# 1952–53 Chester F.C. season

The 1952–53 season was the 15th season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Chester, an English club based in Chester, Cheshire.
It was the club's 15th consecutive season in the Third Division North since the election to the Football League. Alongside competing in the league, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the Welsh Cup.

## Football League

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 18 | Mansfield Town | 46 | 16 | 14 | 16 | 55 | 62 | 0.887 | 46 |
| 19 | Barrow | 46 | 16 | 12 | 18 | 66 | 71 | 0.930 | 44 |
| 20 | Chester | 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 64 | 85 | 0.753 | 37 |
| 21 | Darlington | 46 | 14 | 6 | 26 | 58 | 96 | 0.604 | 34 |
| 22 | Rochdale | 46 | 14 | 5 | 27 | 62 | 83 | 0.747 | 33 |

### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
| Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts |
| 46 | 11 | 15 | 20 | 64 | 85 | 0.753 | 37 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 39 | 27 | 27 | 1 | 8 | 14 | 25 | 58 | 10 |
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 | D | W | D | L | D | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | W | L | D | D | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | D | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | W | W | D | L | D | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | W |
| Position | 17 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 |

### Matches

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 23 August | Stockport County | A | L | 1–4 | Travis | 10,467 |
| 27 August | York City | H | D | 1–1 | Richardson | 6,530 |
| 30 August | Bradford City | H | W | 2–0 | Deakin, Bullock | 6,365 |
| 1 September | York City | A | D | 0–0 | | 8,759 |
| 6 September | Rochdale | A | L | 1–3 | Richardson | 6,557 |
| 11 September | Scunthorpe & Lindsey United | A | D | 1–1 | Travis | 6,695 |
| 13 September | Darlington | H | W | 6–3 | Bullock (2), Matt Costello, Travis, Windle, Richardson | 5,519 |
| 17 September | Scunthorpe & Lindsey United | H | D | 1–1 | Matt Costello | 5,004 |
| 20 September | Gateshead | A | L | 1–4 | Windle | 6,186 |
| 24 September | Oldham Athletic | H | L | 0–1 | | 5,678 |
| 5 January | Hartlepools United | H | L | 0–1 | | 4,110 |
| 29 September | Crewe Alexandra | A | L | 1–4 | Bullock | 5,698 |
| 4 October | Carlisle United | A | D | 1–1 | Bullock | 9,421 |
| 11 October | Tranmere Rovers | H | W | 3–2 | Bullock, Travis, Deakin | 9,045 |
| 18 October | Chesterfield | A | L | 1–2 | Richardson | 8,675 |
| 25 October | Workington | H | D | 1–1 | Travis | 5,009 |
| 1 November | Accrington Stanley | A | D | 1–1 | Bullock | 5,903 |
| 8 November | Halifax Town | H | W | 2–1 | Deakin, Travis | 5,235 |
| 15 November | Mansfield Town | A | D | 2–2 | Hilton, Coffin | 6,390 |
| 29 November | Bradford Park Avenue | A | L | 0–1 | | 8,145 |
| 6 December | Rochdale | H | W | 3–0 | Bullock, Travis, Kirkpatrick | 3,324 |
| 13 December | Barrow | A | L | 0–3 | | 3,744 |
| 20 December | Stockport County | H | W | 4–0 | Morement, Travis, Bullock, Windle | 3,144 |
| 26 December | Southport | A | L | 0–2 | | 6,000 |
| 3 January | Bradford City | A | D | 2–2 | Travis, Windle | 9,172 |
| 13 January | Grimsby Town | A | L | 4–5 | Tony Spink (2), Morement (pen.), Windle | 6,204 |
| 24 January | Darlington | A | L | 2–3 | Hilton, Travis | 4,243 |
| 31 January | Grimsby Town | H | L | 0–2 | | 4,005 |
| 7 February | Gateshead | H | W | 2–0 | Travis (2) | 5,075 |
| 14 February | Hartlepools United | A | D | 2–2 | Travis, Windle | 6,499 |
| 21 February | Carlisle United | H | L | 1–2 | Travis | 5,987 |
| 28 February | Tranmere Rovers | A | L | 0–4 | | 8,633 |
| 7 March | Chesterfield | H | W | 2–0 | Deakin, Astbury | 3,794 |
| 14 March | Workington | A | W | 2–1 | Travis (2) | 8,466 |
| 21 March | Accrington Stanley | H | W | 2–0 | Deakin, Travis | 3,818 |
| 25 March | Southport | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,744 |
| 28 March | Halifax Town | A | L | 1–3 | Travis | 3,296 |
| 3 April | Port Vale | A | D | 1–1 | Sutcliffe | 19,413 |
| 4 April | Mansfield Town | H | D | 2–2 | Morement (2) | 5,082 |
| 6 April | Port Vale | H | D | 2–2 | Morement, Travis | 10,553 |
| 11 April | Oldham Athletic | A | L | 1–2 | Travis | 19,058 |
| 15 April | Wrexham | H | L | 1–2 | Sutcliffe | 11,371 |
| 18 April | Bradford Park Avenue | H | L | 0–3 | | 4,441 |
| 22 April | Crewe Alexandra | H | D | 2–2 | Travis (2) | 3,468 |
| 25 April | Wrexham | A | L | 0–7 | | 11,082 |
| 29 April | Barrow | H | W | 2–1 | Travis (2) | 1,941 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 22 November | Hartlepools United (3N) | H | L | 0–1 | | 6,773 |

