Chester City F.C.

From Chester Wiki

Chester City Football Club is an English football club, currently playing in League Two.

The club was first elected to the Football League in 1931 (replacing Nelson F.C.), having previously played in the Cheshire County League. But it took 44 years for the club to achieve its first promotion, when it reached the Third Division and progressed to the semi finals of the League Cup. Chester City F.C. has had something of a yo-yo existence, gaining the nickname 'The Elevator Crew'. Chester's spell in the league's third tier did not last long, although it did make a comeback in 1986. Chester's highest finish - eighth in the Third Division - came in 1989, but in 1993 it was relegated back to the basement division of the Football League.

Chester City F.C. was promoted back to Division Two at the first attempt, but relegated again after just one season. Financial problems towards the end of the 1990s ruined Chester's chances of promotion, and in 2000 it was relegated to the Conference after 69 years of Football League membership.

Chester returned to the Football League in 2004 as Conference champions under the management of Mark Wright, who controversially quit just before the start of the new League Two season. The legendary Ian Rush then spent a season in charge before being replaced by Keith Curle, who didn't last long before he was replaced by the returning Mark Wright.

Ian Rush began his career at Chester on leaving school in 1978. He was the key goalscorer until being sold to Liverpool for £300,000 in the summer of 1980. Twenty-six years on, he is still the most expensive player to have been sold by Chester, and easily the finest talent ever to emerge from the club. Kevin Ratcliffe, the former Everton captain, managed Chester from 1995 to 1999.

Chester played at Sealand Road until 1990, when it sold its ageing stadium and began a ground-share with Macclesfield Town. Two years later, it moved into the new Saunders Honda Stadium (formerly known as Deva Stadium). Chester is the only club in the world to be based in one country (England) and play in another (Wales)