# 2008–09 Chester City F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was the 67th and final season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Chester City, an English club based in Chester, Cheshire.
Also, it was the fifth season spent in the Football League Two, after the promotion from the Football Conference in 2004. Alongside competing in the Football League the club also participated in the FA Cup, the Football League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

## Season summary

In 2007–08, Chester finished the season in 22nd place, only one spot above the relegation zone, on just 47 points from the 46 matches. Chester began the 2008–09 season with a squad of only 22 players and a transfer embargo, including youth team players given professional contracts just prior to the season. However, at the start of the campaign it seemed unlikely for City to get relegated, as Rotherham United and A.F.C. Bournemouth had both been deducted 17 points for rules violations before the start of the season, and Luton Town faced a 30-point penalty. A poor start to 2008–09 saw Davies sacked in November 2008 with the club out of all cup competitions and struggling in League Two. Mark Wright returned for his third spell as manager on a non-contract basis. Beset by an ongoing transfer embargo, Chester continued to struggle throughout the remainder of the campaign, and a 2–1 home defeat by Darlington on the final day of the season sealed Chester's demise and a return to non-league football after five years back in The Football League. Two weeks after the final match the club entered administration.

## Football League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 20 | Macclesfield Town | 46 | 13 | 8 | 25 | 45 | 77 | −32 | 47 | |
| 21 | Bournemouth | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 59 | 51 | +8 | 46 | |
| 22 | Grimsby Town | 46 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 51 | 69 | −18 | 41 | |
| 23 | Chester City (R) | 46 | 8 | 13 | 25 | 43 | 81 | −38 | 37 | Relegated to Conference National |
| 24 | Luton Town (R) | 46 | 13 | 17 | 16 | 58 | 65 | −7 | 26 | Relegated to Conference National |
* ↑ Bournemouth deducted 17 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement.
* ↑ Luton Town deducted 30 points; 20 points for leaving administration without a Company Voluntary Agreement, and 10 points for making illegal payments to agents.

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: rsssf.com

### Results by matchday

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Result | L | L | L | W | D | W | D | D | L | D | L | L | L | W | L | L | L | W | L | W | D | W | L | D | L | D | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | D | L | L | L | D | D | D | W | L | W | L | D | L |
| Position | 21 | 21 | 21 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 |

