Barney Daniels, who became Chester’s record signing in summer 1975, has passed away at the age of 74. A stocky striker with a powerful shot Chester never saw the best of the centre forward and he only managed nine Football League appearances for the club before departing for Stockport County where he was more successful.
Signed as an amateur by Manchester United Barney spent two years at Old Trafford before moving on to Salford Amateurs but it was his goalscoring prowess at Ashton United that attracted the attention of Manchester City who signed him for £1,000. He made an explosive start at Maine Road with two goals on his debut in a 4-1 televised win against Leicester City and went on to make 10 appearances in the 1974/75 season.
In July 1975 Ken Roberts brought Barney to Sealand Road in order to bolster the attacking options following promotion to Division Three. Chester paid a reported £25,000 for the Salford born player and Roberts saw him as a strong and quick striker who could cause defences problems. After making his debut as a substitute, in a League Cup tie at Wrexham, Barney made his first full start in Chester’s opening Division Three home fixture against Southend United. Although he was on target with a 25 yard effort this was as good as it got and his only other goal for the club came in an 8-1 thrashing of Kidderminster in the Welsh Cup. Four days after the Southend game Barney was substituted in the return leg of the League Cup tie against Wrexham and reacted angrily by throwing his shirt to the ground and storming into the dressing room. Although he apologised for the gesture he was disciplined by the club and thenceforth found it difficult to make an impact.
At the end of the 1975/76 campaign Barney was released by Chester and joined Stockport County where he showed Chester what they had been missing by scoring 11 goals in his first 11 league games. He went on to finish leading scorer for County and after dropping out of the Football League had further spells with Ashton United, Hyde United and Prestwich Heys.
Former Chester striker Eddie Loyden, who had two spells with the club during the late sixties and early seventies, has sadly passed away at the age of 79.
A traditional centre forward Eddie was an out and out goalscorer and not the sort of player to track back or link up play. This is reflected in an impressive goal scoring record that saw him score 48 goals in 99 Football League appearances. Dominant in the air, many of his goals were scored with his head and his tall and rangy physique made him an awkward presence and a handful for defenders.
Born in Liverpool, Eddie started his career as a junior at Blackpool and made his debut during 1965 in a Division One fixture against Liverpool. After a season at Carlisle Eddie was snapped up by Peter Hauser, in July 1967, on a free transfer and made a dream debut with two headed goals in a 2-1 victory at Notts County. He went on to score 22 goals in 37 games that season, including four in a 6-0 win over Lincoln City, and comfortably finished leading scorer for a struggling team that had to apply for re-election. At the end of the campaign Ken Roberts, looking to raise funds to rebuild the team, made the pragmatic decision to sell Eddie to Shrewsbury Town for a club record fee of £13,000.
After only six months Eddie was on the move again when Barnsley signed him for £10,000 but he returned to Sealand Road in November 1970 in unusual circumstances as Ken Roberts looked for a tall goal grabber to play alongside Alan Tarbuck and Derek Draper. Although an agreement had been reached for Eddie to move to Chester the Yorkshire side selected him to play against a full strength Sheffield United team in the Yorkshire Senior Cup. Eddie promptly put the cat among the pigeons by scoring an eight minute hat-trick to overturn a 2-0 half time deficit and give Barnsley second thoughts. Nevertheless Chester insisted a gentleman’s agreement had been in place and handed over £7,000 to the reluctant Yorkshiremen.
The move proved successful as the big man formed an effective partnership with Tarbuck and managed 15 goals in 28 games as Chester finished just outside the promotion places. Unfortunately a missed penalty by Eddie, in a crucial Easter fixture against York City, proved decisive and although the game finished 1-1 Chester missed out on a top four spot by a single point.
The 1971/72 season saw Eddie once again finish as leading scorer with 11 goals but, as a whole, the team struggled to find the back of the net and after the start of February appearances were limited as Ken Roberts sought to find the answer to the goalscoring dilemma. In June 1972 Eddie signed for Tranmere Rovers for £4,000 and will be remembered at Prenton Park for scoring the only goal in a famous League Cup victory over Arsenal at Highbury. After two years at Tranmere Eddie moved to South Africa to play for Highlands Park and then on to Hong Kong before retiring in 1978.
In later life Eddie resided in his home town city but suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and passed away on June 5th.
A typical goal against Northampton – January 1971
Scoring the first goal in a 2-1 win over Notts County – January 1971
Eddie in action in the FA Cup 2nd Round tie against Crewe – Dec 1970
Playing in the FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Derby County – Jan 1971
Former Chester full-back Bryn Jones, who made 30 Football League appearances for the club between 1964 and 1967, sadly passed away in January at the age of 85. Bryn will be remembered for an incident on New Year’s Day 1966 when he and fellow full back Ray Jones ended up in Chester Royal Infirmary together after both suffered a broken leg in the league match against Aldershot at Sealand Road.
