Chester look back on a decent second season in the Conference Premier in which they retained their status with a lot less hassle. They had finished the previous campaign in the bottom four, only to be saved by the demise of another club over the summer. Steve Burr was determined to make the most of that reprieve and tried his best to assemble a strong and balanced squad ahead of the season. Chris Iwelumo and Gareth Roberts, former international players, were the two most eye-catching additions but Sean McConville, Kieran Charnock and Jon Worsnop were also decent additions with good experience at this level. The Seals were actually off to a horror start as Barnet completely battered them for a 5:0 win in their own backyard. That damaged some of the belief of the players and results remained mostly disappointing in the first month of the season, with Halifax and Torquay outclassing Burr’s men in Cheshire as well. But a dramatic last-gasp 2:1 win over the bitter rivals, Wrexham, in late September seemed to provide real belief and impetus that carried for most of the remainder of the season. The team started to play some lively expansive football, with McConville and John Rooney the main creators from midfield, and some solid results elevated the team into the safety places in mid-table. A gutsy 1:0 win over a strong Gateshead side was followed by a superb comeback from two goals down against a top side like Bristol Rovers further enhanced the morale in the squad. Chester also made it to the FA Cup second round after getting the scalp of Southend on the road, before eventually bowing down to Barnsley after a replay. In the meantime, league form went down quite significantly towards the end of the year, with a couple of dismal losses at the hands of Altrincham sending worrying signals. But the manager was able to make some excellent additions to the squad in January, Matty Hughes, Brad Abbott and Ryan Higgins all bringing up the quality level in the squad, and results almost immediately took a turn for the better. Four wins on the bounce, with just a single goal conceded in them, pretty much secured safety by early February. The rest of the season saw a rather aimless sauntering towards the finish line, with some disappointing results stemming from the seeming lack of intensity in the side. But Chester did finish the season with three consecutive wins and claimed a very respectable 12th-placed finish at the end. This was a pretty good season as a whole and the potential is there to grow further next year.
