Chesterfield FC - The Fall of the Spireites

'The Fall of the Spireites’

Less than 4 Years ago, Chesterfield were on the cusp of promotion to the Championship. After a very strong season finishing 6th in League One, they set up a two legged Playoff Semi-Final with Preston North End in May 2015. Unfortunately the club had hit their peak.

After losing 4-0 against the Lancashire side on aggregate, the Derbyshire side have become a sinking ship with a managerial revolving door.

Fast forward to Boxing Day 2018. Chesterfield now sit perilously in the National League relegation zone after a 4-0 home defeat to Solihull Moors. After back-to-back relegations a triple demotion looking increasingly possible. Martin ‘Mad Dog’ Allen, with a great managerial reputation was called in over the summer. After winning his first 3 games of the season, only One win in Twenty-Two followed. Shortly after their 4-0 home defeat to Solihull Moors, Allen was relieved of his post. Chesterfield are now looking for their Sixth manager since May 2015.

Playoff Hangover 2015-2016

Following the unsuccessful playoff campaign, the manager Paul Cook who had lead them to promotion to League One in 2014, left the club to join Portsmouth. His departure also culminated in the loss of Paul Mitchell who was head of player recruitment. Mitchell was seen as crucial to success by then majority shareholder Dave Allen. To Balance the clubs books the board agreed the sale of two key players. Sam Clucas was sold to Hull City and Tendayi Darikwa was sold to Burnley, both for seven figure fees.

Former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker Dean Saunders took over the managerial reins after Cook’s departure in the summer. After winning Six out of the Seven pre-season friendlies, optimism was high for the forthcoming season. Results were fairly mixed but after losing Four games in a row, Saunders was relieved of his duties after a 4-0 home loss to Swindon.

Danny Wilson who made 100 appearances for the club took charge soon after Saunders’ exit. Wilson oversaw a 7-1 mauling of Shrewsbury on the 2^nd of January 2016, but crucially he did not strengthen in the January window. This lead to a lacklustre finish to the season. Chesterfield finished 18^th, a demise from the impressive Sixth place finish the previous campaign. The alarm bells were ringing.

Board Turmoil and Relegation to the Basement 2016-2017

Chesterfield started their recruitment early in pre-season by snapping up Ched Evans on a free transfer. Evans’ signing gave the club some unwanted media attention after serious allegations in Evans’ personal life. It was a chance for the Welsh striker to get his career back on track. Manager Danny Wilson felt like he could resurrect the former Manchester City striker’s career.

In November 2016, Dave Allen who had been bankrolling the club as the majority shareholder decided to leave the board after disagreements about waiving interests on loans given to the club. His exit prompted boardroom chaos and further instability within the club. This period saw the club fail to take a single point in Eight games.

In January, Danny Wilson was sacked after a 2-0 away defeat at Bradford. Ex-Wigan Athletic manager Gary Caldwell was brought in. Caldwell’s financial un-backing from the board saw him struggle with inexperienced players on loan, the demoralised leftovers of Danny Wilson’s squad and inevitably relegation back to the bottom tier.

Back to Back Relegation – Through the Trapdoor 2017-2018

There was a flurry of ins and outs over this restructuring summer. With the Spireites restricted budget, only free transfers were completed. Gibraltar international Scott Wiseman signed from Scunthorpe and veteran marksman Chris O’Grady came in from Brighton. That summer Chesterfield managed to secure fees for outgoing players Ched Evans and Jon Nolan while releasing a further fourteen players. This wholesale change was make or break.

After a pre-season training camp in Portugal where Chesterfield took on a Benfica B outfit and Middlesbrough, Gary Caldwell lauded his players for the hard work they had put in over the summer and spoke positively about his side bouncing back into the Third Tier... By the end of September, Caldwell was out the door after One win in their first Eight league games, once again Chesterfield were rooted to the bottom of the table.

Former fans favourite Jack Lester took over as Manager soon after Caldwell’s departure. After an impressive November going unbeaten in Six (Winning Three and Drawing Three), the fans felt some hope again. This hope was short-lived as The Blues picked up only One point out of Eighteen in the Christmas period. In the January scramble the club managed to pick up experienced Drew Talbot from Portsmouth and ex-West Ham starlet Zavon Hines from Maidstone.  Even after signing this duo, the club only managed to muster Five wins in the second half of the season and finished as the bottom club in the whole league pyramid. The only strong performer was striker Kristian Dennis who finished top goalscorer for the club with 21 goals.

By finishing bottom, Chesterfield Football Club were relegated and ended their 97 year stay in the Football League. They would be kick off August 2018 in the National League. After winning the Football League Trophy in 2012 and capturing the hearts of football fans in their famous 1997 FA Cup semi-final exploits, it was unimaginable to see this club sink into the abyss. Unfortunately this has happened.

In Allen’s last game in charge (the 4-0 defeat to Solihull), Spireites supporters protested against the board and those running the club with a pitch invasion that delayed the game. The fans have suffered long enough and there needs to be some improvement or the club will go under completely. At QF we just worry what is next for the former Saltergate side who moved to their new Stadium (The ProAct) in 2010. A stadium that should be entertaining Football League humdingers rather than potential National League North fixtures.