:cheer: One very interesting home game to look forward to (!)
If this is correct it is scandalous imo - Chester FC are and should be treated like any other new club. Another example of football looking after their own! One rule for one, they should like FCUM (a new club) start at the lowest rung - Or if they aren’t a new club then they should be responsible for paying the debts they’ve ran up.
If however they do end up in our league next season, then we need to ensure that we play them as our local derby on a Bank Holiday rather than a Tuesday night in Winter!
just been told the same news, i believe the news was on the fa website.
Chester home & away over the bank holiday period would be fantastic but no doubt lairds & warrington will be thinking the same thing
It makes you want to puke!! Why does the FA sanction this nonsense? What is the point of running a club properly when Clubs like Chester and Vics are allowed to get away with “stealing”.
WHS.
I would imagine that the statistics of whose fixtures you want to avoid (probably Vics) so that you don’t play at home on the same day, and which teams you would like to play on a Bank Holiday have all ready been sent into the league by now.
What a disgrace if this true. Why bother being responsible? Football is a joke.
Well the England football team are a joke, fancy paying a foreigner 5 million quid a year to have the team play like that. I thought that Lampard, Terry, Johnson, Heskey, and Carragher were simply awful the rest were just crap!! Lampard should be dropped for Joe Cole then Gerrard can play down the middle with Barry and Carrick.
My team for the last match, because it might well be our last match at these Finals would be:-Hart, Upson Dawson A Cole. Lennon, Barry Gerrard, Carrick J. Cole. Defoe Rooney.
(Playing 3-5-2.)
WHS.
PS I still cannot believe we pay Capello 5 miilion quid, we could pay it off the National Debt and give the job to an Englishman, any Englishman, even McLare!!
WHS.
This just simply cannot be true, it makes a total nonsense of it all!
Agree - it is a joke - but at least we will benefit cash wise !
I am being a hypocrite,but bugger it ,these are two fantastic fixtures to look forward to.I think the Chester fans deserve this good piece of fortune,also the few fans that i have met at our club are good football people and they were grateful of the chairmans invitation to attend our matches.
They have now topped the 2000+ members signed up to their new club.If they get off to a good start and get on a roll,then they could be unstoppable backed up by the fact that the management team can deliver promotion.
I am already consulting my shift planner in anticipation.The wonderful mix of Widnes and chemicals will have to take a back seat.It certainly beats having to wipe the backsides of process operators.
It will be a great money spinner having Chester in the same league but it will obviously make it harder to win. Still, onwardsand upwards.
Let’s just make it clear to Chester fans that the offer to get in free has now been withdrawn 
The FA are pathetic when it comes to issues like this, there is no consistency over the decisions made and the way rules are applied.
When it comes to points deductions, fines and demotions they make it up as it goes along. Punishments are rarely the same twice and this is what infuriates clubs.
If you go into administration and don’t repay your debts then by default there is an unfair advantage over the competition and if a new club is formed that club should start at the bottom step of non league not 3 steps from the bottom.
Presumably then if we were to be reckless this season, run a load of debt and go bust then we should not worry because we can reapply for reelection to the same league, I don’t think so. So Chester now get to play in our league, debt free, with a larger fan base and therefore higher revenue and budgets which gives them an unfair advantage over other clubs in the league.
My angst is not towards the Chester fans who have been through the mill with their previous owners and been on a quick slide down the leagues. For the fans this is one bit of good news in a pretty horrible few years. The point is the FA are just a bunch of clowns when it comes to decision making.
From our perspective these will be two good games and a bit of a cash boost from the home match, but with only one automatic promotion spot the odds of winning the league decrease (and that is worth much more).
agree with the rabbit, the FA make me want to puke
Dave Tomlinson, chairman of the Vodkat North West Counties League, has hit out at the manner in which the League has been treated by the FA over the acceptance of Chester FC into the National League System.
