Tag Archives: Obituary

Gary Simpson (1959-2023)

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Former centre forward Gary Simpson has passed away at the age of 64. Gary joined Chester in summer 1981 and made 63 Football League appearances over the following two seasons scoring 18 goals. 

Born in Chesterfield, Gary joined his local club as a schoolboy and after signing professional in 1977 made his Football League debut for the Spireites, at Plymouth Argyle, in November of the same year. Over the next four seasons he made 43 appearances for the Saltergate club without truly establishing himself as a first team regular. In 1981 Alan Oakes brought Gary to Sealand Road for £6,000 in an attempt to invigorate a team that had struggled to find goals since the departure of Ian Edwards and Ian Rush.

Gary was unfortunate to sign for the club as financial problems began to bite and with a small squad Chester were out of their depth in Division 3 finishing bottom of the table winning just six games and managing only 36 goals. Gary himself finished leading scorer with 12 of these goals including two at his former club Chesterfield in an unexpected 5-3 win. 

The signing of John Thomas, following relegation to Division 4, saw some of the goalscoring pressure taken off Gary and he added another six goals as the club stabilised in mid-table. Nevertheless the financial situation was worsening and at the end of the 1982/83 season Gary was one of eight players released by the club as manager John Sainty was tasked with halving the wage bill. 

After leaving Sealand Road Gary joined a host of former Chester players at Oswestry Town and also played for Bangor City and Connah’s Quay Nomads. 

Alan Oakes welcomes Gary to Sealand Road

John Sainty (1946 – 2023)

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John Sainty, who has sadly passed away at the age of 77, served Chester as manager for 12 months between November 1982 and November 1983. When John was appointed he was faced with the unenviable task of managing a club at one of its lowest ebbs as severe financial constraints affected many decisions. In many weeks he had to rely heavily on non-contract players in order to field a team but he did mastermind two notable victories. In the Milk Cup, in 1983/84, the Seals overcame a 3-0 first round first leg deficit against Bolton Wanderers with an impressive 3-0 triumph at Sealand Road to go through on penalties and this was followed, in the second round, by a first leg 1-0 win over second tier Leeds United at Elland Road with a goal from Andy Elliott. 

John started his footballing career as an apprentice at Tottenham Hotspur before going on to play in the Football League with Reading, Bournemouth, Mansfield and Aldershot. After serving on the coaching staff at Norwich he moved with John Bond to become assistant at Manchester City and Burnley before replacing Cliff Sear at Sealand Road. Initially appointed as ‘caretaker coach’ for a six week period this role was extended until Easter when he was finally confirmed as manager. Chester finished the season in 13th place, a respectable achievement given the financial economies which had seen John lose two members of his coaching staff, Jim Walker and Vince Prichard.

For the 1983/84 season the newly renamed Chester City faced even deeper financial problems and after losing leading scorer John Thomas to Lincoln John also had to contend with an even lower budget as the wage bill was slashed in half. Although he did bring in future Welsh international Andy Holden it was a measure of how difficult the situation was by the fact that two players, Paul Raynor and Trevor Phillips, rejoined the club after being released when Chester had been relegated in 1982.

A season of struggle was inevitable and with only one league John was relieved of his duties with Chester bottom of Division Four.

John went on to serve Glossop North End and Mossley as a manager before serving as assistant manager at Stockport County and then moving back down south to become Academy Director at Southampton and managing Lymington & New Milton and Bemerton Heath Harlequins in the Wessex League.

Steve Finney (1973-2022)

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Former Chester City striker Steve Finney has sadly passed away at the age of 48 after a short illness. Steve was playing part-time football for Barrow when he was given an opportunity to return to the Football League by Terry Smith who signed him for Chester in October 1999. He went on to make 13 Football League appearances, including 9 from the bench, and was one of the players retained by Graham Barrow for the first season in the Conference. Alongside Paul Carden he was the only player to start the last game in the Football League, against Peterborough, and the first fixture in the Conference, against Rushden and Diamonds, and he made a further four starts and five substitute appearances before being released in late 2000.

Steve Finney

Born in Hexham Steve started his career as a youth player with Preston North End and went on to make his Football League debut for the Lancashire side in the 1991/92 season. He had the most successful spell of his footballing career at Swindon Town after joining from Manchester City in summer 1995. A goal on his debut, against Hull City, immediately endeared him to supporters and he went on to score 16 goals as Swindon were promoted to the second tier. 

