Category: Latest

The latest news from the Joomla! Team

Fundraising update – Wrexham AFC collection

Posted by Neil Bellis on

Just four weeks ago, it was announced at the City Fans United meeting, that Chester FC needed to raise a figure of £50,000 to ensure the club could survive in the immediate term.

We have therefore been delighted at the response from Chester fans and the wider football family which has clearly come together to support the Blues in the bid for survival.
Last Thursday, we announced that we had surpassed the initial £50,000 target and now we could look to the medium term goal of ensuring survival beyond the end of the season.

Two weeks ago we were kindly contacted by officials at fellow fan owned club Wrexham AFC, who understood our position, and whilst we share a great rivalry with each other, offered us the opportunity of fundraising via donation buckets at their game against Aldershot. That kind offer of help was gratefully accepted.

This Saturday, a group of Chester fans will make the short trip up the A483 to fundraise for the Blues. Hopefully we have already covered the reasons behind why we must not stop fundraising having met the initial £50,000 target, and we would like to thank in advance any donations made – no matter how great or small – by Wrexham fans and indeed Aldershot fans at the game on Saturday, and also thank Wrexham AFC for making the offer.

We would like to thank those Blues fans giving up their time on Saturday to help raise funds for Chester FC.

Chester Select XI v Murray’s All Stars – Hospitality Packages Available

Posted by Neil Bellis on

Chester Select XI v Murray’s All Stars – Thursday 15th February.

Chester FC can confirm that hospitality packages for the upcoming fundraiser event that will see a Chester side take on Colin Murray’s All Stars team, which includes Chester born and former Liverpool and England international Michael Owen, are now up for grabs.

There are various commercial opportunities for the event, as per below:
Match Sponsorship – £1000 ex vat
Includes a full sumptious 3 course meal provided by Dougherty & Allen for 10 guests, along with match tickets, a Stadium tour, and of course the all important Man of the Match selection.

Matchball Sponsorship – £500 ex vat
Includes the 3 course meal for 6 people provided by Dougherty & Allen, along with match tickets, stadium tour, and picture opportunities

Match Programme Sponsorship – £500 ex vat
Includes the 3 course meal for 6 people provided by Dougherty & Allen, along with match tickets, stadium tour, and picture opportunities.

All above sponsors will receive promotion of your sponsorship within the Stadium on the night & also the matchday programme

Meal Package – £55 per head
A 3 course meal in the Legends Lounge, along with match ticket

Mascot Package – £100 ex vat
The chance to be one of 22 mascots on the night, and have a truly memorable experience walking out with some legends of yesteryear and Colin’s all stars line up!
Match ticket included as well as a souvenir from the night itself.

For enquiries please contact the commercial team on 01244 371376 or email jackie.olorenshaw@chesterfc.com to secure your booking.

Act quickly though as this is expected to be in very high demand!

CFU statement – The fight is on!

Posted by Neil Bellis on

The CFU Board wish to provide the following statement to all members, volunteers, supporters, stakeholders and friends of Chester FC.

The Board of City Fans United is aware of the concerns currently being expressed across the CFU Membership and the wider fan-base regarding the direction of the Club both on and off the field of play. We want to assure everybody that we are listening and that we intend to act to address these concerns and that your club needs your passion, support and help in assisting us to do this.

We also understand that when the prolonged period of results on the pitch are not going as we either hoped or planned, this has led to a decline of the ‘feel-good’ factor we enjoyed in the early days after our reformation. We have also seen our attendances drop considerably.

We know we need to recapture this and concentrate our efforts and ethos back onto community and fan engagement. Improved communication from us as a Board will be key to this.

On Monday night, we organised an informal consultation meeting with ex-board members, previous key volunteers, Community Trust colleagues and our CEO to assess and address the current issues surrounding the club and to work with us to produce and deliver a strategy to help improve the club’s fortunes.

As an outcome of this honest, frank but positive meeting, we will be setting-up a number of working groups and asking for fan involvement in these to take our plans forward. You, the volunteers and fans of this club are its greatest asset and our club needs your support now more than ever.

The main message is, however: The fight is on to avoid relegation and address the impact of reduced gates on our finances and budget projections. We have 18 league games left, 10 of which are at home and we all need to be behind the team as we grind our way out of relegation: The club needs its 12th man.

As we launch new initiatives, we ask you support them with vigour and as the lads battle on the pitch, we urge you all to get to each and every home game and to bring a friend or two (or ten) to boost our support and cheer them to victory.

This club is precious. This club is ours. Together WE are Chester FC and WE can do this!!

Our City, Our Community, Our Club (Always)

Jonny Hughes
Neil Bellis
Laurence Kirby
Anne Salmon
Mike Day
David Harrington-Wright
David O’Toole
David Williams
Mark Jones
Andrew Morris

Informal CFU Meeting Update: Change of Venue and Meet Marcus Bignot

Posted by Mike Day on

The next informal CFU members meeting, scheduled for Thursday 23rd November, will be a bit different than usual.

