Chester FC nostalgia: Remembering a true Blues legend – Tommy Astbury

Jun 3 2010 by David Triggs, Chester Chronicle

THIS week’s nostalgia special is dedicated to one of Chester FC’s most loyal servants – the late, great Tommy Astbury.

The long-serving Welshman clocked up more than 300 appearances for the Blues in the 1940s and 50s – an era when most players sported quiffs and internationals were told to take their own lunch with them on the train.

Photographs and cuttings from Tommy’s playing career were lovingly kept in scrapbooks by his wife Thirza. They are now being looked after by Tommy’s daughter Olwen Oliver, who has shared some of her favourite images with The Chronicle in the hope they will bring back happy memories for veteran Blues fans.

Born in Buckley in 1920, Tommy played for Mold County School and Mold Alexandra before being signed by Chester in 1938.

The outbreak of the Second World War put his Football League career on hold, but Tommy combined his day job as a plumber with appearing in wartime matches, guesting for Everton and Manchester United while also winning two wartime caps for Wales.

The 5ft 6in wing-half turned out against England at Ninian Park in May 1945 and, in October of the same year, faced the English again, this time at the Hawthorns.

A letter Tommy received from the FA of Wales for the game in Cardiff is a real sign of the times. It reads: “Take some food with you on the train as the food question is acute.”

Once the war was over, Tommy was able to belatedly kick-start his League career with Chester, earning £3 a week with a £1 bonus. Over the next decade, he would go on to feature in some of the club’s most famous matches, scoring in the 1947 Welsh Cup final victory over Merthyr Tydfil, taking on the legendary Stanley Matthews in two FA Cup ties against Stoke City and playing against the mighty Chelsea twice in 1952.

He was fiercely loyal to Chester – once turning down the chance to move to Yorkshire giants Sheffield Wednesday – so it was no surprise when he was granted a thoroughly deserved benefit match in 1949. A crowd of 5,000 braved the torrential rain to pay tribute to the long-serving fans’ favourite, whose Chester side went down 3-2 to Bolton Wanderers on the day.

After playing his last match for Chester in 1955, Tommy worked for a building supplies firm in Queensferry and dedicated more time to his other sporting love – golf.

Getting his handicap down to a respectable four, he was a captain of Hawarden Golf Club and was later made lifetime president.

Tommy died in October 1993, aged 73.

Daughter Olwen, of Waverton, says her dad would be “devastated” by the decline of his former club but she hopes a brighter future lies ahead for the resurrected Blues.