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Chesterfield relegated from League Two after Morecambe draw

Last updated on .From the section Chesterfield comments 60

Chesterfield manager Jack Lester looks on from the sidelines
Former Chesterfield striker Jack Lester left his role as manager on Monday after seven months in charge

Chesterfield have been relegated to the National League after Morecambe drew at home against Cambridge on Tuesday.

The Spireites, bottom of League Two, are 10 points from safety with three games of the campaign remaining.

It means Chesterfield will play in non-league for the first time since re-joining the Football League in 1921.

Jack Lester, who had won just nine of his 37 games in charge, left as manager on Monday, while his backroom staff also departed the club.

Ex-Derby, Blackpool and Chesterfield defender Ian Evatt will be in charge for the final three games of the season, assisted by academy coach Miguel Llera.

Lester fails to revive Spireites

After finishing bottom of League One last season, a second successive relegation had looked a strong possibility for Chesterfield from the moment Gary Caldwell was sacked as manager in September.

The former Scotland international picked up just one win in 10 matches at the start of the season, but the return of club legend Lester as boss failed to suitably revive the cash-strapped Derbyshire club.

Just eight more league wins have followed, although a morale-boosting victory against promotion-chasing Luton Town in January saw them escape the bottom two.

Despite backing that up with a win over Yeovil Town the following week, 10 defeats in their next 14 matches meant the Spireites slipped back into the bottom two.

Chesterfield have not been outside of the relegation zone for nearly three months, and Lester departed on 23 April, saying he was "desperately sorry" he was unable to help the club survive the drop into non-league.

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60 comments

  • Comment posted by User0273372937, at 23:05 24 Apr 2018

    Being a bit mad with eyes shut, i put my finger on fixtures in the paper. I had picked Chesterfield vs Peterborough. It was a 200 mile drive but my mates and i went. Pulled by the Police in C'field, they showed us to a car park we could sleep in. They checked up on us in the morning. Genuine concern. Fell in love with C'field, the people and the police force! Gutted from an eccentric Chelsea fan.

  • Comment posted by Football Commandos, at 22:37 24 Apr 2018

    The football league just will not be the same without Chesterfield. Maybe they will get back but it took Macclesfield many years because it is so competitive in the National League so many big clubs. I do not agree with only one club being promoted automatically from so many of the non-league divisions. It would be more interesting if two clubs went up automatically.

  • Comment posted by Sharrowblade, at 22:42 24 Apr 2018

    Owners are as crooked as the spire.

  • Comment posted by FFCWHITE, at 22:07 24 Apr 2018

    Shame - don't like to see good traditional clubs go down. I'll add to my growing list of teams I'd like to see back in the league...

  • Comment posted by tez, at 23:17 24 Apr 2018

    I'm 57, and my first real football memories start around the 1970 World Cup. I'm a Man Utd fan, but remember thinking I'd need a second team to support, one that was on the up! Chesterfield had just won the old 4th division back then, so I picked them, and I've followed their fortunes ever since. I'm so sorry that they've lost their league status, and I hope they'll be straight back up next year!

  • Comment posted by DarT the 1st, at 22:09 24 Apr 2018

    Pathetic team who have no fight already no with no quality.
    Destroyed by bad management in dugout and more importantly in board room
    Wouldn’t give them any chance of coming back in short term.

    Hard to see it as same club who played in fa cup semi, and whom under cook were a quality team in div 1.

    Very sad

  • Comment posted by D1710555899700, at 22:40 24 Apr 2018

    A lack of funds is a massive worry. Look what's happened to Torquay just last weekend. I wish Chesterfield all the best for next season but there are a few moneybags in the National League to contend with as well as established clubs like Wrexham. It ain't gonna be easy.

  • Comment posted by Boggy Marsh, at 22:43 24 Apr 2018

    Haven't they also been charged with various offences that are due to be heard or did I miss the results of the hearings?

    Playing ineligible player, playing someone under an assumed name, player being paid by a third party?
    Not sure if 'Rafflegate' was something they were charged over as well?

    Doesn't look good, does it?

  • Comment posted by BozJohnnosSyrup, at 22:37 24 Apr 2018

    I'll be looking out for their results next season. Best of luck getting back.
    Man City fan.

    Played well in that cup semi, remember it well.

  • Comment posted by YCFCwhilewestillexist, at 06:34 25 Apr 2018

    Shame to see another old fashioned team from a big place end up dropping out of the league. Try not to copy our (York City) module of successive relegations, losing week in week out to part timers from teams you’ve never heard of, and then ending up with your club on the brink of going bust. Good luck to Chesterfield for next season.

  • Comment posted by Welshman, at 07:14 25 Apr 2018

    Its not easy down here in the NL. Just ask York, Stockport or Torquay fans. Oxford, Luton, Grimsby were all stuck down here for a few seasons and come August it will be season 11 for Wrexham. Its a strange league of "money bag clubs" - "ex-league clubs who find it difficult to get back up" and part time clubs who are well run and punch above their weight. Good luck!

  • Comment posted by Harlequin5, at 08:24 25 Apr 2018

    Chesterfield were the first team I saw my team, Southend, play in 1968 in my first ever football match. Ever since I have followed their results, and find it sad they have been relegated.

    Good luck in your quest to return to the league, from a shrimper.

  • Comment posted by Mr Standfast, at 23:17 24 Apr 2018

    Many far stronger, better led and better managed clubs in the National League than Chesterfield. Get a five year plan together, a five year budget forecast based on worst case and you may get back up. If you don't your ground would look badly out of place in the Evo-stick league.

  • Comment posted by marco blade, at 23:51 24 Apr 2018

    Gave the blades a game in league 1 last season now they are down in the conferance a shame good look chezzy

  • Comment posted by D1679198780510, at 22:07 24 Apr 2018

    Sad to see a team that was in the football league for so long slip out may never return

  • Comment posted by Martarslipstick, at 22:30 24 Apr 2018

    Happens to the best of clubs- Hope Chesterfield can beat Wycombe at the weekend!

  • Comment posted by rob, at 22:50 24 Apr 2018

    oh well never mind enjoy non league shame they not be playing stags next season

  • Comment posted by ValeDan, at 02:47 25 Apr 2018

    I'm a Vale fan and I take no pleasure in seeing another traditional rival drop out of the football league. This season it could so easily have been us, we came down with Chesterfield last season and we've both struggled for reasons that are probably not that different, fortunately our club legend 'saviour', Neil Aspin, had much more management experience and proven track record than Jack Lester.

  • Comment posted by Dycheistheman, at 23:41 24 Apr 2018

    1987,we missed going out of the league by the skin of their teeth,and there was talk of us folding,because when you have been in the league so long,you have to adapt to the non-league costs.When top to bottom,is rotten you have to start afresh,because those that took you down will not get you back up.The fan's are the lifeblood and need to keep going,otherwise!Oblivion.Good luck from a Claret.

  • Comment posted by Paul, at 22:31 24 Apr 2018

    Actually, it looked a strong possibility after the first two games of the season. Gary Caldwell had taken us very firmly from a poor position in League 1 to bottom place and relegation. The remains of the team left in the summer and we started with 8 new players who were still introducing themselves to each other as we lost home and away to local rivals. Jack Lester was on a suicide mission.

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