In the first article, I wrote about some of the early characters and the challenges our club had to face as well as finding somewhere more congenial than the Racecourse to play the game. This time I cover the fourteen years up to 1939 and the approach of the second world war. Where did they play, who did they play, and what were their ambitions?

They didn’t stay long at the Racecourse, having to erect, store and return the goalposts before and after every home game. The players weren’t happy about having to clean up with cold water in the pub yard before they could have a pint. Colonel Bromley and his committee however, did manage to find a field off Bumpers Lane, which was a step forward, but it wasn’t until the 1932/33 season that they struck a deal with Boughton Hall Cricket Club to create a more permanent pitch on part of their ground. They could also use a nearby converted stable for changing and even had access to hot water. Things began to look up.
There is no record of a formal lease with the cricket club but no doubt their expectations might have been aroused by the promise that their future bar profits would surge during the winter months. But it didn’t happen. True to form, rugby players and their visitors preferred to frequent the pubs rather than rub shoulders with cricketers. The City Arms, The Talbot Hotel and the up market ‘Blossoms Hotel’ were all in their turn, regarded as the club’s headquarters on the annual fixture cards and for the venues for official meetings. Longer term, the senior members were determined to buy some land and build a proper pitch and clubhouse but at this point in their history it was no more than a pipedream. It took another thirty years before it became a reality.

Attracting talented players to help improve performance has always been a difficult internal debate for many rugby clubs. Now the sport is free from the strictures of amateurism, money has become an occupational hazard, certainly at the top level. Even in the lower leagues it is still a significant attraction for the aspiring youngster.

In the thirties, money was largely irrelevant. There were no recognised junior sections, and clubs could only try and build up their reputations by playing better sides. In effect, it was a closed shop. Those who were in it were unlikely to open the door to less well-known clubs in case they lost and weakened their own standing. They might offer a ‘B Team’ but even that was confined to the ‘Old Boys Network’.

Nevertheless, the records show that by the thirties Chester were playing clubs like Winnington Park, Wrexham and Shrewsbury. They had fixtures with RAF Sealand and Old Boys Clubs at Caldy and Oldershaw. They had even procured ‘B Team’ clashes with Sale and Birkenhead Park. How long it took them to travel up to Egremont in Cumbria for a game in those days is a good question- perhaps the pre-cursor of the era of tours to foreign parts. It is to their credit that the club officers of those days were determined to move the club forward and their players produced results which gained good press coverage and valuable publicity. In the 1928/29 season they achieved 20 wins out of 27 matches, a 74 per cent success rate and one of the best the club has ever recorded. But it was a slow process to tempt new talent and crucially there were no schools close to Chester who preferred rugby to football.

The job of Fixture Secretary was no sinecure and rarely undertaken by a former player who had the right contacts. It was more about making sure that he had a full list for the season and fifteen players turned up on a Saturday, especially in the seconds and thirds. Much later Chester appointed an experienced player to take on the specific role of 1st XV Fixture Secretary with the sole aim of improving the fixture list. But it was always going to be a ‘chicken and egg’ phenomenon. The club had to earn the better fixtures if they were to progress as well as hang on to them despite the inevitable injuries and retirements at the end of the season. That was the difficult part because the opposition were getting harder to beat.

Another 1st team photograph as the war clouds were gathering identifies the arrival of two outstanding individuals- Arnold Mills and Dai Morgan. They were both good but not exceptional players. Arnold was employed in the agricultural supply trade with a massive number of dedicated clients and Dai, from South Wales, was the boss of Deeside Metal (a successful local scrap metal merchant) with a rather different clientele but just as well- known in the business world. Arnold was a quiet man, methodical and clear thinking. Dai was an extrovert, outspoken, practical and possessed of a ‘no nonsense’ approach. It was a dynamic duo, and together they made things happen. They virtually dedicated their lives to pushing the club forward. They were the men who set the club on the path to building a rugby set-up, which today, has arguably the best facilities in the North of England.