### Matches

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 9 August | Dagenham & Redbridge | A | L | 0–6 | | 1,434 |
| 16 August | Wycombe Wanderers | H | L | 0–2 | | 1,419 |
| 23 August | Rotherham United | A | L | 1–3 | Ellison | 3,462 |
| 30 August | Barnet | H | W | 5–1 | Ellison, Lowe (2), Linwood, Roberts | 1,295 |
| 6 September | Bury | H | D | 1–1 | Mozika | 2,327 |
| 13 September | Grimsby Town | A | W | 3–1 | Ellison (3) | 2,950 |
| 21 September | Shrewsbury Town | H | D | 1–1 | McManus | 2,891 |
| 27 September | Luton Town | A | D | 1–1 | McManus | 5,731 |
| 4 October | Lincoln City | H | L | 0–2 | | 1,962 |
| 11 October | Chesterfield | A | D | 1–1 | Linwood | 3,042 |
| 19 October | Port Vale | H | L | 1–2 | Lowe | 3,102 |
| 21 October | Rochdale | A | L | 1–6 | McArdle (o.g.) | 2,162 |
| 25 October | Gillingham | A | L | 0–2 | | 4,852 |
| 28 October | Brentford | H | W | 3–0 | Lowe (2), Roberts | 1,301 |
| 1 November | Exeter City | A | L | 0–2 | | 4,448 |
| 15 November | Morecambe | H | L | 1–2 | Johnson | 1,647 |
| 22 November | Aldershot Town | H | L | 0–1 | | 1,653 |
| 25 November | Darlington | A | W | 2–1 | Lowe, Kelly | 2,416 |
| 6 December | AFC Bournemouth | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,154 |
| 13 December | Notts County | H | W | 2–0 | Lowe, Roberts | 1,767 |
| 20 December | Bradford City | A | D | 0–0 | | 12,092 |
| 26 December | Accrington Stanley | H | W | 2–0 | Lowe (2) | 2,223 |
| 28 December | Macclesfield Town | A | L | 1–3 | Lowe | 2,219 |
| 13 January | Luton Town | H | D | 2–2 | Lowe (pen), Ellison | 1,652 |
| 17 January | Chesterfield | H | L | 1–3 | Mozika | 1,806 |
| 24 January | Lincoln City | A | D | 1–1 | Barry | 3,760 |
| 27 January | Port Vale | A | L | 0–3 | | 4,448 |
| 31 January | Gillingham | H | L | 0–1 | | 1,541 |
| 3 February | Rochdale | H | L | 0–2 | | 1,357 |
| 7 February | Brentford | A | L | 0–3 | | 4,719 |
| 14 February | Morecambe | A | L | 1–3 | Wilson | 1,795 |
| 17 February | Shrewsbury Town | A | L | 0–1 | | 6,133 |
| 21 February | Exeter City | H | D | 0–0 | | 1,649 |
| 28 February | Dagenham & Redbridge | H | D | 2–2 | Mannix, Roberts | 1,416 |
| 3 March | Wycombe Wanderers | A | L | 0–2 | | 3,713 |
| 7 March | Barnet | A | L | 1–3 | Ellison | 2,085 |
| 10 March | Rotherham United | H | L | 1–5 | Ellison | 1,235 |
| 14 March | Grimsby Town | H | D | 1–1 | Lowe | 2,836 |
| 21 March | Bury | A | D | 1–1 | Lowe | 3,049 |
| 28 March | Bradford City | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,735 |
| 4 April | Notts County | A | W | 2–1 | Mannix, Lowe | 4,025 |
| 11 April | Macclesfield Town | H | L | 0–2 | | 2,248 |
| 13 April | Accrington Stanley | A | W | 1–0 | Lowe (pen) | 1,100 |
| 18 April | AFC Bournemouth | H | L | 0–2 | | 3,349 |
| 25 April | Aldershot Town | A | D | 2–2 | Lowe, Ellams | 3,100 |
| 2 May | Darlington | H | L | 1–2 | Miller (o.g.) | 1,945 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 8 November | Millwall (3) | H | L | 0–3 | | 1,932 |

## Football League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 12 August | Leeds United (3) | H | L | 2–5 | Lowe (2) | 3,644 |

## Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| Second round | 7 October | Morecambe (4) | H | L | 1–1 (p.1–3) | Ellison | 926 |

## Season statistics

| Nat | Player | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | FL Trophy | FL Trophy |
| Nat | Player | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| | John Danby | 44 | – | 41 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | James Spencer | 5 | – | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Field players ||||||||||||
| | Anthony Barry | 41+5 | 1 | 38+5 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Paul Butler | 2 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| | Tony Dinning | 3+1 | – | 3+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Lloyd Ellams | 2+2 | 1 | 2+2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Kevin Ellison | 42 | 9 | 39 | 8 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | 1 |
| | Jay Harris | 25+8 | – | 24+7 | – | 1 | – | 0+1 | – | – | – |
| | Mark Hughes | 27+1 | – | 25+1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Eddie Johnson | 8+3 | 1 | 7+3 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Ben Jones | 2+13 | – | 2+13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Shaun Kelly | 23+5 | 1 | 23+4 | 1 | – | – | 0+1 | – | – | – |
| | Paul Linwood | 46 | 2 | 43 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Ryan Lowe | 47+1 | 18 | 45 | 16 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | 0+1 | – |
| | David Mannix | 11+3 | 2 | 10+3 | 2 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – |
| | Paul McManus | 7+3 | 2 | 6+3 | 2 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Damien Mozika | 24+1 | 2 | 21+1 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | James Owen | 4+3 | – | 4+3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Richie Partridge | 17+13 | – | 15+13 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Kristian Platt | 0+1 | – | 0+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Kevin Roberts | 46 | 4 | 44 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Glenn Rule | 18+4 | – | 18+4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Paul Rutherford | 5+15 | – | 5+14 | – | 0+1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Paul Smith | 0+5 | – | 0+5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Paul Taylor | 2+8 | – | 2+7 | – | – | – | – | – | 0+1 | – |
| | Stephen Vaughan | 7+1 | – | 7+1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | James Vaughan | 45 | – | 42 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Laurence Wilson | 36+1 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 0+1 | – | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Total | 49 | 46 | 46 | 43 | 1 | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |