, Bridges, Leeming, Pollard

Chester – MacLaren, Butcher, McNeil, Williamson, Walters, Lee, Hamilton, Burden, Coffin, Astbury, Colville

Scorer – Burden 77

Attendance – 14,132

3- Post-match

The FA Cup victory vindicated Frank Brown’s team selection and he kept the same lineup for the following game at Oldham Athletic. Unfortunately his side couldn’t repeat the performance and were well beaten 3-1. The match at Boundary Park proved to be the last in Chester colours for Harry Colville after only four Football League appearances and two FA Cup ties. Despite a goal on his debut, ironically at Tranmere, Harry failed to create an impression at Sealand Road although the Chester Chronicle, reporting on the FA Cup tie at Prenton Park suggested that he should be given an extended trial in the first team to “overcome an obviously nervous disposition”. The former Falkirk and Raith Rovers player returned to the reserves where he played a handful of games before being given a free transfer at the end of the campaign.

Harry rejoined his former club Raith Rovers and within 12 months had won a Scottish League Cup runners-up medal and promotion from the Scottish Second Division. Despite appearing as an outside left at Chester Harry’s turn of speed and imposing presence saw him successfully converted to centre half and over the next seven seasons he made 290 first team appearances for the Kirkcaldy club. After returning to Falkirk for a season Harry signed for Dunfermline Athletic where he made 178 consecutive appearances in the centre of defence before retiring at the age of 36. In 1960 he was appointed manager of Cowdenbeath where he remained for four seasons. Away from football Harry proved himself an all-round sportsman by winning the British Curling Championship on three occasions. He died in March 1999.

Jim MacLaren

Another Scotsman, Jim MacLaren, also made his final FA Cup appearance in the Tranmere game. After three league defeats in December he lost his place to George Scales but returned to first team duties in April and retained his position at the beginning of the 1948/49 season. Unfortunately, Jim did not have the best of starts to the campaign and when his error cost two points in a 2-1 home defeat to Darlington he was dropped by Frank Brown and replaced by Scales. In October Chester signed the experienced Ted Elliott from Wolves and it was clear that Jim’s days at Sealand Road were numbered. In November he asked to be put on the transfer list which resulted in a move to Carlisle United at the end of the year. Like Colville the transfer proved to be his making and the Crieff-born keeper went on to make 261 appearances for the Cumbrians including a record breaking run of over 200 consecutive league and cup games from 1950 to 1954. In 1955 Jim was given a free transfer and crossed the border to join Berwick Rangers where he played for a further 18 months. After leaving football he worked as a sales rep in both Scotland and Lincolnshire and died in August 2004.

Man of the Match Trevor Walters was the third player appearing for the final time in a Chester FA Cup tie. The veteran defender had been a stalwart at Sealand Road, having joined the club in 1937, and although he made a further 17 league appearances in 1947/48 he made just a single appearance the following year and joined Caernarvon Town as player-coach in March 1949. He later played for Flint Town.

In April 1948 Trevor was awarded a benefit game against Manchester City, attended by more than 8,000 supporters, the first player to rewarded in this way for more than 40 years. He made a total of 151 league appearances for Chester but this would have been considerably higher had it not been for the war when he served as a Sergeant-Instructor in the army. While based at Aldershot he captained the local team which included guest players like Matt Busby, Joe Mercer and Tommy Lawton. He also served in the Middle East and captained the Wanderers team that featured Tom Finney and Bob Paisley.

For many years he was landlord of the Swan Hotel in Flint and later worked for Hawker Siddeley. He continued to attend Chester home games and died in June 1989.

Opponents Tranmere Rovers faded in the second half of the campaign and, despite a run of five consecutive victories in January and February eventually finished in 18th place in the Third Division North.

Meanwhile Chester’s reward was an away trip to London in the 3rd Round and a first ever trip to Crystal Palace.

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Chester 3 Bishop Auckland 1 (FA Cup 1st Round) – Nov 29th 1947

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1 – Pre-Match

For the first time since the 1934/35 season Chester were drawn against non-league opposition in the 1st Round of the 1947/48 FA Cup. Bishop Auckland were one of the most famous names in amateur football having won the Amateur Cup on seven occasions and the Northern League nine times including the previous campaign.

