My Saturday by A_Newby 27 Mar 2023 9:22
Hi Kel,

I live close to Rochdale. It would have been easier to go to Oldham, but to be honest I have never really enjoyed the atmosphere there.

I looked at all the matches I could go to, I even considered going to Wrexham vs York but chose Chesterfield as I have always enjoyed visiting there. It is easy to park, the stadium is well designed, and you get a good view of the match.

I had watched Chesterfield on TV in the Ratcliffe the week before, prior to the Dale game against Swindon and noticed that they had a striker named Quigley and that Harry Maguire’s brother also played for them.

I then read about Chesterfield and how they are a “fan owned” club but on a different model to ours so I was intrigued and wanted to see first-hand how they were doing.

Chesterfield had consecutive relegations from league 1 and league 2 and narrowly avoided a third consecutive relegation from the national league.

Then in 2020 their community trust charity (their equivalent Rochdale AFC Community Trust) with council help purchased the club to be “fan owned” and run on a breakeven basis.

They even, like the Dale, sell shares in the club to fans but are more realistic and honest about their worth.

https://chesterfield-fc.co.uk/news/buy-shares-in-chesterfield-fc