# 1988–89 Chester City F.C. season

The 1988–89 season was the 51st season of competitive association football in the Football League played by Chester City, an English club based in Chester, Cheshire.
Also, it was the third season spent in the Third Division after the promotion from the Fourth Division in 1986. Alongside competing in the Football League the club also participated in the FA Cup, the Football League Cup and the Associate Members' Cup.

## Football League

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 6 | Preston North End | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 79 | 60 | +19 | 72 | Participated in play-offs |
| 7 | Brentford | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 66 | 61 | +5 | 68 | |
| 8 | Chester City | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 64 | 61 | +3 | 68 | |
| 9 | Notts County | 46 | 18 | 13 | 15 | 64 | 54 | +10 | 67 | |
| 10 | Bolton Wanderers | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 64 | |

### 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 | D | W | W | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | L | D | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | W | L | L | D | D | D | D | L | D | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | L | L |
| Position | 11 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 8 |

### Matches

| Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| 27 August | Blackpool | H | D | 1–1 | Johnson | 3,496 |
| 3 September | Port Vale | A | W | 2–1 | Woodthorpe, Johnson | 4,213 |
| 10 September | Bristol City | H | W | 2–0 | Lightfoot, Dale | 2,823 |
| 17 September | Sheffield United | A | L | 1–6 | Lightfoot | 8,675 |
| 20 September | Preston North End | A | D | 3–3 | Dale (2), Johnson | 5,415 |
| 24 September | Huddersfield Town | H | W | 3–0 | Newhouse, Johnson (pen), Tucker (o.g.) | 3,319 |
| 1 October | Reading | A | L | 1–3 | Woodthorpe | 4,376 |
| 5 October | Brentford | H | W | 3–2 | Jakub, Barrow, Dale | 2,004 |
| 9 October | Notts County | A | D | 2–2 | Benjamin, Barrow | 5,772 |
| 15 October | Cardiff City | H | D | 0–0 | | 2,796 |
| 22 October | Bristol Rovers | A | L | 1–4 | Benjamin | 3,811 |
| 26 October | Mansfield Town | H | D | 0–0 | | 1,805 |
| 29 October | Aldershot | A | D | 1–1 | Hawtin | 1,862 |
| 5 November | Swansea City | H | W | 3–1 | Dale (2), Abel | 2,263 |
| 8 November | Bury | A | L | 1–2 | Newhouse | 2,497 |
| 12 November | Chesterfield | H | W | 3–1 | Hewitt (o.g.), Dale (2) | 2,099 |
| 26 November | Southend United | H | L | 2–4 | Johnson (2) | 2,050 |
| 3 December | Gillingham | A | W | 2–0 | Dale, Johnson | 3,329 |
| 17 December | Bolton Wanderers | A | W | 1–0 | Dale | 4,318 |
| 26 December | Wigan Athletic | H | W | 1–0 | Lightfoot | 3,262 |
| 31 December | Northampton Town | H | W | 2–1 | Dale, Abel | 2,733 |
| 2 January | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | L | 1–3 | Johnson | 21,901 |
| 7 January | Fulham | A | L | 1–4 | Lightfoot | 4,196 |
| 14 January | Port Vale | H | L | 1–2 | Dale | 4,891 |
| 21 January | Bristol City | A | W | 1–0 | Johnson | 9,586 |
| 4 February | Reading | H | W | 3–0 | Dale (2), Hinnigan | 2,354 |
| 11 February | Brentford | A | W | 1–0 | Dale | 5,748 |
| 18 February | Notts County | H | W | 1–0 | Johnson | 3,157 |
| 28 February | Mansfield Town | A | L | 0–2 | | 2,796 |
| 4 March | Bristol Rovers | H | L | 0–2 | | 3,082 |
| 11 March | Swansea City | A | D | 1–1 | Dale | 4,311 |
| 15 March | Aldershot | H | D | 1–1 | Dale | 2,038 |
| 18 March | Blackpool | A | D | 1–1 | O'Keefe | 2,795 |
| 25 March | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | D | 1–1 | Abel | 8,236 |
| 27 March | Wigan Athletic | A | L | 0–3 | | 3,132 |
| 1 April | Bolton Wanderers | H | D | 0–0 | | 3,225 |
| 5 April | Fulham | H | W | 7–0 | Hinnigan, Woodthorpe, O'Keefe (pen), Graham, Dale (3) | 2,121 |
| 8 April | Northampton Town | A | W | 2–0 | Lightfoot, O'Keefe (pen) | 2,845 |
| 15 April | Huddersfield Town | A | L | 1–3 | Painter | 6,109 |
| 19 April | Sheffield United | H | L | 0–1 | | 4,282 |
| 22 April | Preston North End | H | L | 0–1 | | 4,617 |
| 29 April | Chesterfield | A | W | 2–1 | Dale, Lightfoot | 3,529 |
| 1 May | Bury | H | W | 2–0 | Barrow, Lightfoot | 2,110 |
| 5 May | Gillingham | H | W | 2–0 | Dale, O'Keefe (pen) | 2,106 |
| 9 May | Cardiff City | A | L | 0–2 | | 3,002 |
| 13 May | Southend United | A | L | 0–1 | | 4,089 |

## FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round | 19 November | Burnley (4) | A | W | 2–0 | Dale, Benjamin | 8,475 |
| Second round | 10 December | Huddersfield Town (3) | A | L | 0–1 | | 6,295 |

## League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| First round first leg | 30 August | Bolton Wanderers (3) | A | L | 0–1 | | 3,535 |
| First round second leg | 7 September | Bolton Wanderers (3) | H | W | 3–1 | Lightfoot, Winstanley (o.g.), Barrow | 3,784 |
| Second round first leg | 28 September | Nottingham Forest (1) | A | L | 0–6 | | 11,958 |
| Second round second leg | 12 October | Nottingham Forest (1) | H | L | 0–4 | | 4,747 |

## Associate Members' Cup

| Round | Date | Opponents | Venue | Result | Score | Scorers | Attendance |
| Group stage | 13 December | Sheffield United (3) | A | D | 2–2 | Benjamin, Dale | 2,981 |
| Group stage | 21 December | Wrexham (4) | H | L | 1–2 | Hinnigan | 3,887 |

## Season statistics

| Nat | Player | Total | Total | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | AM Cup | AM Cup |
| Nat | Player | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G | A | G |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||
| | Billy Stewart | 54 | – | 46 | – | 2 | – | 4 | – | 2 | – |
| Field players ||||||||||||
| | Graham Abel | 48 | 3 | 40 | 3 | 1 | – | 4 | – | 2 | – |
| | Graham Barrow | 42 | 4 | 35 | 3 | 2 | – | 3 | 1 | 2 | – |
| | Ian Benjamin | 24+4 | 4 | 18+4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 2 | 1 |
| | Gary Bennett | 3+8 | – | 2+5 | – | – | – | 1+3 | – | – | – |
| | Barry Butler | 39+1 | – | 34+1 | – | 2 | – | 1 | – | 2 | – |
| | Carl Dale | 43+4 | 24 | 38+3 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 1+1 | – | 2 | 1 |
| | David Glenn | 24+1 | – | 17+1 | – | 1 | – | 4 | – | 2 | – |
| | Milton Graham | 20+4 | 1 | 20+4 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Craig Hawtin | 3+1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0+1 | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Joe Hinnigan | 45+1 | 3 | 38+1 | 2 | 2 | – | 3 | – | 2 | 1 |
| | Joe Jakub | 50 | 1 | 42 | 1 | 2 | – | 4 | – | 2 | – |
| | Steve Johnson | 43+3 | 10 | 35+3 | 10 | 2 | – | 4 | – | 2 | – |
| | Tony Kelly | 7 | – | 5 | – | – | – | 2 | – | – | – |
| | Martin Lane | 23 | – | 23 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Chris Lightfoot | 36+6 | 8 | 31+5 | 7 | 1 | – | 4 | 1 | 0+1 | – |
| | Sean Lundon | 5+2 | – | 5+1 | – | – | – | 0+1 | – | – | – |
| | Aidan Newhouse | 15+15 | 2 | 14+11 | 2 | – | – | 1+3 | – | 0+1 | – |
| | Eamonn O'Keefe | 11+3 | 4 | 11+3 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Robbie Painter | 5+4 | 1 | 5+3 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 0+1 | – |
| | Colin Woodthorpe | 52 | 3 | 44 | 3 | 2 | – | 4 | – | 2 | – |
| | Darren Wynne | 0+6 | – | 0+6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| | Own goals | – | 3 | – | 2 | – | – | – | 1 | – | – |
| | Total | 54 | 72 | 46 | 64 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 |