Chester FC: Gary Talbot talks exclusively on refinding his love for Chester

Oct 28 2010 By Dave Powell, Chester Chronicle

Gary Talbot

WHEN Gary Talbot came to Chester in 1963, he left behind a top job in Manchester as a photographer with the Daily Mail in an attempt to carve himself out a career in professional football. Fast forward 47 years and Gary remains one of the most revered players in the clubs history and newly appointed honorary vice-President of the newly reformed Chester FC.

For 72-year-old Gary, who after retiring from football ran a successful photography business in Chester, reformation of the city’s football club by the supporters group City Fans United (CFU) has re-ignited his passion for the team for whom he scored 83 goals in 153 games during two separate spells during the 1960s.

“I’m back into Chester again”, said Gary, who was the club’s record goal scorer until 1992 when he was surpassed by former blue Stuart Rimmer.

“What the members of the CFU have achieved in such a short space of time is incredible. The guys that run the club are not football directors in the sense of the word, they are football supporters who have made this idea work for Chester Football Club and the people of Chester.

“The way they are doing as a board is fantastic. They’re absolutely dedicated to Chester Football Club and they’re not in it for themselves or their own gain but just simply for the love of the club. It’s owned by the people of Chester, no-one else.”

Gary, who still lives just outside Chester in the village of Eccleston with his wife Chris, is adamant that the model of fan-ownership is something that should be implemented throughout the English football pyramid.