We are switching venue from the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium to:
The Anchor Pub in Saltney.

Members of the CFU board will welcome manager Marcus Bignot and CEO Mark Maguire with fans able to ask questions of everyone.

The change in venue to The Anchor in Saltney is part of a wider move by the board of directors to start encouraging more people to attend CFU meetings and to help raise the profile of City Fans United across Chester, Cheshire and North Wales.

Jonny Hughes, Chair of City Fans United, said: “In football if you want success then you have to perform home and away, and that’s exactly what we have identified we need to do.

“We have seen attendances at CFU meetings go down slowly over time, so it’s about time we did something different.

“By taking more of a fan forum type approach to informal CFU meetings and switching venues to social clubs, halls and pubs in the places and areas our fans live in, we’re hoping to encourage more members to attend.

“But, not only that. We need to start engaging with our fans and the wider public more, so the plan is to open up future fan forums to non-members also to help raise our profile and drive our membership forward.

The meeting will start at the usual time of 7:30pm.
The address for The Anchor is 5 High Street, Saltney, Chester, CH4 8SE.

We hope to see you there!

CFU Members Meeting Thursday 14th September

Posted by Mike Day on

The next City Fans United owners meeting is next Thursday, September 14th in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium with a 7.30pm start.

This is a formal members meeting.
Meeting Agenda available through this link

The streaming service will available for any owners who can’t make it down to the stadium on the night. You must have renewed before the day of the meeting to eligible to watch the streaming service so don’t hesitate if you haven’t signed up already! Please email neil.bellis@chesterfc.com by September 13th if you want to watch the stream but haven’t previously signed up.

Meeting for those who are considering standing for the board

Posted by Neil Bellis on

The CFU board will be holding a short meeting with anyone who is interested in standing for the board at this year’s AGM.

The meeting will be held at 6.45pm ahead of this Thursday’s July 27th informal owners meeting, with special guest Jon McCarthy. A few board members will be on hand before the meeting to speak to anyone who is interested in standing for election to the board about what the role is likely to entail and how much of a commitment the role is.

If you wish to speak to an existing board member about standing for the board but are unable to make the time on Thursday then please email marion.needham@chesterfc.com and another time can be arranged.  (more…)

CFU meeting next Thursday

Posted by Neil Bellis on

The next City Fans United owners meeting is next Thursday, July 27th in the Blues Bar at the Swansway Chester Stadium with a 7.30pm start.

The meeting is an informal meeting and on the night the special guest will be manager Jon McCarthy.

After Jon there will be a general Q&A session with the CFU board.

The streaming service will available for any owners who can’t make it down to the stadium on the night. You must have renewed before the day of the meeting to eligible to watch the streaming service so don’t hesitate if you haven’t signed up already! Please email neil.bellis@chesterfc.com by July 26th if you want to watch the stream but haven’t previously signed up.  (more…)

Own your club 2017-18 reminder

Posted by Neil Bellis on

The CFU board would like to remind all those who wish to stand for the board or nominate someone to stand for the CFU board then you must renew your ownership before Monday June 26th.

This is because our constitution states that anyone wishing to become a board member or nominate a person for the board must be a member 60 days before the AGM which will be on October 5th.

If you do not wish to stand for the board there is no deadline for renewals but we would urge everyone to renew their ownership of CFU and Chester FC.

You can become an Owner today, by joining in the following ways.

* Online via this link to our website. http://www.cityfansunited.com/join-online.html

* OR http://www.cityfansunited.com/renew-membership.html for existing CFU members

* Call our office on 01244 371376 (open 10am-4pm) to pay via credit/debit card. Also this Sunday June 25th the club office is open from 10am to 4pm for season ticket and ownership renewals.

* Post a Completed Form, downloadable here (http://www.cityfansunited.com/docs/cfu_membership.pdf) Please make your cheque payable to City Fans United, and send to the following address:

City Fans United

Swansway Chester Stadium

Bumpers Lane

Chester

CH1 4LT

The CFU Ownership is the new name for the CFU Membership, existing Members from the 2016/17 season, are encouraged to renew their commitment to the club, by becoming Owners for the 2017/18 season. Thank you for your continued support. (more…)

Three co-opted onto the CFU board

Posted by Neil Bellis on

Three more directors have been co-opted onto the City Fans United (CFU) board.

The CFU board put out an appeal for fans to apply for the board to help move the club forward and the board is delighted to announce that Dave Harrington-Wright, Andrew Morris and Sam Swash have been co-opted onto the board until the AGM in October. They join David O’Toole who was co-opted in April. (more…)