After representing Cambridge United, Carlisle United and Leyton Orient Steve dropped into part-time football with Gretna and Barrow but after circulating his CV to north west clubs he was contacted by Terry Smith who brought him to the Deva Stadium in 1999. He made his debut, as a substitute, in a 4-1 defeat at Lincoln but after featuring in the next seven games he was only used intermittently during the rest of the campaign. 

For the first season in the Conference Steve started the first three games before dropping to the role of substitute and the signing of Steve Whitehall marked the end of his City career. His final match proved to be a Nationwide Variety Club Trophy match against Hednesford Town before a move to Altrincham after a successful loan spell.

At the time of his death he was part of the management team with Ullswater United in the Westmorland League.

Gary Moore (1945-2021)

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Gary Moore, a member of the 1974/75 promotion side that also reached the last four of the League Cup, has sadly passed away at the age of 76. In two seasons at Sealand Road Gary made 43 league appearances and scored four goals but will best be remembered for scoring the second equaliser in the first leg of the League Cup semi-final against Aston Villa that finished 2-2.

Gary Moore

Born in Sedgefield, Gary started his career as an apprentice at Sunderland, where he became an England youth international, and signed professional terms at Roker Park in 1962. A move to Grimsby Town followed in 1967 but his best years came at Southend United where he scored an impressive 55 goals in 188 appearances. Most notably he scored seven goals in two FA Cup ties against King’s Lynn and Brentwood in the 1969/70 season.

The blond-haired striker had a loan spell at Colchester before Ken Roberts brought him to Chester for £10,000 in August 1974. Gary made his debut as a replacement in defence for the injured Trevor Storton in a 3-0 win over Hartlepool but found first team opportunities limited by the form of lethal striking partnership Derek Draper and John James and was mainly used as a substitute. Nevertheless he made significant goal contributions, coming off the bench to head the only goal of the game at Swansea and scoring twice in a superb 4-1 win over promotion rivals Lincoln City. Those two strikes proved crucial as Chester pipped the Imps to the fourth promotion spot by the slimmest goal average margin. 

n the League Cup run of 1974/75 Gary was used as a substitute against Blackpool and in the first leg of the semi-final against Aston Villa. It was in the latter game, in front of a packed Sealand Road End, that the burly forward replaced John James with 20 minutes to go and in the 80th minute turned home a Derek Draper cross from close range to keep alive Chester’s Wembley dream. He kept his place in the starting eleven for the 2nd leg as the Seals were narrowly beaten 3-2. 

Gary Moore (left) celebrates with Terry Owen and Norman Whitehead after the 1st leg of the League Cup semi-final against Aston Villa

Opportunities continued to be limited in 1975/76 and at the end of the campaign he signed for Swansea City but injury forced him into retirement in 1978. Gary continued to be involved in football and was a coach at Blyth Spartans before becoming manager of Northern League sides Consett and Crook Town. He was later a scout for Aston Villa and England under his old Grimsby colleague Graham Taylor. Away from football Gary worked as a sales rep in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

Andy Higgins (1960-2021)

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Former Chester City player Andy Higgins has passed away in Australia at the age of 61. A versatile player he featured in both attack and defence in his 19 Football League appearances for the club.

Andy Higgins

Born in Bolsover Andy represented his native Derbyshire at both under 15 and under 19 level and after leaving school accepted an apprenticeship at Chesterfield. He made just one appearance for the Spireites, against Mansfield Town, in the final game of the 1978/79 season. Following his release by Chesterfield in 1980 he was snapped up by John McGrath, who was then manager at Port Vale, and made 14 league appearances over the following two seasons. 

In 1982 Andy dropped into the Northern Premier League and signed for King’s Lynn but after only a handful of appearances he moved on to Hartlepool United. His stay in the north east proved to be brief and by November he had returned to King’s Lynn. Deployed as a striker his goalscoring exploits attracted Rochdale for whom he signed non-contract terms in March 1983. At Spotland he became a regular at centre half until a foot injury, in January 1984, sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign.

In Summer 1984 Andy was reunited with John McGrath who had been appointed manager at Sealand Road at the start of the year. Chester had finished bottom of Division Four in 1983/84 and they again failed to find any consistency at the start of the following campaign. With McGrath struggling to find the right blend from a host of new signings Andy was asked to perform in a variety of roles and after making his debut as a centre forward in the opening game against Scunthorpe he had a run of games at the centre of the defence before returning to the forward line in November. Andy’s only goal came in a 5-1 defeat at Stockport which marked the end of the road for McGrath. His final appearance came as a substitute against Peterborough on New Year’s Day 1985 and after being released by Chester he emigrated to South Africa where he represented Hellenic. Andy later moved to Australia where he passed away following a heart attack.