I cannot disagree with John Sheridan’s Chesterfield assessment

Chesterfield Fc v Maidsstone Utd, opening goal celebrationsChesterfield Fc v Maidsstone Utd, opening goal celebrations
Chesterfield Fc v Maidsstone Utd, opening goal celebrations
A strange season winds to a close. John Sheridan, undoubtedly the man who has saved Chesterfield from oblivion, said after our 4-1 home win over Maidstone the team did not play that well, but he was happy with the result. You can’t really argue with that.

Maidstone had their chances, and could easily have gone in at 45 minutes ahead. The Stones also had a goal disallowed in the second half. If that had stood it would have been all to play for, but as it was they ran out of steam and lost. I suppose that sums up their relegation season.

Depending on which form chart you look at, it’s either Chesterfield or Salford City who are the best side at the moment in the National League — and many would argue that had The Blues spent their budget a little more wisely at the start of the season, we would be right up there.

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Looking around the National League chat boards, there’s a distinct feeling that most fans want anyone but Salford to get promoted. Having worked in the area, I can remember when Salford’s average attendance was a couple of hundred fans and they had John Sheridan’s brother, Darren, as manager for a few months. At one point, the club suffered an arson attack on their changing rooms and the cash-strapped side had to raise finances to rebuild their facilities. I’ve no problem with a team being bought out and having success, but you’d have thought they’d change their nickname from the “Ammies”, meaning Amateurs, to something more appropriate.

It won’t be easy next year, but at least more local matches could be on the cards. There’s the distinct possibility of Notts County joining us and with any luck Macclesfield could drop out of League Two. I’d much rather go there than their relegation rivals, Yeovil. Crawley are in the worst form of the bottom teams in League Two, but I hope they stay up as it’s not a place I’d wish to visit again due to the distance involved.

Stockport look like they should make it back into the National League and I hope Altrincham make it via the play-offs, mainly due to the number of nice food outlets and real ale pubs on their local market.

In the National League South, Torquay United are promoted and, of the others, I hope that Bath City go up, because it’s a nice place to visit for a weekend break.

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