Chesterfield

The club

Chesterfield date from 1867, though the present club was formed on 24 April 1919. They played at Saltergate from 1871 until 2010 and now play at the SMH Group Stadium in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, which holds 10,600. They are the Spireites, after the crooked spire of the parish church, and play in red and white stripes with white as the change colour.

Recent seasons

Chesterfield were relegated out of the Football League at the end of 2017/18, a second consecutive relegation and the first time the club had played outside the league since 1921. Six seasons in the National League followed: 14th with 59 points in 2018/19, 20th with 44 in 2019/20, sixth with 69 in 2020/21, seventh with 74 in 2021/22 and third with 84 in 2022/23. Paul Cook was appointed manager on 10 February 2022, returning seven years after his previous spell, and in 2023/24 took the club up as champions with 98 points, sealing promotion with five games to spare and breaking the club record of 27 league wins in a season.

Back in League Two they were seventh in 2024/25 with 70 points from 46 games, 19 wins, 13 draws and 14 defeats, Will Grigg top-scoring with 12 league goals. In 2025/26 they were sixth with 79 points: 21 wins, 16 draws, 9 defeats, 71 goals scored and 56 conceded. Lee Bonis was leading scorer with 12 in the league and 16 in all competitions. They lost the play-off semi-final to Notts County, beaten 1-0 at home on 10 May 2026 and held to a goalless draw at Meadow Lane on 15 May; Notts County then won the final 3-0 against Salford City at Wembley on 25 May 2026. Chesterfield reached the FA Cup second round, went out of the EFL Cup in the first round and out of the EFL Trophy in the round of 32. 2026/27 is their third consecutive season back in League Two.

The ownership history matters to the club's recent story. Dave Allen bought a majority stake in 2011 and became chairman in 2012, resigning both roles on 14 November 2016 amid a boardroom crisis and the slide out of the EFL. On 6 August 2020 the Chesterfield FC Community Trust, the club's associated charity, bought the club, and ownership was subsequently transferred by the Trust to the brothers Phil and Ashley Kirk.

Honours and landmarks

Chesterfield have won the Third Division North twice, in 1930/31 and 1935/36, and the fourth tier four times, in 1969/70, 1984/85, 2010/11 and 2013/14. They won the National League in 2023/24. The Football League Trophy was won in 2011/12, and the Anglo-Scottish Cup in 1980/81. Their highest league finish is fourth in the Second Division in 1946/47.

The club's best-known campaign is the FA Cup run of 1996/97, when as a third-tier side they reached the semi-final and drew 3-3 with Middlesbrough at Old Trafford before losing the replay 3-0. Record attendance is 30,561 against Tottenham Hotspur at Saltergate on 12 February 1938; the record at the current stadium is 10,108 against Maidenhead United in May 2024, during the National League title season. Dave Blakey holds the appearance record with 617 league games between 1948 and 1967, and Ernie Moss the scoring record with 162 league goals across three spells between 1968 and 1986.

Notable scorelines

The club's all-time record win and record defeat are not established here: they are not published on the club's own site and are not carried in the Wikipedia records section, and the reference archives that hold them blocked automated access. Two documented heavy results are available from last season: Chesterfield lost 6-2 at Colchester United on 4 October 2025, and won 2-0 at Cheltenham Town on the opening day, 9 August 2025, through Lewis Gordon and Dylan Duffy. The 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough in the 1997 FA Cup semi-final remains the most famous scoreline in the club's history.

Head-to-head notes

Chesterfield do not publish all-time head-to-head records, and the standard reference archives for English clubs blocked automated access, so no all-time record against a 2026/27 opponent is established here. Recent meetings that can be stated: the 2-0 win at Cheltenham Town on 9 August 2025 and the 6-2 defeat at Colchester United on 4 October 2025, both of whom are in League Two again this season, and the play-off semi-final loss to Notts County over 10 and 15 May 2026, though Notts County have gone up. Fleetwood Town are the immediate concern, drawn against Chesterfield in the EFL Cup first round and then again on the opening day of the league season a week later.

Right now (2026/27)

Paul Cook remains manager, in post since 10 February 2022. Recruitment has been busy and almost all of it free or cheap. Centre-back Junior Eccleston joined from Sutton United on 22 June 2026 for an undisclosed fee. Midfielder George McEachran arrived free from Grimsby Town on 1 July, centre-back Jack Simpson from Leyton Orient on 2 July and centre-back Alfie Pond free from Wolverhampton Wanderers on 6 July. Forward Ruel Sotiriou signed from Hapoel Jerusalem on 9 July, winger Danny Anisjko free from Nottingham Forest and right-back Remeao Hutton from Gillingham both on 17 July, and forward Fraser Bryden from Crusaders on 27 July for £120,000, the summer's only reported fee. Winger Josh Koroma joined on loan from Leyton Orient on 9 July for the season, and midfielder Rafiq Lamptey on loan from Millwall on 30 July. The only significant departure was winger Armando Dobra to Leyton Orient on 24 June for an undisclosed fee.

Pre-season began with a 2-0 win at Clay Cross Town on 4 July, followed by a goalless draw at home to Sheffield United on 11 July, a 3-2 defeat at FC Halifax Town on 14 July and a 2-2 draw with Bohemian on 24 July. Chesterfield open with an EFL Cup first-round tie away to Fleetwood Town on 8 August 2026 and then host Fleetwood in their first League Two match on 15 August 2026.

Sources

Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.