When it comes to courting controversy, few can rival former Chester City chairman Stephen Vaughan.

The ex-owner of the old club, which went out of business under his stewardship in 2010, was never afraid to incur the wrath of fans or make bold statements.

From the potential investors from the Middle East to the grand plans for a sparkling new stand at the football club, complete with a Subway outlet (like that was ever going to happen) were all mooted during the final years of his chairmanship, after the gloss of the Conference success under him had long since disappeared.

Ten years ago this week he embarked on one stunt that really got under the skin of Blues fans, and rightly so.

“I am considering ways of broadening the appeal and obviously the fan base of the club,” declared Vaughan, trying to address dwindling crowds at the Deva Stadium and acting in retaliation to an ongoing dispute with Chester City Council, as it was then know, regarding the restrictive covenant placed upon the stadium over non-football use.

“Part of our ground is in Flintshire, possibly it could be called Chester-Flint, or Chester-Ellesmere Port.”

What the proposed new stand at the Deva was supposed to look like

As it happened, Vaughan had already put the wheels in motion to try and change the name of the football club, lodging a request with the FA to rename the club Chester-Halton, a decision that went down like a lead balloon.

Vaughan’s desire to forge a link with the Halton area did not come as too much of a surprise for Chester fans after the boxing promoter had purchased a shareholding in Widnes Vikings Rigby League Club some two years previous and mooted the possibility of moving the football club to Halton Stadium due to a series of disputes with the council, Cheshire Police and the Grounds Safety Advisory Committee.

John Price, deputy leader of the city council at the time, said: “We have always been supportive of the club.

“We’d be extremely disappointed if they removed Chester’s city status from their name and it is probably something we would resist.”

The plans were, eventually, shelved by Vaughan in the face of stiff opposition. As well all know, though, there were darker days to come for the football club.

The club’s name would change of course, but Chester FC was something that was very much chosen by the fans, for the fans, and for the city. How things change in 10 years.