In Tomlinson’s opinion, both the League Management Committee and member clubs can feel insulted by the chain of events which led to the FA Appeal Board’s decision to instruct that Chester FC be placed at Step 4 of the Pyramid.
Tomlinson called for the FA to look again at how applications from new and “re-formed” clubs are handled in future, and gave a detailed insight into the sequence of events that unfolded, once it became known that the newly formed Chester FC were looking to join the National League System.
Tomlinson explained: “The league received notice from the Football Association that the Leagues Committee had recommended that Chester FC be placed at Step 5 within the National League System (The Vodkat League Premier Division).
“The league requested clarification as to whether this “recommendation” was a recommendation or an instruction. If it was a recommendation, the Management Committee’s opinion was that the Member Clubs would be allowed to decide whether to accept the recommendation at the League’s AGM. This was confirmed by the Appeals Board.
“If it was an instruction, the Member Clubs would have to accept that decision. No response to the request for clarification was received from The Football Association.
“The League also requested permission from the Football Association to increase the Premier Division to twenty-three clubs for one season and to relegate three clubs at the end of that season. Once again clarification was requested as to whether this was required, if it was a recommendation or instruction. Again no response was received from the Football Association.
“Chester FC were then asked to attend a meeting with representatives of the Management Committee on Wednesday 8th June to discuss the FA recommendation, to ascertain the club’s position, and for us to state the League’s position.
“League representatives at the meeting pointed out to Chester FC’s officials that certain derisory comments and articles had appeared in the media about our league. We were assured that these comments were not the view of the Chester Board, who just wanted to be playing football at the highest level possible.
“Chester FC paid the League application fee by cheque, and confirmed that they would be affiliating to the Cheshire County FA.
“At the end of the meeting the League Management Committee believed Chester FC had accepted, and were pleased, that they would be in The Vodkat League for season 2010/11.”
A week later on Tuesday 15th June, Chester FC requested that the League submitted a request to the FA Appeal Board regarding confirmation of the number of clubs in the Premier Division. This request was made and activated on the same date.
An email was received from the Football Association informing that the information would be made available to the Appeal Board Chairman and that a decision in relation to Chester FC had in fact been made on Monday 14th June but would not be released until Friday 18th June.
This Appeal Board decision was not released until Friday morning 18th June at approx. 11am, and Tomlinson says the decision was greeted with some disbelief by the League Management Committee.
Tomlinson explained: “The FA Appeal Board made a number of statements including that Chester FC’s appeal was upheld, Chester FC would be placed at Step 4 in the Northern Premier League Division One North and the appeal fee would be returned to the Club. Also the board acknowledged that as the National Leagues Committee had recommended to the NWCFL (The Vodkat League) that Chester be placed in that League, the League would be within its rights to accept or reject the recommendation and could place Chester FC at Step 6.
“The general feeling amongst the Management Committee is that Chester FC blatantly misled the Management Committee by stating that they had not appealed against the recommendation to place the Club at Step 5. Also I feel that the delay in issuing the decision of the Appeal Board was misjudged by The Football Association, as both the Management Committee and Member Clubs were left in the dark and left little time to organise a response to Member Clubs at the Annual General Meeting which was just one day later on Saturday 19th June.
“As Chairman of the Vodkat League, I have no objection as to the step in the Pyramid in which Chester FC were placed, but the process that was followed and the way in which that decision was reached begs several questions, which need to be answered for future reference and avoidance of doubt.
“As far as we are concerned, which was also confirmed by the Chester FC representatives who were interviewed by members of our League Management Committee, Chester FC had not appealed to the FA about the decision to place them at Step 5. They had only requested clarification of how the decision to recommend them a place at Step 5 was made.
“They were quite categorical in stating that they had not appealed, and that it was the FA who had interpreted their request as an appeal. We as a League asked Chester FC on more than one occasion if they had appealed, and on each occasion we were told they hadn’t.
“However, if the FA as stated have “returned the appeal fee” to Chester FC, it would appear that an appeal was made and the only conclusion to be drawn is that we as a League have been misled by Chester FC.”