The tie, against a team unbeaten in the league, was considered one of the most attractive games of the round and it was not an easy proposition for Chester who had failed to recapture their form from the previous season. They also had three key players on the injury list with goalkeeper George Scales and forwards Tommy Astbury and Phil Turner all set to miss out.

One of the major concerns for Chester was the loss of form shown by Dick Yates. The centre forward had scored 36 goals during the previous campaign but had only managed one prior to the FA Cup tie and that had been in the first game of the season against Oldham. The previous Saturday Frank Brown’s side had lost by a single goal at Accrington Stanley when, despite having the majority of possession, they had failed to create many scoring opportunities.

The Bishop Auckland team, comprising of school teachers, steelworkers, electricians and clerks, arrived in Chester the day before the game and stayed at the Queen Hotel. The Chronicle reported that they were hopeful of securing a draw and their secretary, Kit Rudd, was quoted in the same paper as saying: ” We have a very good amateur side and we shall fight very hard.”

The game was scheduled to kick-off at 2pm with a new ruling meaning that their would be 30 minutes extra time if the game finished all square after 90 minutes in order to obviate the necessity of mid-week replays.. If a replay was required it would take place the following Saturday.

2 – The Match

The Chester team lined up with one change from the Accrington defeat with winger Joe Brown replaced by former Raith Rovers player, Harry Colville who had been playing centre forward for the reserves. Another Scot, Jimmy MacLaren, continued to deputise for George Scales in goal while Eric Lee returned to right back in a straight swap with Tommy Burden who moved to inside right as Tommy Astbury failed to recover from his knee injury.

The conditions for the game were not conducive to good football with a soft surface covering very hard ground underneath.

Chester got off to a perfect start and took the lead in the 12th minute when Dick Yates played a beautiful pass to Bobby Hamilton who beat Farrer twice before his cross-cum-shot found Yates who applied the finishing touch. In fact the centre forward should have scored before this but, when put clean through, his shot was blocked at close range by Washington

On the half hour mark the lead was extended but there was large element of doubt about the goal. Colville played a perfect ball through to Tommy Burden whose shot struck the inside of one post, bounced across the goal and was fielded by Washington. However the linesman ruled that the ball had crossed the line and a goal was given. There were no protests from the sporting visitors. Three minutes before the interval the Bishops pulled a goal back when Farrer scored from the penalty spot after Colville had been adjudged to have fouled Twigg although the decision looked harsh. On the stroke of half time Colville had the chance to make amends but he blazed over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

The goal spurred on the visitors, who were well backed by 10 coach loads of supporters, and for the first 20 minutes of the second half it looked as though they might snatch an equaliser. Nevertheless the best chance fell to Yates who headed wide of the upright from a Washington clearance. At the other end Douglass shot wide of the upright before Yates wrapped the game up in the 78th minute with a great shot from Reg Butcher’s excellent pass. The strike showed some of the hallmarks of one of his goals from the previous season. The match finished with Bishops almost scoring a second but Douglass’ well-struck shot was brilliantly saved by MacLaren.

It had been a mediocre display from Chester. They had just about deserved their victory but the visitors came out of the game with a great deal of credit. Man of the Match by some distance was Bishops’ left-half Bob Hardisty, who was competing with Eric Lee for a place in the England amateur team. The 26 year old school teacher put in an energetic performance and, according to the Chronicle reporter, his accurate passing along the ground made the Chester half-backs look shoddy by comparison.

The Cheshire Observer felt that the difference between the sides was the Chester defenders who proved to be too strong for the opposing attackers. While MacLaren dealt with everything that came his way he was ably assisted by full backs Freddie Willcox and Dave McNeill who both put in whole-hearted displays and were fast in the tackle. However, the home forward line was less impressive and looked disjointed. Although outside right Bobby Hamilton had one of his best games Colville was disappointing on the other wing. The two Tommys, Best and Burden, performed ‘quite well’ while Yates showed some glimpses of his old self and it was hoped that his goals would help increase his confidence.

