Football Season Review

After comfortably winning League Two last season, the Spireites entered their season of return to the third tier with great expectations. There were some fears regarding losing top scorer Craig Davies, but the majority of the fans expected the side to comfortably beat the drop, while the more optimistic ones hoped for a cheeky Play-Off bid. As it turned out, such hopes were not founded in reality, as Chesterfield struggled throughout the campaign and it was rather clear that their problems were not down simply to the departure of their top scorer. However, there is little doubt that Davies' departure didn't help: John Sheridan signed Leon Clarke on loan in September, and the great scoring form shown by the Swindon man helped Chesterfield achieve three wins in a row, but it was is good as it got for them, as Clarke started to struggle after a good run, and Chesterfield went on a 17 match winless run which begun in late September and ended in mid January. By this point, it had become blatantly clear to Sheridan that his squad simply was not good enough to survive in League One, he exploited the loan market heavily, and his side's fortunes improved a bit, but they never managed to climb out of the bottom four, despite coming close to do it. As a consolation for their relegation, the Spireites will take their JP Trophy triumph, which came after they upset a much fancied Swindon side in the final, and this win is surely one of the reasons why John Sheridan has been allowed to reshape the squad and plan for next season. His first move was to release ten players, and there is little doubt that a much changed Chesterfield side will gun for promotion from League Two next season. Our choice for Player of the Season is Drew Talbot, due to the simple fact that he was one of the rare consistent performers in a rather average bunch.

Player of the Season: Drew Talbot