[1] The Conference National subsequently suspended Chester – which had been put up for sale – for breaching its financial rules and for cancelling matches.

A month after the winding-up order was served the club was expelled from the league, with all its results for that season expunged and future fixtures cancelled.

After beating Walsall, Blackpool and Preston North End, Chester hosted Football League champions Leeds United in round four.

Two goals from John James and one from Trevor Storton gave Chester a 3–0 win that is regarded as one of the greatest shocks in the competition's history.

In the next round a goal from James meant Newcastle United were defeated in a home replay to set up a semi–final tie with Aston Villa.

Chester began to consolidate their position in the Third Division and enjoyed runs to the FA Cup fifth round in both 1976–77 and 1979–80 under former Manchester City midfielder Alan Oakes.

They achieved their best position since the lower divisions were re-organised in the late 1950s by finishing fifth in 1978, missing out on promotion (in the pre-play-off era) by just two points.

One of the goalscorers was homegrown teenager Ian Rush,[10] who would move for £300,000 to Liverpool at the end of the season[10] and go on to be one of the most famous Welsh strikers in history.

A future star playing for Chester during this period was full back Lee Dixon, who went on to win several major honours with Arsenal and was capped 22 times by England.

[11] Thanks to the signing of players including Milton Graham, John Kelly and Stuart Rimmer, and astute management of Harry McNally, Chester returned to the Third Division in 1986.

Three years later they narrowly missed out on a play-off spot as McNally worked miracles on a limited budget, but further bad times lay ahead.

The unexpected resignation of manager Graham Barrow and the departure of several key players in the close season of 1994 left Chester with a threadbare squad, and they were comfortably relegated back to Division Three in 1995.

Ian Atkins was brought in as manager, but Chester lost their 69-year Football League status on 6 May 2000 on goal difference after losing to Peterborough United.

By the summer of 2001, Chester were in grave danger of going out of business and the appointment of the owner's friend Gordon Hill as manager was deeply unpopular with fans.

The arrival of new chairman Stephen Vaughan in September 2001 saw Mark Wright appointed as manager and Chester avoided relegation in 2002.

Mark Wright surprisingly returned to the club and a run of five successive wins late in the season secured another campaign in the Football League.

The 2006–07 season was most notable for the club's reinstatement in the FA Cup after Bury, who had beaten Chester 3–1 in a second round replay, were thrown out for fielding an ineligible player, Stephen Turnbull.

[33] A potential buyer emerged over the summer, when local fan Mike David Green sought to create a consortium with northern businessman Andy Jinks.

A new buyer was found for the club on 26 May 2009 in the shape of Chester City FC (2004) Ltd,[34] a company set up by former chairman Stephen Vaughan and his family.

They confirmed that the home match versus Gateshead FC had also been called off by the Football Conference, and that the FA had asked the other clubs to vote on whether Chester City should be allowed to continue in the division.

[38] The press release ended: We have now been informed that we must again await an FA decision which will be taken at some time on Thursday [13 August 2009] and can do no more than publicly express our ever increasing frustration with the entire process.

Jim Harvey replaced Wadsworth and managed an immediate upturn in form, which gave fans some slim hope that the club might still survive in the Conference National.

However, dwindling attendances, a pitch protest and continued financial problems meant that the playing squad was gradually released to cut the wage bill though, and Chester's improved form did not last.

He oversaw what was arguably the club's lowest moment when just 518 people turned up to see the team beaten 1–0 by lower-league Fleetwood Town in the FA Trophy.

[46] The club began playing in July 2010 in time for the 2010–11 season, and was placed in Northern Premier League Division One North, three tiers below where Chester City had been prior to their collapse.

[47] For the next thirty years the colours remained unchanged, with the exception of the 1952–53 season, when Chester adopted white shirts and black shorts.

[48] Chester's reserve team played in the Central League Division One West until 2007–08 but after that point only staged friendly matches.

In 2009–10 the sides clashed again in the Conference National after Chester followed Wrexham out of the Football League, resulting in a 0–0 draw before the club was recently dissolved.

Tranmere Rovers and Crewe Alexandra were traditionally strong rivals but Chester had not met either in a league game since the early 1990s.

[50] Following an alleged biting incident on Stockport County striker Liam Dickinson, by Sean Hessey, commenced a short-lived rivalry with their Cheshire rivals.