At 4.45pm on the opening afternoon of the 2014-15 season, the last thing on the minds of Chester FC supporters or Steve Burr was a top half finish.
Barnet had just stuck five past them without reply and even the most glass-half-full fans had to fear the worse. It was so bad one bloke even chucked his season ticket at the manager.
Looking back now, there were mitigating factors and of course the Bees would eventually be crowned champions but it was the ease with which Barnet ripped the Blues apart that was so frightening.
So to be here eight months later reflecting on a season that has, for the most part, been satisfying is a huge credit to the job Burr and Jon McCarthy have done.
Memorable away days in the FA Cup at Southend and Barnsley, an unforgettable derby win, the gutsy comebacks and some intoxicating football have put the smiles back on supporters’ faces.
Saturday afternoons with Burr at the helm will never be dull: performances have fluctuated wildly. But the visible improvement and the growth of the team has been pleasing.
Chester now have the core of a squad that is young, hungry and eager on an individual level to get into the Football League.
If the manager can unearth a couple of gems as he has been able to elsewhere and give the spine of his team more steel then further improvement is well within reach.
There’s still some distance to go before the club can realistically expect to maintain a place in the top half of what has essentially become a league of three divisions: the haves, the have a bit and the have nots.
In budget terms, the club has punched above its weight this term and will need to do so again next season to keep making forward headway.
Like all managers, Burr would welcome an increased budget but he understands the importance of financial prudence.
At Kidderminster, he recognised the need to come up with a strategy to enable the club to compete with those with benefactors or greater resources. He gambled on players from lower down the pyramid, as he has with George Thomson, and it yielded results.
He took on the likes of Jamile Matt and Joe Lolley, developed them and then cashed in, reinvesting the profits to make his team stronger. Burr spent four years at Kiddy and took a club he rates a having significantly less potential than Chester to within two points of a place in the Football League.
Can he do the same with the Blues? That will be his aim because this represents his best chance to manage in the Football League and 18 months into his tenure the signs are promising.