Chester – MacLaren, Willcox, McNeil, Butcher, Williamson, Lee, Hamilton, Burden, Yates, Best, Colville

Scorers – Yates 12, 78 Burden 30

Bishop Auckland – Washington, Hadfield, Farrer, Egdell, Tulip, Hardisty, Twigg, Gilhome. Douglass, Teasdale, Smith

Scorer – Farrer pen 42

Attendance – 8,300

3- Post-match

Despite scoring two goals this proved to be the final FA Cup match in Chester colours for Dick Yates. The Queensferry born striker played in the next league game against Stockport County but was surprisingly transferred to Wrexham for a four figure fee in December, The move provided instant dividends for the centre forward as he scored a hat-trick in his debut for the Reds against Halifax. He went on to play for New Brighton in the Football League before turning out for Flint Town United, Colwyn Bay, Bethesda Athletic and Connah’s Quay. He later worked as a petrol pump attendant at John Summers Steelworks and died in 1976.

Tommy Best – 1947

It was also the final game for fellow striker Tommy Best who was unfortunate to miss the rest of the cup run. The first coloured player to represent Chester in the Football League Best ended the campaign as Chester’s second highest scorer behind Tommy Burden with 10 goals in 30 league games. By the start of the following season he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs with Cardiff, Blackburn and Blackpool all interested in signing him. In the end he opted to join Cardiff City and Chester received £7,000 for his services. After a season at Ninian Park he signed for QPR in 1949 but only made 12 appearances, scoring three goals before moving into non-league football with Milford Haven. This was followed by a successful three seasons at Hereford United and then 18 months at Bromsgrove Rovers. After leaving football he worked as a baker for Mother’s Pride. In February 2009 he made his first visit to Chester in 60 years when he was a guest at the game against Gillingham. Tommy died in September 2018 at the grand age of 97.

Tommy Best – Feb 2009. (photo Fraser Bird/Chester Chronicle

Opponents Bishop Auckland went on to have another successful season in the Northern League and finished as runners-up as well as reaching the semi-final of the Amateur Cup. Bob Hardisty, who had such an impressive game, went on to play alongside Eric Lee in the Great Britain team in the 1948 Olympics.

The draw for the 2nd Round handed Chester an intriguing away tie at local rivals Tranmere Rovers.

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Stoke City 3 Chester 2 (FA Cup 4th Round replay) – Jan 29th 1947

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1 – Pre-Match

Saturday’s goalless draw left Chester as the sole Division 3 representative when the draw was made for the FA Cup 5th Round the following Monday. The incentive for the winners was a home tie against the winners of the tie between Wolves and Sheffield United which had also finished 0-0.

2 – The Match

The weather had taken a turn for the worse following the match at Sealand Road and by the time the replay took place four days later the temperature had dropped and the players were faced with Arctic conditions. Heavy snow had fallen and there was a thick covering on the pitch which put the match in doubt. Nevertheless around 2,000 Chester supporters made the journey down to the Potteries but the weather conditions made the attendance lower than it might have been. A crowd of 22,683, paying receipts of £2,830 meant that Chester earned around £1,500 from the two ties.

Both teams were unchanged for the replay Given the state of the pitch the game was played at a fast pace and the players coped well with a tricky surface.

It was Stoke who adapted best to the treacherous conditions in the early stages and the Chester defence was put under intense pressure but Eric Lee, Dave McNeil and Trevor Walters all continued from where they had left off in the first game. However Stanley Matthews was seeing much more of the ball than he had at Sealand Road and he was creating chances for the forwards who were guilty of over-eagerness in front of goal. The Potters were also hampered by an early injury to Frank Mountford which left him as a passenger on the right wing for much of the game.

The home side finally made the breakthrough in the 21st minute when a cross from Matthews was headed down by Alex Ormston and finished by Steele whose shot gave George Scales no chance.

Chester responded well with some clever football but failed to trouble Arthur Jepson in the Stoke goal and at the other end McNeil cleared a Matthews shot off the line. On the stroke of half time Tommy Burden has a great chance to equalise but after breaking clear of the defence he was too cautious in trying to beat Jepson and shot wide of the upright.

