Having been a season ticket holder at Preston North End for as long as I care to remember, I decided to treat myself this weekend and not attend the PNE v QPR fixture at Deepdale on Saturday but watch the North West’s biggest game of the weekend – Chorley v Chester in the Evo-Stick Division One North instead.

Having become more and more disillusioned with the state of football at the higher levels for some time, every so often a trip to a local non league side can provide a fresh sense of well being and a view into what football used to be like before TV took notice and the money came flooding in.

Last summer I had watched from a distance the plight of Chester City as the fans looked to break free from the grasps of then owner Steve Vaughan and eventually win the fight to set their own club up further down the footballing ladder as Chester FC. As such I decided at some point when they travelled up towards my corner of the world, I would go and watch them take on AFC Fylde or Lancaster or Bamber Bridge. But as often happens I never got round to it and it wasn’t until a few weeks ago when I started to hear the internet buzz about the clash coming up at Chorley’s Victory Park that it seemed I would finally get a chance to see them.

However it seemed fairly problematic when I looked into it. Chorley, who were flying high themselves in the division, taking on league leaders Chester, meant that the club had decided the game should be made all ticket and no pay on the day would be available. Initial enquires suggested the only way to get a ticket in the home stands would be to travel down to Chorley’s ground in advance and buy a ticket from the ticket office. Fortunately a phone call to the ticket office was met with a helpful response and I was informed if I sent a cheque in with a prepaid envelope, the club would post out my tickets. Result.

As the days ticked by and the weekend approached there was news that a fantastic following of 1,200 from Chester would be travelling as they had sold every ticket made available to them. This was shortly followed up by stories of Chester fans buying tickets in the home ends and even talk of duplicated tickets being produced to squeeze more Chester fans into the away end.

Similarly just a day before the game Chorley announced that over 2,000 home tickets had been sold so it appeared this game would be the league’s biggest crowd of the season and the biggest at Chorley since the 1980’s.

Now at this point I should probably mention that whilst lurking around various Chester and Chorley forums pre match, whilst there was talk of the game to be played, there was also talk of potential trouble. From what I could gather Chester have had a couple of incidents on their travels this season and some fans were less than impressed by the celebrations from both Chorley supporters (who invaded the pitch) and the management team of Garry Flitcroft when Chorley won at the Exacta Stadium earlier this season. So while often internet talk can be taken with a pinch of salt, I was not unprepared for what ultimately happened on the day.

We arrived in Chorley about an hour and a half before kick off so we could have a drink and chat to a few fans before the game about how the teams had been doing so far this season. Unsurprisingly, it was chucking it down when we arrived and not knowing Chorley town centre very well, we made straight for a pub (The Duke of York) close to the ground. There was a sizeable presence of Chorley fans outside the pub, drinking and singing as we went in.

Inside the pub was absolutely rammed and it looked like the entire cast of the 1995 cult classic I.D. had turned up for this one. Whilst waiting for a pint (and eavesdropping) it seemed there were faces from Everton/Wigan/Bolton/Preston/Man United/Blackburn and more who had turned up expecting a brawl or two with Chester in the type of environment you simply don’t get in league football anymore. I think you had to have a banning order just to get served in this place.

When we finally made it to the bar I asked if they did a carvery and the barmaid looked as if she was about to glass me, so we made a sharp exit and went into the ground with an hour still to kick off.
Bought the obligatory programme for two quid but it had more adverts than the yellow pages. Still it was money in the coffers for Chorley so shouldn’t complain too much. Plus we’d only been charged £7 each to stand on a terrace, and for someone who has been thrown out of a football ground for persistent standing before, it was cheap at twice the price.

Anyhow after I’d learned where all the best hotels, restaurants and dry cleaners in Chorley were, the game had ticked around till 10 minutes before kick off. But only it wasn’t, as the crackly, barely audible PA system came on to announce that due to a large number of fans still queuing to get into the ground, the game would now start at 3.15pm instead.

Just as I was about to log onto twitter on my phone and see what Katie Price was up to, all hell broke loose along the grass bank down the side of the pitch. If you remember back to the student riots in London recently, you may recall those metal fences that the students used to batter the Police? Well basically the only thing keeping the Chorley and Chester mobs apart were a couple of these fences, with a handful of stewards looking on.

A couple of bottles were thrown across and that was that. The fences were ripped down by both sides and the groups clashed for a good few minutes before the Police arrived into the ground and separated both sides. As more reinforcements were called in by the Police they managed to keep a decent gap in the middle of the bank for the rest of the game successfully with nothing more than verbals being exchanged for the rest of the game.

Oh yes the game! Well after all that had quietened down, the teams finally came out and a football match got under way. Whether it was the huge crowd (later announced as 3,223) or simply the occasion with so much at stake for both sides, it was a jittery affair from start to finish and a game that didn’t really do justice to either sides league standing and reputation.

Early in the second half the deadlock was broken as a mix up in the Chorley defence allowed Chester midfielder Robbie Booth to slot home into an empty net and give his side a priceless goal. There was still no reaction from Chorley and Chester had a couple of chances to kill the game off.

As we entered the last ten minutes Chorley broke through the Chester defence down the left and a cross into the box went narrowly over the top and that was pretty much that. Well of the game anyway. As the full time whistle went Chester’s players and fans celebrated their 1-0 victory and another step closer to promotion. But the action wasn’t finished there as a handful of Chester fans came onto the pitch and were then faced by around 100 Chorley fans. This time the Police were quicker to react, and using batons and CS gas pushed the Chorley fans back.

Whether the authorities take any action against either Chorley or Chester remains to be seen, but from my own experience it was clear that the vast majority of troublemakers in the home ends were simply there for the day to have a kick off and I doubt will ever step foot in Chorley again. The biggest culprit in my eyes were the Police who woefully underestimated the intent on both sides to cause bother.

But it shouldn’t take away from what was a great effort from both clubs to have a turnout of the division’s biggest crowd of the season which even beat an attendance in League One at Hartlepool v MK Dons.

FT: Chorley 0-1 Chester
Att: 3,223

Thanks to Cruyff_Des for the match report.