Legends of the Spire

In the spell between our title winning game against Boreham Wood and the end of the season I had a chat with Jamie Grimes about his career and memories of this amazing season at Chesterfield FC.

We were actually having a chat because Jamie has written the foreword for a new book that I have compiled with Michael South Photography called 'Chesterfield FC - The National League Years'. The conversation wasn't originally intended for r...

Sam Hird sits easily in the top 50 of players who have made the most appearances for Chesterfield FC and from 2012-2018 he virtually saw it all!

From a League 2 title win under Paul Cook and a near promotion to the Championship the season after, right through to relegation down to the National League only a handful of years later. Sam came to the club as captain but also in his time with the Spireites had to fight his way off the t...

Matthew Greenan, aka The Stone Ranger on YouTube, is a lifelong Chesterfield FC fan, stone carver, and Peak District park ranger.

On Sunday 4 February, Matthew will be carving the Chesterfield FC badge into a piece of Derbyshire stone live on YouTube. The final work will be raffled off to raise money for the Ernie Moss Foundation, with tickets available via the Chesterfield FC website and social media channels.

I caught up with him...

Glyn Chamberlain is one of a small group of people who were born in Chesterfield, grew up supporting Chesterfield, and then went on to play for the club too.

After starting his footballing career as a youth player at Burnley, he then went on to represent Chesterfield from 1976-1981 under the management of the legendary Arthur Cox.

Since retiring from playing he has both coached and managed, but found his niche as a scout under mana...

Issue 5 of Legends of the Spire fanzine is out now!

This is the independent Chesterfield FC fanzine, formerly called Linda's Sandwich shop. The zine features 44 pages of content and this issue includes...

Cupets, Michael South's photos of 2023, Spanish Spireites, Cycling to Bangkok, Observations of National League streaming, a transcript of the podcasts interview with Ollie Banks in 2022, and lots more.

The zine is only £3 and incl...

Adie Shaw spent two seasons as a player at Chesterfield from, from 1988-1990, after starting out under Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest and then spending some time at Halifax.

Injury forced retirement at a young age in 1990 but he stayed at Chesterfield to start on community projects for the club which included youth coaching and development of the first women's team in the town.

Adie now works for the EFL and joined me to talk ab...

Bob Bloomer started his Chesterfield FC career as a youngster, around the club during the title win the in 1984/85 season. Over the coming years he quickly became a feature in the Spireites midfield and was with the club until early 1990.

He then went on to enjoy a long spell at Cheltenham, via a couple of years at Bristol Rovers, and since retirement has had a successful coaching career.

Bob is now working for the EFL and joined m...

Chesterfield FC fan Daniel Cresswell is currently on an incredible adventure with his mate Alain, cycling from London to Bangkok.

I caught up with Dan as he was taking some much needed downtime in Albania to recharge the muscles and the bank account!

He told me about where the thirst for adventure came from, the highlights of the journey so far, and how he is keeping in touch with match results on the way.

You can follow their adve...

Despite growing up in the south, Steve Spooner actually made his name as a footballer at clubs like Derby County, Halifax and Chesterfield in the late 70's and early 80's.

After moving to Chesterfield in 1983, the midfielder was a key member of John Duncan's title winning team in the 1984/85 season. He moved to Hereford in 1986 but came back to Chesterfield, again under the management of John Duncan, in 1993.

After playing in non l...

A fans favourite during his time at the club, striker Tom Denton was at Chesterfield from 2018-2022. He played under Martin Allen, John Pemberton, John Sheridan, James Rowe and Paul Cook.

Standing at 6"7, Tom was an imposing presence at the top end of the pitch during his time with the club, and scored important goals that stopped a drop into regional football and turned the club around in the process.

He joined me to talk about st...

Something a little different for this weeks interview as I got in the car and drove to Nottingham to meet former Spireite defender, Bryn Gunn.

Due to us being in a pub beer garden this weeks episode is a little different and features some of what Bryn and I spoke about during my trip to Nottinghamshire. 

The European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest spoke to me about his time under Brian Clough, signing for Paul Hart's Chesterfiel...

Writer Stepehen Poxon joins Dave Garratt this week to talk his new book, ERNIE!

Ernie! is a heartfelt tribute to lower-league football hero Ernie Moss, a local boy made good who became a Chesterfield goalscoring legend. Ernie earned his place in footballing folklore for his phenomenal longevity and as Chesterfield's record goalscorer. It's a story of skill and success, heartbreak and honesty, football and family.

The book brings to...

Rob Edwards had three seasons at Chesterfield FC from 2000-2003. During that time he was part of the promotion winning squad under the management of Nicky Law and played alongside previous podcast guests like David Reeves, Sean Parrish and Ryan Williams. 

He also had two long spells at Huddersfield Town either side of his stint with the Spireites and scored a legendary goal in the playoffs in 2004.

Rob joined me to talk about his w...

Josh Law has an interesting past with Chesterfield FC. His Dad Nicky was a player in the 90s and manager in the 00s so he has fond memories of having a kick about around Saltergate with his cousin, a certain Ollie Banks.

He was then a youth player, and then pro, at Chesterfield in the 00s himself, so it was great to share some Spireites memories from his time from time associated with the club.

Now a coach at Harrogate time we also...

Steve Fletcher is a huge legend at Bournemouth but in just one season at Chesterfield he became a firm fan favourite there too.

Back in the 2007/08 season he moved up north to join Lee Richardson's Spireites as they tried to build for promotion. He formed a great partnership with Jack Lester that season and although the club missed out on promotion he is well remembered in the town.

Steve joined me to talk about that strike partner...

Still only 22yrs old, Levi Amantchi first joined Chesterfield back when the club was in League One. He was a youth player during the slide down from League One into the National League but got his chance under the management of Martin Allen as the Spireites started life in the National League.

A pacey and strong striker, Levi is currently at National League North club Brackley Town and he joined me to talk about life at Chesterfiel...

Emma Young has been a Chesterfield fan since being lifted into the air by David Reeves during the pitch invasion after the dramatic last day relegation escape vs Luton in 2004.

She since went on to become the Head Physio at the Spireites before moving onto Coventry City at the start of the season.

Emma joined me to talk about working for the team she supports, managing players physical and mental health and what's in a physio's kit...

As Chesterfield fans we've all been extremely excited to see the new Matchwinner retro range go on sale this week.

To celebrate the new partnership between the iconic brand and the team I support I popped along to their HQ in Dewsbury to have a look around and chat with their Head of Design, Alistair Wood.

You can find the new Matchwinner retro range by visiting https://matchwinner.co.uk/product-category/licensed-products/chesterfi...