STEVE MANSLEY - Key Persons

Barrie Hipkiss

Job Titles:

Honorary Life President
Matchday Co - Ordinator

Chas Sumner

Job Titles:

Club Historian and Statistician

Colin Woodthorpe

Job Titles:

First Team Assistant Manager

Freddie Willcox, one of Chester's oldest surviving players, was a guest of the club at the recent home game against Barnet. The 84 year old former full-back played 16 league games for Chester in the 1947/48 season and was also a member of the team that reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup. Born in St Helens Freddie represented a strong Liverpool Schools side in the 1930s that remained unbeaten in 30 games. After playing for St Pauls Boys Club in Derby Lane he joined Everton as an amateur just before the war. The hostilities put a hold on his footballing activities and while serving in the army he took part in the D Day landings and also fought in the Middle East. After the war he rejoined Everton but with international players like Tommy Lawton and Joe Mercer in the side it proved difficult for him to break through into the first team. At the start of the 1947/48 season Freddie played for Chester in a pre-season trial match and he recalls manager Frank Brown coming round to his house at midnight to persuade him to sign for the club. He made his debut in a 2-2 draw at Rochdale in October but his best memories are of the FA Cup run which saw Chester secure an impressive 1-0 win at Crystal Palace before being beaten 4-0 by a Blackpool team, containing Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen, that went on to reach the FA Cup Final. Chester took 6,000 supporters to Lancashire for the Fourth round game with many travelling on a specially arranged train. Freddie remembers that the pitch at Bloomfield Road was very icy and that the players had difficulty with their studs on the frozen surface. Certainly the conditions played a part in the first Blackpool goal in the eighth minute when a long clearance from Eddie Shimwell from beyond the half way line bounced on the hard ground in front of keeper George Scales and into the net. Freddie has good reason to recall that goal as he raced back in an attempt to save the situation and collided with the upright. He says that he received mild concussion as a result of the incident and couldn't remember much about the rest of the game. Towards the end of the season Freddie fractured his tibia and fibia in a tackle; an injury that eventually brought a premature end to his footballing career. In the 1948/49 season he played for the Reserves in the Cheshire County League side and represented the league against their counterparts from the Southern League on his birthday. After leaving Sealand Road Freddie played for South Liverpool and captained them against Chester in a Welsh Cup tie in 1949/50. When he retired from the game Freddie worked at Ford's in Halewood for 23 years residing in Liverpool where he still lives today. Freddie thoroughly enjoyed his day at the Saunders Honda Stadium and was delighted to meet the chairman, manager and players as well as Jim Tanner and Betty Challinor, two supporters who travelled to Blackpool for the FA Cup game. Freddie (second from left) meets Frank Brown and the directors with fellow new signings Tommy Best and William Young

Georgina Slawinski

Job Titles:

General Manager

Ian Riley - Treasurer

Job Titles:

Treasurer
Member of COMMITTEE

Jeff Banks

Job Titles:

Director

Jim Green

Job Titles:

Director
Vice Chairman
Community Trust Chief Executive

Jim MacLaren

Jim MacLaren joined Chester after being demobbed in 1947. During the war he served with the Scots Guards and went for a trial at Chester on the recommendation of a colleague in his regiment. Jim spent just under two seasons at Chester but after leaving Sealand Road had a long and successful career at Carlisle where he made more than 250 appearances. Jim was born in Crieff in Perthshire on November 26th 1921 and came from a family of goalkeepers. His three younger brothers were all on the books of football league sides. Roy MacLaren played for St Johnstone, Bury and Sheffield Wednesday. Dave played for Dundee, Leicester, Plymouth, Wolves and Southampton and Monty was with Liverpool. After leaving school Jim had worked on the railways and had been due to sign for Motherwell when war broke out. In 1940 he joined the Scots Guards and represented his regiment in wartime football. When Jim signed for Chester in 1947 he says that he forgot to ask for his £10 signing on fee. Although manager Frank Brown said the club would sort it out he never received the money and says that he is still waiting for it! Jim was 25 when he made his League debut towards the end of the 1946/47 season and the following year he shared the goalkeeping jersey with George Scales. Jim said that it was always hard work keeping his place at Chester under competition from George Scales and a young Harry Threadgold. In October 1948 Chester signed Ted Elliott from Wolves and this prompted his move to Carlisle a couple of months later. Jim said that his career at Chester had effectively ended when Frank Brown blamed him for a goal that he had conceded when a centre forward had kicked the ball out of his hands. From that point he was consigned to the Reserves and he was pleased to be given the chance of first team football at Carlisle. Jim recalled that the move came about when Carlisle and ex Chester player Phil Turner recommended him to Ivor Broadis the Carlisle manager. For the next seven years Jim was a regular at Carlisle and at one point made more than 200 consecutive League and cup appearances for the Cumbrian club. At the end of the 1954/55 season Jim decided to retire but was soon talked out of it by Berwick Rangers where he spent a further 18 months. After leaving football he became a rep selling veterinary products in Scotland and Lincolnshire. In 1976 he returned to his native Perthshire where he sold agricultural machinery until his retirement.