Born in Bagillt Bryn started his career with local club Holywell Town, becoming a Welsh amateur international in 1961. At the start of the 1962/63 season Bryn signed for Bangor City but his stay proved brief and he returned to Holywell after only a few months. In January 1963 he was offered the opportunity to turn professional with third Division Watford but only made two Football League appearances for the Hornets before being released in summer 1964.
Peter Hauser brought Bryn to the Stadium in August 1964 and was quickly given his debut at right back against Bradford City as a replacement for the experienced Johnny Molyneux. His stint in the first team proved short-lived and following the next game against Torquay he was replaced by Ray Jones and spent the remainder of the season in the Cheshire County League team.
In September 1965 Bryn returned to the first team at left back establishing an effective partnership alongside Ray Jones before the New Year’s Day tragedy when both players broke a leg. With neither player adequately replaced the strong promotion challenge faded and it was December 1966 before Bryn was able to return to first team action. Unfortunately a further leg injury against Lincoln in February proved to be his final first team match and Bryn was amongst eight players given free transfers at the end of the campaign when he signed for New Brighton.
Mike Metcalf’s grandson Daniel is working on an interesting documentary about a charity match played at South Liverpool’s ground in 1967. If you think you can help then please get in contact with him and check out his website http://www.metcalfvspuskas.com.
I’m Daniel Metcalf, grandson of Chester FC legend Mike Metcalf, and I’m excited to share with you a project that’s very close to my heart. First, I’d like to thank Chas Sumner for allowing me to share this announcement on his blog and for his invaluable assistance in the pre-production of my upcoming documentary.
The Documentary
I’m directing a documentary called “Metcalf vs Puskás: The Forgotten Game,” which explores a remarkable yet little-known charity football match from 1967. This film will chronicle how some of Britain’s biggest footballing stars, including my grandfather Mike Metcalf, took on a Ferenc Puskás International XI for charity.
Our production aims to uncover a forgotten piece of football history that’s particularly significant to Chester FC fans. We’ll not only reconstruct the charity match but also delve into my grandfather’s broader career – from his beginnings as an adopted child to his successful stints at Wrexham and, of course, his prolific time at Chester FC.
I’m grateful that the club has granted us access to their archival material and permission to film at the stadium. This support will be crucial in faithfully representing Chester FC’s heritage in our documentary.
Call for Contributions
We’re actively seeking contributions from the Chester FC community. If you or someone you know fits any of these categories, we’d love to hear from you:
Family members/relatives of players involved in the Puskás charity match
Spectators from the 1967 game
Anyone with materials/memorabilia relating to the game
Former teammates of Mike Metcalf with stories to share
Football historians knowledgeable about Chester FC in the 1960s
How to Get Involved
If you have information, stories, or memorabilia to share, or if you’re interested in supporting this project, please don’t hesitate to reach out:
A friend was recently telling me about an article he had written for the Prescot Cables programme a few years ago which mentioned a player called Wally Hughes who briefly featured in Chester colours. While his stay at Sealand Road was restricted to three games for the Cheshire County League team he had a fascinating career managing both the New Zealand and Fiji national teams. The following article is reproduced with Roy McDonald’s kind permission and can also be seen on his Tales From Hope Street blog page. It is well worth checking out his other articles which can be found at:
I researched his ‘career’ at Chester and Wally was signed by Stan Pearson on a one month trial in August 1959 after playing in the Possibles v Probables public trial match. The 25 year old outside right made his first start in the opening Cheshire County League of that season at home to Ellesmere Port Town. It proved to be a memorable debut as, after an uneventful first half, he scored the only goal of the game against the reigning Cheshire County League champions.
Also making his debut for the reserves that day was 17 year old Ron Davies who, of course went on to have a long career with Luton Town, Norwich City, Southampton and Manchester United amongst others and was capped 29 times by Wales.
Wally then played in the 1-1 draw at Bangor City followed by a 4-0 defeat at Northwich Victoria where he switched to the left wing to make way for promising 17 year old youngster Jimmy Cooper. Although he was described as ‘lively’ against Vics it proved to be his last game and he was released in September at the end of his trial.
The following is a reproduction of Roy McDonald’s ‘Cables to Kiwis’ article:
Walter Cyril Joseph Hughes was born in Dingle, Liverpool in 1934. Wally was an extrovert character who began his career on the groundstaff at Liverpool F.C. and, at 18, earned a playing contract. He was signed on professional forms on returning from the Forces shortly after the start of the 1954/55 season, but did not make the progress anticipated. He failed to make an appearance for the first team, and in April 1955 he was given a free transfer.
