Derbyshire Times editor: 'We reported every single Spireites game.'

During the 2015/16 season the Derbyshire Times took steps to improve its coverage of Chesterfield FC, appointing a Spireites-dedicated writer to ensure all home games and press conferences were attended.

We published reports on every single Chesterfield fixture, exclusive player interviews, comment pieces, video content and digital coverage including web polls and picture slideshows.

Prior to the appointment of our Spireites writer, all matches and the majority of the club’s press conferences were covered by staff journalists or freelance writers.

If Chesterfield FC is citing this as the reason for the ban, we would invite them to clarify why this was not raised with the Derbyshire Times earlier.

We believe that this ban has been put in place as a reaction to our recent coverage of the Player Progression Pathway.