## Welsh Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| Fifth round | 31 December | Wrexham (3N) | A | W | 4–3 | Frank Tomlinson (2), Morement, Windle | 5,044 |
| Sixth round | 4 February | Pwllheli & District (WLN) | H | W | 2–0 | Bullock, Sutcliffe | 1,600 |
| Quarterfinal | 18 February | Lovell's Athletic (SFL) | H | W | 5–0 | Astbury, Bullock, Travis (3) | 1,700 |
| Semifinal | 1 April | Connah's Quay Nomads (WLN) | N | W | 5–0 | Morement (2, 1pen.), Deakin, Hilton, Travis | 5,218 |
| Final | 27 April | Rhyl (CCL) | N | L | 1–2 | Travis | 8,539 |

## Season statistics

| Nat | Player | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Welsh Cup | Welsh Cup |
| Nat | Player | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| | Bernard Port | 4 | – | 3 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Dick Wright | 48 | – | 43 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – |
| Field players ||||||||||
| | Tommy Astbury | 35 | 2 | 30 | 1 | – | – | 5 | 1 |
| | Norman Bullock | 27 | 11 | 24 | 9 | – | – | 3 | 2 |
| | Geoff Coffin | 25 | 1 | 23 | 1 | 1 | – | 1 | – |
| | Matt Costello | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | – | – | – | – |
| | Billy Deakin | 30 | 6 | 27 | 5 | 1 | – | 2 | 1 |
| | Leo Dickens | 7 | – | 7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Ray Gill | 52 | – | 46 | – | 1 | – | 5 | – |
| | Joe Hilton | 33 | 3 | 28 | 2 | 1 | – | 4 | 1 |
| | Ron Hughes | 30 | – | 27 | – | 1 | – | 2 | – |
| | Roger Kirkpatrick | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| | Eric Lee | 39 | – | 34 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – |
| | John Molyneux | 6 | – | 5 | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| | Ralph Morement | 41 | 8 | 38 | 5 | – | – | 3 | 3 |
| | Sam Morris | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | George Pilkington | 20 | – | 16 | – | 1 | – | 3 | – |
| | Fred Richardson | 16 | 4 | 16 | 4 | – | – | – | – |
| | Harry Smith | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Tony Spink | 9 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – |
| | Fred Sutcliffe | 25 | 3 | 21 | 2 | – | – | 4 | 1 |
| | Frank Tomlinson | 14 | 2 | 11 | – | – | – | 3 | 2 |
| | Don Travis | 47 | 29 | 41 | 24 | 1 | – | 5 | 5 |
| | Phil Whitlock | 4 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Billy Windle | 44 | 7 | 38 | 6 | 1 | – | 5 | 1 |
| | Own goals | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Total | 52 | 81 | 46 | 64 | 1 | – | 5 | 17 |