He became the archetypal journeyman footballer when he moved on to Stockport County where he, again, failed to make the first team squad and drifted on to Winsford United in the Cheshire League. Hughes returned to league football when he joined Sheffield United in early 1956, to become new manager Joe Mercer’s first signing. Injuries meant that within two weeks Wally was promoted to the first team, where he impressed on his debut, creating two goals for the Blades. However, he made just two first team appearances, before he was sent on loan to Midland League side, Wisbech Town in October 1956
In April 1957 he moved to Bradford Park Avenue (20 appearances), and on to Southport in February 1958 (11 appearances), making it seven clubs in three years. After Southport, Hughes continued his nomadic roam around football, returning to Winsford United, then Bangor City and Rhyl, before earning a month’s trial with Crystal Palace in early 1959. In August 1959 he landed at Chester. By the start of the 1960/61 season he was at Earlestown in the Lancashire Combination, and he began the 1961/62 with Prescot Cables – by my reckoning, his fourteenth club in eight seasons.
During these later years, Wally had taken his F.A. coaching badges and worked in coaching clinics for the F.A. and the Liverpool Coaching Association and also worked part-time for Cheshire Education Authority. In December 1961 Harry Topping was sacked as Manager of Cables and Wally was appointed player-coach. It is very likely that Prescot Cables was Wally’s first role in team management.
However, things did not go well for Hughes at Hope Street and within 3 months he, too, was replaced this time, by ex-Cable, Dick Platt.
In February 1962, the Liverpool Echo reported that, “Prescot Cables have released two of their professionals, inside forward and player-coach Wally Hughes and goalkeeper Jack Critchley. Hughes was at one time on Sheffield United’s books and has played in Italy.” [I have, so far, been unable to verify his time in Italy]
Wally went on to play for Cambridgeshire side, St Neots Town in the Metropolitan League before coming back to Merseyside, again, to join New Brighton for the 1963/64 season. Unsurprisingly, his stay with the Rakers didn’t last long and in March 1964 it was reported that his contract had been cancelled.
In 1973, Wally Hughes emigrated to New Zealand, where he took up the role of head coach of Dunedin City in the Southern League. At Dunedin he worked alongside another Prescot old-boy, Alan A’Court and took them to promotion in his first season.
After two seasons he became Director of Coaching for the New Zealand Northern Region and took charge of the Auckland representative side that played visiting teams like Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. In late 1976 he was appointed coach of the Kiwi’s national football team, for the 1978 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. On his appointment Hughes set his sights high, saying, “We are going to have a different attitude. We have been negative in the past but this time we will be positive and aiming high. My ultimate aim is to reach the last 16 of the competition and that means we have to win the Oceania group qualifying games first”.
Hughes first took charge of the New Zealand side in February 1977, winning six, losing five of his 12 games in charge, with one draw.
However, New Zealand failed to qualify for the 1978 World Cup and after Hughes stepped down from the National team he coached in the New Zealand National league, before taking an appointment with the Al Ahli club in Dubai for 2 years, where he worked closely with the former Leeds United and England manager Don Revie, who was then in charge of the UAE National side. Wally said, “Of course, there were a few problems. There was the language problem for one thing. About 90 per cent of the players don’t speak a word of English. You lose something in imparting your message through an interpreter”. Revie gave Wally a glowing reference, writing, “I have watched him work and worked with him in coaching sessions, and I have no doubt in my mind that he is a very good coach indeed”.
After his stint in UAE he returned briefly to Merseyside, and was offered the chance to coach a Norwegian side. He said, “I am looking for a challenge. That’s what football is all about”. That challenge came when he took charge of the Fiji national side in 1981 for their first entry into the World Cup qualifying campaigns. After opening up with a four goal defeat against New Zealand, they drew 0 – 0 with Indonesia, before defeating Chinese Taipei 2–1. However, that was as good as it got, with crushing away defeats against Australia (10 – 0) and New Zealand (13 – 0) in the space of 48 hours. Hughes resigned after the Australian game, claiming that there was interference from Fiji team management and that he did not have a free hand in team selection, talks and tactics.
“I wouldn’t wish on any coach what I have been through,” he said. He claimed that some of his officials were working against him and that the match against the Socceroos was thrown away with one defender being responsible for letting in at least seven goals. He added that this defender went on a drinking spree with a team official after the drubbing at the hand of the Aussies. New Zealand eventually went on to reach the World Cup finals in 1982 in Spain. Hughes returned to New Zealand to coach at East Coast Bays AFC, Auckland University and Manurewa AFC.
As a coach, Wally Hughes was well regarded by contemporaries for his skills and knowledge of the game and for the standards he set, and is given much credit within New Zealand for laying the groundwork for the national side’s eventual qualification for the World Cup finals.
Wally Hughes died in Auckland, New Zealand in January 2011.
Chester Football History 