Formation and early years Chester F.C. was founded in 1885 as an amalgamation of Chester Rovers and Old King's Scholars F.C. and initially played their home games at Faulkner Street. After a few years of playing only friendly and occasional cup matches, Chester joined
The Combination League in 1890. That season also saw Chester reach the
Football League Cup semi-finals. After beating Walsall, Blackpool and Preston North End, Chester hosted Football League champions
Leeds United in round four. Two goals from
John James and one from
Trevor Storton gave Chester a 3–0 win that is regarded as one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history. In the next round, a goal from James meant
Newcastle United were defeated in a home replay to set up a semi–final tie with
Aston Villa.
Brian Little's late goal in the second leg at
Villa Park sealed a 5–4 win for eventual cup winners Villa. Chester began to consolidate their position in the
Third Division and enjoyed runs to the
FA Cup fifth round in both 1976–77 and 1979–80 under former
Manchester City midfielder
Alan Oakes. They achieved their best position since the lower divisions were re-organised in the late 1950s by finishing fifth in 1978, missing out on promotion (in the pre-play-off era) by just two points. Chester were also one of two sides to win the short-lived
Debenhams Cup, a competition competed for by the two sides from outside the top two divisions to go furthest in the
FA Cup. They beat
Port Vale 4–3 on aggregate in 1977 to win their first English national trophy. Chester also continued their success by knocking
First Division Coventry City out of the
League Cup in
1978–79 and
Second Division leaders
Newcastle United from the
FA Cup a year later. One of the goalscorers was homegrown teenager
Ian Rush, who would move for £300,000 to
Liverpool at the end of the season Due to the signing of players including
Milton Graham,
John Kelly and
Stuart Rimmer, and astute management of
Harry McNally, Chester returned to the Third Division in 1986. Three years later, they narrowly missed out on a play-off spot as McNally worked miracles on a limited budget, but further bad times lay ahead. In 1990, Chester moved out of their
Sealand Road home and temporarily shared
Macclesfield's
Moss Rose ground. Despite regularly attracting tiny crowds, Chester defied the odds to avoid relegation from
Division Three in both 1990–91 and 1991–92. They returned to the city, moving to the new Deva Stadium in 1992 in the renamed
Division Two after a Football League restructure. The first competitive match at the Deva Stadium took place on 25 August 1992 against
Stockport County, with the visitors running out 2–1 victors. The following Saturday featured the first League game at the new home of Chester City, which saw the Blues overcome Burnley 3–0. The Deva Stadium is notable for being right on the England–Wales border: the pitch is in Wales, but the entrance and part of the club offices are in England. Chester suffered a landslide relegation in their first season back in Chester, before winning promotion as Division Three runners-up. The unexpected resignation of manager
Graham Barrow and the departure of several key players in the season of 1994 left Chester with a depleted squad, and they were relegated back to Division Three in 1995. They would stay there for five years, suffering a play-off semi-final defeat to
Swansea City in 1997.
Financial problems and demise in 2007. Under owner Mark Guterman, Chester entered
administration in October 1998. The club consolidated their position in
Third Division under
Kevin Ratcliffe in 1998–99 and were bought by the American sportsman
Terry Smith in July 1999. Ratcliffe resigned the following month and Smith took over as manager, overseeing just four league wins in as many months in charge.
Ian Atkins was brought in as manager, but Chester lost their 69-year
Football League status on 6 May 2000 on goal difference after losing to
Peterborough United. The first season in the
Football Conference saw Chester finish 8th, but the campaign was overshadowed by continuing off-field problems. By the summer of 2001, Chester were in grave danger of going out of business and the appointment of the owner's friend
Gordon Hill as manager was very unpopular with fans. The arrival of new chairman
Stephen Vaughan in September 2001 saw
Mark Wright appointed as manager and Chester avoided relegation in 2002. A year later, they qualified for the Conference play-offs, but missed out on promotion by losing a penalty shoot-out to
Doncaster Rovers. Starting the
2003–04 season as favourites to win the
Football Conference, Chester suffered just four defeats during the campaign, winning the title and promotion back to
the Football League with a 1–0 victory over
Scarborough in the penultimate match of the season. It was the club's first national league title. The day before the start of the 2004–05 season
Mark Wright resigned.
Ray Mathias was left as the caretaker charge and by the end of August, Chester were bottom of the League. New manager
Ian Rush helped the club avoid relegation, but was criticised by opposing managers for using "long ball" tactics. Rush resigned in April 2005 after chairman Stephen Vaughan dismissed assistant manager
Mark Aizlewood without Rush's knowledge. In April 2005,
Keith Curle took over. A series of poor results saw Chester fall from fourth to bottom in
Football League Two.
