by The former FA Cup’s ability to turn footballers from market towns into nationally recognized figures was demonstrated by a recent social media time capsule. It came to light short clip from the 1997 edition of the BBC guffaw-fest They Think It’s All Over with Rory McGrath McGrath and Gary Lineker who have eyes to feel the lump on the colorful kit of Sean Dyche and his fellow Chesterfield team that reached the semi-finals of that season. The players, with their manager, John Duncan, standing shyly at the back, were greeted with applause.
The story of that Chesterfield team is well told. Teenage striker Kevin Davies scored a hat-trick against his future club Bolton in the fourth round. A classic Old Trafford 3-3 semi-final with Middlesbrough will forever be remembered for Dyche taking penalties just as you would expect and the scandal of Jonathan Howard’s shot, clearly crossing the Boro line after reaching the crossbar. lead 3-1 unassailable, being ruled out. The referee, David Elleray, went in to eternal fame.
Related: Gillingham’s Stephen Clemence: ‘I’m sorry Dad isn’t here to see this’
The replay that followed the defeat is less mainstream. Chesterfield, the Derbyshire club on the edge of the Peak District and South Yorkshire’s sister city, has experienced the ups and downs – mostly downs – of many provincial clubs. Historic Saltergate, a town since 1871, has been a Barratt housing development for the past 12 years and its venue, the 10,504 capacity SMH Group Stadium, is a recent stronghold. The Spireites lead the National League unbeaten at home, although it is a trip to Championship side Watford who have been assigned the third round of the FA Cup. Their manager, Paul Cook, promised to “attack the occasion”, just as his team have all season. A typical two-goal affair came on New Year’s Day to beat Solihull 3-2.
“We really believe we can go into deep water with any team in the division and we’ll be right,” Cook said afterward. The charismatic Merseysider, formerly of Portsmouth, Wigan and Ipswich, is in his second spell at Chesterfield. He has had such a dynamic effect from 2012 to 2015, when his side were League Two finalists, falling short of the League One play-offs the following season. Without him, amid major boardroom turmoil, the club left the Football League in the summer of 2018, ending 97 years of membership.
The formation of the Chesterfield FC Community Trust in 2020 prevented further earnings, and the revival was helped by local businessmen brothers Kirk, Phil and Ashley, putting an initial £1m into the club. They continue to provide funding.
If last National League saw Wrexham’s Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney battling the Danish sports betting tycoons of Notts County, Alexander and Christoffer Reedtz, then this season Phil Kirk, who was the cause of the Financial Times his career in the oil industry, in 2019, labeling him. “The new King of the North Sea”. A 5-1 FA Cup third round win against Chelsea in 2022 and losing last season’s National League final against County are expected to en route to a return to the EFL and the journey up. This season’s FA Cup run included wins against League One opposition Leyton Orient and Portsmouth to reach the third round.
Cook’s assistant is Danny Webb, and as the son of David Webb, whose curling header decided the 1970 FA Cup Final replay for Chelsea, the competition is in the blood. A southerner by birth and born, he speaks of the excitement that the league and the Cup brought to his adopted home which he speaks with warmth. “I’ve never seen a place with so many pubs and parks; if you like a walk and a beer, this is the place to be,” he says.
“It’s a unique place. My father says this when he talks to the fans in the stands. It’s a one-club town, and you don’t see the kids in Manchester United or Liverpool shirts, it’s Chesterfield shirts or bobble hats during the winter. There is real pride in the town.”
Cook’s connections included three Championship-experienced players in Tom Naylor, Michael Jacobs and Will Grigg, the former “on-fire” attacker who scored 13 National League goals in Chesterfield’s top 61 in 25 game. Cook and Webb have repeatedly praised the professionalism of those players as they rise from divisions to non-league. “It’s so important that the people you sign are good as well as how good they are as players,” says Webb. “They added their great attitude to what we already had at the club.”
At Watford, there will be around 3,600 Spireites and the club could have sold 5,000 of the £10 tickets their hosts charge for the entry price. For Watford, in the Championship play-off hunt, the expectation is to field a rotating team. Cook and Webb hope to be at full strength but they hope to kill a giant. “We’re not stupid,” says Webb. “They have Premier League players on Premier League wages. If they come to the party and play well it could be a long evening.”
Promotion remains the main priority but Saturday is an echo of that team from 1997, from which Davies remains an occasional visitor to his former club. That group met in 2022 for a 25th anniversary, able to say goodbye to Duncan, who died in October of that year.
If they win at Vicarage Road, Chesterfield 2024 may not capture the hearts of the nation in the same way but the club is making its way back.
