The Sorry Case of Chester City

Well, some good news out of the Football Association - of a sort. Chester City are finally being allowed to start the Blue Square Premier season - albeit just a week behind everyone else. Chester have been a basket case for some time and seem to attract disaster. The reign of the American Terry Smith has to be one of the most bizarre interludes in the Football League, as he decided to have separate attack and defence coaches in homage to American Football. I should be mounted and stuffed as I actually saw his Chester side win a match - away from home too.

From a betting perspective it's interesting to see as I write that no-one has priced up Chester's first game. They are scheduled to be playing Cambridge United at the Deva Stadium on Saturday. Chester have to be worth opposing if you can get a bet on. A squad that was thin last season thanks to a transfer embargo that was never quite "solved" has been stripped of experienced players like Ryan Lowe and Kevin Ellison and they have only been allowed to play one pre-season game, so they simply have to be way behind other sides in preparation and fitness.

I wish Chester fans well though after years of dross, fear and paranoia over the future - often justified. The excellent DevaChat message board makes for sorry reading.