Mark Wright surprisingly returned to the club and a run of five successive wins late in the season secured another campaign in the Football League. The 2006–07 season was most notable for the club's reinstatement in the
FA Cup after
Bury, who had beaten Chester 3–1 in a second round replay, were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player,
Stephen Turnbull. Wright was sacked in April 2007, being replaced by Scotsman
Bobby Williamson. Williamson was sacked as manager in March 2008, after Chester had won only one of their last fourteen games. Club coach
Simon Davies replaced him after a spell as caretaker manager. Survival was clinched in the penultimate game of the season after a 0–0 draw with
Stockport County. They ended their season at 22nd, their lowest position at the time since returning to the Football League in
2004–05. A poor start to 2008–09 saw Davies sacked in November 2008 with the club out of all cup competitions and struggling in the league table. Mark Wright returned for his third spell as manager on a non-contract basis. Beset by an ongoing transfer embargo, Chester continued to struggle throughout the remainder of the campaign, and a 2–1 home defeat by
Darlington on the final day of the season sealed Chester's demise and a return to non-league football after five years back in The Football League. ahead of the
Football Conference board's AGM where the club was accepted into the
Conference National with a 10-point deduction. He was replaced as manager by
Mick Wadsworth. In the summer of 2009, Chester City was placed into the hands of administrators with debts of £7 million, inclusive of Stephen Vaughan's £5.5 million investments, which incurred a 10-point penalty. This in turn was increased to a 25-point penalty once the
HMRC overturned a
CVA. A potential buyer emerged over the summer, when local fan Mike David Green sought to create a consortium with northern businessman Andy Jinks. However, any potential deal fell through due to Jinks' commitment issues. A new buyer was found for the club on 26 May 2009 in the shape of
Chester City FC (2004) Ltd, a company set up by former chairman Stephen Vaughan and his family. The Football Association withheld the transfer of the affiliation membership from Chester City Football Club to Chester City Football Club 2004 Ltd, and on the eve of the new season stopped Chester City F.C. playing the first game of the 2009–2010 season away at
Grays Athletic. This came less than 24 hours after the Football Conference released an "interim" press release stating Chester could take their place in the fifth tier of English football. The club reluctantly cut back on the Centre of Excellence youth training scheme by retaining only their youth team. Fans waited at the Deva Stadium for a meeting with Stephen Vaughan and other board representatives to find out the truth regarding the future and showed their support for the club by meeting in the city at the time that they should be kicking off the new season. Chester City F.C. issued a press release on 10 August 2009 describing the meetings that took place between the club, FA and Football Conference regarding the transfer of the FA membership at the beginning of the 2009–2010 season. They confirmed that the home match against
Gateshead had also been called off by the Football Conference, and that the FA had asked the other clubs to vote on whether Chester City should be allowed to continue in the division. The press release ended:
We have now been informed that we must again await an FA decision which will be taken at some time on Thursday [13 August 2009] and can do no more than publicly express our ever increasing frustration with the entire process. The FA granted the transfer of membership to Chester City Football Club 2004 Ltd at 16:00 on 13 August 2009. On the pitch, Mick Wadsworth was sacked after a bad start to the season, during which he branded the club's atmosphere even worse than that of the original
Gretna F.C., which he had managed during the club's final months of existence in 2008.
Jim Harvey replaced Wadsworth and managed an immediate upturn in form, which gave fans some slim hope that the club might still survive in the Conference National. However, dwindling attendances, a pitch protest and continued financial problems meant that the playing squad was gradually released to cut the wage bill though, and Chester's improved form did not last. Harvey was himself sacked in January 2010 by Morrell Maison, the club's new director of football, who then installed himself as the new manager. He oversaw what was arguably the club's lowest moment when just 518 people turned up to see the team beaten 1–0 by lower-league
Fleetwood Town in the FA Trophy. By this point Chester were well adrift at the bottom of the table, and results did not improve. What proved to be the club's final match was a 2–1 home defeat against
Ebbsfleet United. On 9 February 2010, Chester City failed to fulfil a fixture at
Forest Green Rovers. It was reported by the
BBC that the players refused to get on the team bus and had also threatened twice to strike following non-payment of wages. Three days later, the
Football Conference suspended Chester for seven days, during which their fixtures were suspended. The suspension was to allow them to put their finances in order and respond to the charge of breaking five separate Conference rules. The breaches include the abandoned game against Forest Green and the cancelling of a game due to an unpaid police bill. At a meeting of the
Football Conference board on 18 February, it was recommended that Chester be expelled from the league because the members of the board "failed to be convinced" that the club would fulfil its fixtures. The decision ultimately rested with the other member clubs. An independent valuation at the time valued the club at just £1. At this point, Chester remained anchored to the bottom of the
Conference National on −3 points. The club was expelled following a vote at a general meeting between the member clubs of the league on 26 February at
Nene Park. The results for the season were expunged from the record. On 9 March, the club submitted an application to join the
Welsh Premier League, but the club was formally wound up in the
High Court the next day. The club's supporters' group, City Fans United (CFU), announced that they were looking to reform in the lower divisions of the English football hierarchy, with a CFU spokesman claiming the club would play football once again in the pre-season. The club began playing in July 2010 in time for the 2010–11 season, and was placed in
Northern Premier League Division One North, three tiers below where Chester City had been prior to their collapse. Three successive promotions took Chester F.C. into the Conference Premier in 2013. ==Colours and badge==