Looking at the wider implications of this decision, Tomlinson believes that one of the main points that need clarifying is how clubs such as Chester FC are viewed and treated in future.
He said: “What is the difference between a re-formed club and a new club? Is a re-formed club one that takes over all aspects of the previous club including any debt ? If so, Chester FC should have been relegated two divisions below their previous position. If they are a new club, they should have started at the bottom of the National League System.
“Chester City failed to complete their fixtures in their league. They were kicked out of the Conference (Step 1) and their record expunged. They were wound up in court. Indeed this particular course of action was one for which the body which set up the new club was calling for, as they would be able to set up a new club without any debts.
“Chester City would have been starting the coming season in the Conference North. The decision of the Appeal Board places Chester FC two divisions lower than this level, into the Northern Premier League Division One North. In other words Chester FC are picking up from where the old Chester City left off, and are not being treated as a new club.
“There is an FA regulation that states a club can be placed at a level of football appropriate to their playing ability. But how can Chester FC be placed at a level of competitive football appropriate to their playing ability when they have never played a match? I have looked for possible reasons and can’t find any.
“Geographical location should not have been a bearing on the decision as the Vodkat League cover much the same area as the Northern Premier League First Division North.
“Stadium facilities in our league have been previously proven. Vodkat League Clubs can cope with large attendances – our clubs hosted FC United of Manchester games for two seasons, and a good number of our grounds are now capable of holding crowds of several thousand spectators. So it can’t be a decision based on doubts about our ability to host Chester FC games.
“And as far as the size of the club is concerned, Chester FC’s economic means are unproven and only projected in their business plan.
“Most importantly, I believe this decision sends out the wrong message to clubs who spend beyond their means. i.e., Go for it boys. If you go bust, the worst thing that can happen is that you have to change the club name and drop two divisions.
“If the FA consider that this is an acceptable course of action for a club to take, and continue to condone this behaviour by welcoming back various “phoenix” clubs at arbitrary levels of the Pyramid, then I fear for the future of the grassroots game in this country.”
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100% bang on, what an excellent statement by this guy. He will probably now receive a ‘telling off’ from the FA for stating the truth!
Good on him for making the position public and I don’t think anyone can argue with what he has said. The other interesting point here is whether the Unibond League where given an ‘instruction’ or ‘recommendation’ to accept Chester into their league, if it was a recommendation then the vote from the Unibond League should have been to reject the request. Be interesting to see a similar statement from Mark Harris clarifying the Unibond League’s ‘instructions’ on this.
If the Unibond would have rejected Chester then what would have happened then, would the FA committee have gone back to the Vodkat League or the other way and entered Chester into the Conference?
I’m not blaming Chester (or their fans) for trying to enter their ‘new club’ into the highest league possible, clearly if you can skip the Vodkat League and go straight to Unibond then it’s better for them, but why on earth should this be allowed. We now have another twist to the rule by the FA that demonstrates that brand new clubs can be formed and enter the league structure at our level, what next an appeal from FC United for being unfairly allocated to the Vodkat League when they started up?
Absolute rubbish from the FA and well done to Dave Tomlinson for making his statement.
Sadly the FA are shown again to be totally unfit to run a “p…s up in a brewery”!!
WHS.
Reading that i think Chester are every little bit as much to blame as the FA. It sounds like they have lied to and mislead the Vodkat league. Also reading between the lines, this guy is suggesting something untoward is going on.
Corruption at the FA? Surely not…
Fantastic statement, much the same as has been posted on here. But hugely different when it comes from someone ‘in the know’ and with responsibility.
With the Chester situation a precedent has been set, that other clubs could LEGALLY use to ensure that they are treated the same way - Having said that AFC Telford were treated in the same way but FCUM and AFC Liverpool weren’t - it seems its not what you know…
Hmmmm - hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Apparently, Chester’s next friendly vs Rhyl has been cancelled on police advice.