Is it panto time already?

Following Chester City is sometimes like a well thought-out panto. Sometimes, you might argue, it's like a tragedy or, if you were to be unkind, a farce. But at this point in the season, with the Christmas season in full swing, surely it's a panto.

Especially with none other than recent villain of the fans, John Batchelor, and his persistence in trying to buy the club put up for sale by Stephen Vaughan.

And Batchelor's vision of a TV fictional team playing at the Deva stadium in an attempt to make the club profitable and sponsor-friendly has not gone down well. "Boo!" "Hiss!" shout the fans, as an undeterred Batchelor nonetheless makes his way to witness the home game against Notts County from within the stadium.

"I'm going to buy this club," says the resilient Batchelor.
"Oh, no he isn't!", shouts Stephen Vaughan from the director's box.
"Oh, yes I will," retorts Batchelor. "We've met on a number of occasions regarding the sale of this club."
"Oh, no we haven't."
"Oh, yes we have."
"Oh, no we haven't."

And so forth.

Meanwhile, a group of overseas investors, led by former City player David Jones, stand outside the stadium, looking puzzled, and shuffle their feet despondently as they walk away from making their own club buyout bid.

They, sadly, have not been entertained. Whether they actually attempted to make a genuine bid or if they really had the financial clout to run a club such as Chester City isn't so relevant now, but their fan-friendly ideas on how they'd run the club were commendable, and made for a more savoury vision of the future than the Dream Team idea.

Because fans are an integral part of the club, and indeed every football league team. That's why it's so gratifying to see City's attendance swell by more than 150 with a visit from children and parents of AFC Waverton (and they picked a good match to go to- a rare convincing home win!). Initiatives like that make the club more popular, and it doesn't take too much time, effort or money if dealt with correctly.

Another bit of positive publicity was generated when ITV reporter 'The Gloryhunter' briefly supported this club as part of his season-long tactic of supporting whichever league team wins the match at the ground he attends. He had been a supporter of Darlington until Chester unexpectedly earned a hard-fought 2-1 win there.

Sadly, his journey with Chester did not last long, as City lost the next game to Bournemouth, but his brief period of gloryhunting at Chester did result in him producing a couple of video blogs on his website (external link).

These videos were largely complimentary affairs and he was able to meet more committed followers of the Blues than him. All good stuff, and can only help raise the profile of the club. Particularly when it's still on the market...