CHESTERFIELD’S PRIDE RESTORED AFTER SIX-YEAR NON-LEAGUE STAY
SHORTLY after Chesterfield were relegated from the EFL for the first time in almost a century, caretaker manager Ian Evatt took aim at a squad whose collective salaries comprised the sixth-highest wage bill in League Two.
“Football is sometimes about self-analysing,” he said as the rain clattered on the roof of a deserted Proact Stadium.
“It’s about going home, looking in the mirror and asking yourself: ‘Have I done enough for this football club?’ Clearly the answer is no, and I’m included in that.”
There was more to Chesterfield’s demise than poor performance, of course. Budget overruns on the stadium, a boardroom walkout, misjudged recruitment and several unsuccessful managerial appointments produced a toxic cocktail of underachievement. Still, nobody could quite comprehend the speed or scale of their collapse.
Six years on, that disbelief remains. But as the Spireites celebrate a promotion that took five years longer than anybody anticipated, it is worth revisiting Evatt’s words.
Because when the current crop look in the mirror and appraise their contribution to an almost flawless campaign, every single one of them can rest assured that they have done enough for the world’s fourth-oldest professional club.
Enough? That’s doing them a grave disservice. The likes of Will Grigg, captain Jamie Grimes and Tom Naylor have done more than enough, more than anyone expected and far more than was required to seal promotion, a rare feat in a division where perfection is usually a prerequisite of champions. Very few teams have won the National League in March.
Yesterday at York, they were still going, seven days after the deal was sealed with a 3-0 victory over Boreham Wood.
Joe Quigley, full of desire, lunging in at the far post to tuck away an early opener. Armando Dobra, screaming up and down the right like he was powered by concentrated Red Bull. Paul Cook, his mission complete and his voice long gone, berating the fourth official with such vehemence that he collected the game’s first yellow card.
A day earlier, York boss Adam Hinshelwood had expressed his hope that Chesterfield’s players would turn up nursing hangovers. If this is how they approach things after a week on the beer, League Two beware.
“All season, the standards have been so high,” said assistant manager Danny Webb, who won promotion to the EFL as a coach under the late Justin Edinburgh at Leyton Orient in 2019.
“If you don’t win and you don’t play well in the same bracket then nobody is satisfied.
“Deep down, we’ve known for a good while that we’ve probably done it. But those standards don’t just disappear because you win the league. We’ve had the party and we’ve had the cel
