We want to hear about Exiles' best and worst away games, which sum up the ecstasy and the agony of being a Chester fan on the road. Your choices needn't be all about the result - perhaps a funny incident or disaster en-route makes them memorable. Send yours by email to: blog@chesterexiles.co.uk.
BEST
LEYTON ORIENT 1-2 CHESTER CITY
LEAGUE DIVISION TWO APRIL 15, 2000
In that fateful season 600 Blues travelled to East London,
clutching at straws.
We’d lost to nine-man Carlisle the previous week and the
revival under Ian Atkins seemed to have stalled. In a three-way fight with
Carlisle and Shrewsbury we were firm favourites to drop out of the football
league.
Yet, despite going a goal down against Orient in torrential
rain the team played like men possessed and the away fans responded. The chant
of “Ian Atkins blue and white army” was incessant and, it seemed, everyone in
that stand joined in. I’ll never forget the sight of one very elderly fan, a
blanket covering his knees, being swept along in the tide of enthusiasm.
We were rewarded with an equaliser from Carl Heggs and with
30 minutes left Neil Fisher became the unlikely match winner.
This wasn’t the greatest game of football I’ve ever seen but
it was the one that has always made me most proud to follow Chester. It summed
up perfectly what it’s all about and I wish that atmosphere, with all of us
pulling together and unconditionally behind the team, could be bottled. Even
the Orient fans seemed impressed and at the end the players joined us to
celebrate.
I left that game hoarse, firmly believing the Great Escape
was back on. It wasn’t to be but it’s a memory I’ll always treasure.
Chester City: Brown, Woods, Hicks, Hobson, Fisher, Hemmings,
Porter, Richardson, Carden, Beckett, Heggs.
WORST
CANVEY ISLAND 2-0 CHESTER CITY
FA UMBRO TROPHY SEMI-FINAL MARCH 31, 2001
Relegation to the Conference had its compensations. New
grounds to visit and the chance of a cup run in the FA Trophy were top of my
shortlist.
Under Graham Barrow progress to the two-legged semi-final
was relatively comfortable and only Canvey Island stood between the Blues and a
day out at Villa Park.
Heading down to the Essex coast I promised my girlfriend
that we’d make a day of it. Lunch at a nice wine bar with breathtaking sea
views followed by the formality of a win against a team from a lower league. It
didn’t work out that way.
Canvey was a caravan park and, to misquote Ian Botham, you
wouldn’t send your mother-in-law there. We ended up grabbing a burger in the
roughest pub imaginable, where a pit-bull gently nuzzled my leg.
The ground wasn’t much better. The pitch looked like the
tide had just gone out and pre-match entertainment consisted of watching giant
oil tankers sail behind one of the goalmouths.
The players didn’t fancy it much either. Frankly the 2-0
scoreline flattered us and Barrow’s post-match analysis said it all.
“Embarrassing”. To add insult to injury they stuffed us in the return leg, too.
I’ve never quite got over it but at least it spelled the beginning of the end
for one Terry Smith.
Chester City: Brown, Fisher, Doughty, Lancaster, Ruffer, P.
Beesley, Carden, Porter, Woods, M. Beesley, Ruscoe.
