This week’s guest blogger is Ian Mills, a 1987 alumnus. As part of our sports themed week on social media, Ian shares with us some of his memories from his time at Chester College…
“I began at Chester College in September 1984 and assumed that I was going to become a secondary school PE teacher. I was blissfully unaware that in the time from accepting a place post interview with the great Ted Charlesworth, that the College was only going to be offering Primary teaching degrees for the next seven years. So I completed the first year of the B.Ed and quickly realised that Primary was not for me!
“While at College, I played Football, managing a few games for the First XI, but played mainly in the Second XI. I was the College Golf Captain and was selected for the English Colleges Golf Team in 1987, which was after I had actually left Chester and had headed to Sheffield to complete my PGCE. I played one season of Badminton as well.
“There were many highlights playing football, but the one that most clearly springs to mind was the annual first fixture to Bangor. While the first trip was memorable, the second was even better as I had number of friends who were freshers. We would play our games, then stop off at pub on the way home and have a traditional drinking circle.
Social night after a game.
Of course, picking on the freshers was the name of the game, none of whom knew the rules or tricks to survive! It was a great night and when it was time to get on the bus, the captains read out the teams to check all players were on board. After three names, the whole bus began shouting here as each name was called. Assuming all were present, the bus set off for its journey back to College. I recall about a 45-minute trip back to College, as we approached the gates it become apparent that we had lost Duane (aka Pipe – poor puns where the nature of nicknames back in the day!). Apparently prior to leaving, Duane had taken himself to the toilet and fallen asleep in the stalls, when he woke, the publican has closed the pub, locked up and turned out the lights. When Duane awoke, he was somewhat disorientated and had a difficult time explaining what had happened to the landlord whom he had woken from his well-earned slumber. The kind soul that the publican was, he rang a taxi who drove Duane back to Chester. I think the cost of the cab fare was about as much as his entire allowance for the term. So much for no man left behind!
Back row: Duane Richardson; Ian Mills; Andrew Serridge; Darryl (Ronnie) & Jon Yarwood.
Front row: Howard Trafford & Craig Richardson.
“Playing and representing the College was something we all took a great deal of pride in, and we forged lifelong friendships during this time. I moved to Australia after completing my PGCE. Although its been over 30 years since I left, I had a Zoom call with a couple of my footballing Chester buddies and we always seem to pick up where we left off.
“While many say school years are the best years of your life, they are a distant second to those spent at Chester.”
If you would like to be a guest blogger, please email alumni@chester.ac.uk.