Eight minutes into the second half Stoke extended their lead after great work by Ormston who beat two defenders before passing to Steele who had the simple job of scoring into an empty net.

Stoke continued to pile on the pressure and Scales made a flying save from Ormston. However, the Potters’ winger didn’t have to wait long to add to the lead when he hit a rising shot past Scales in the 65th minute.

Daily Dispatch photo of Stoke’s 3rd goal

At 3-0 Stoke looked comfortable and they took the opportunity to let the struggling Mountford leave the field with a pulled muscle for the final 20 minutes.

However, when all seemed lost, Chester performed a remarkable late comeback in which they almost took the game into extra-time. In the 71st minute Bobby Hamilton reduced the arrears with a spectacular strike which left Jepson rooted to the spot. Four minutes later the keeper was beaten for a second time when he failed to gather a shot from the ever-dangerous Dick Yates and the centre forward made no mistake from the rebound.

Dick Yates – scorer of Chester’s 2nd goal

The game was now heading for a thrilling finale and Stoke should have put the game beyond doubt when Lee tackled Matthews from behind in the penalty area. The England winger took the resultant spot-kick himself and showed that he was fallible when his shot was saved by Scales.

The penalty miss spurred Chester on to even greater efforts and the final five minutes saw them bombard the Stoke goal and an equaliser seemed inevitable. Jepson made two close range saves while both Neil Franklin and Billy Mould headed the ball off the line in a frenetic finish. The Mould clearance, from a Tommy Burden shot, proved particularly controversial as the Chester forwards were adamant that the ball had crossed the line.

Despite this late pressure Chester couldn’t snatch the equaliser their play deserved and a relieved Stoke held on to earn a 5th Round tie against Sheffield United who beat Wolves on the same evening.

Daily Dispatch view of the game

3 – Post Match

Chester had been superb in both games against one of the best teams in the country. Although Stoke were eliminated from the FA Cup by Sheffield United in the next round their form in the league over the remainder of the season was excellent. They only suffered one more defeat going into the last match of the season when they knew that victory, ironically at Sheffield United, would hand them their first ever league title. Sadly they were beaten 2-1 at Brammall Lane and finished 4th with the title going to Liverpool.

Meanwhile, away from the FA Cup, Chester’s form had slipped after a great start to the season when they only lost one of the first 18 games. The slump coincided with a disruption to the forward line which had been lethal in the first half of the season. Jackie Arthur, Tommy Burden, Dick Yates, Tommy Astbury and Bobby Hamilton were all ever-present until December and their ability attracted the interest of bigger clubs with Sheffield Wednesday reportedly interested in taking Burden, Astbury and Yates to Hillsborough. The injury to Arthur, at Rotherham on Christmas Day, seemed to be a particular problem and he failed to regain his early season form and only made another four league appearances. At the end of the season he was released and joined Rochdale.

There was one other player who featured in his last FA Cup tie for Chester. Although Frank Marsh was still at Sealand Road during the 1947/48 season, and played 31 league games, the former Bolton player didn’t feature in the FA Cup. The right-half had originally moved to Sealand Road from Burnden Park in 1939 and after a handful of game for the Cheshire County League side in the 1948/49 campaign he eventually signed for Macclesfield in January 1949.

Chester’s regained their early season form in March and ended the campaign strongly in 3rd place, all be it 16 points behind the champions Doncaster Rovers. The points total of 56 was the highest since joining the league in 1931 and Dick Yates’ haul of 36 league goals passed the previous Football League best of 34 set by Joe Mantle in 1932/33.

Stoke City – Jepson, Mould, McCue, Mountford, Franklin, Kirton, Matthews, Peppitt, Steele, Baker, Ormston

Scorers – Steele 21, 53, Ormston 65

Chester – Scales, Butcher, McNeil, Marsh, Walters, Lee, Arthur, Burden, Yates, Astbury, Hamilton

Scorers – Hamilton 71, Yates 75

Attendance – 22,683

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