If perspective was needed after a couple of damaging but undeserved defeats for Chester FC, then it came during a daily morning trawl through my Twitter timeline.

One tweet stood one out among the hundreds of others.

It told me it was seven years to the day since Chester City failed to fulfil their fixture at Forest Green Rovers.

The end had been coming.

But the extraordinary events of Tuesday, February 9, 2010 were the catalyst for what was to follow next in the sorry, final days of a once-proud club run into the ground by its owners.

The day itself had started normally enough. Well, as normal as working days were back then; seeing as one did not go by without a new Blues drama landing on our desk.

But by mid-afternoon it was clear this was something else altogether.

We were down on numbers on the sportsdesk, meaning there was some doubt as to whether that I, The Chronicle's Chester City reporter at that time, would be making the six-hour round trip for a midweek match that, in all honesty, would have no bearing on the club's destiny.

My pressbox colleagues, Shane Pinnington of Dee 106.3 and Dennis Wall of the Chester Evening Leader, had already set off, though.

And it was a call from Shane that set the alarm bells ringing.

As we soon discovered ourselves, the bus that was to take the Blues' threadbare squad to The New Lawn was refusing to leave the ground.

Unsurprisingly given the club's perilous finances, the driver's company wanted payment before setting off on the journey to Gloucestershire.

Cue frantic scenes behind the scenes at the Deva Stadium as the powers that be scrambled to get the cash needed.

How we reported the week's tumultuous events

All the while this was happening, club stalwart Barrie Hipkiss, along with the 12 die-hard fans who were waiting to get on the supporters' coach, watched on open-mouthed.

Wisely, they were refusing to leave until the players' coach did.

Eventually, the money needed to pay the driver was cobbled together and, at 4.45pm, just three hours before kick-off, the players' coach, but not the fans', departed the ground.

It soon became clear, however, that there was little point.

A number of the cash-strapped Blues players, who had gone three months without their full wages, had refused to travel.

This was not a shock. Only five days earlier, prior to what would be the club's last ever match, captain Tim Ryan had told The Chronicle that they could no longer afford the petrol to get into work.

Just 388 supporters watched Chester City's final match

It was that bad.

So, at 5.11pm, some 26 minutes after the players' coach had finally set off, the game was postponed after Chester told the Football Conference they would not be able to field a team.

You can look back at that day now with a certain gallows humour.

But, re-visiting it via The Chronicle's archives today, there was absolutely no cheer to be found in what was a desperate, hopeless situation at the time.

Hipkiss, who had seen it all, said on the day: "I find it all incredibly disappointing having supported the club since 1946. I am sick to my stomach and it gets me completely down thinking about all our problems.

"It was a complete farce. I think it should have been dealt with more promptly. Knowing at 2.30pm they did not have the finances for the bus, somebody in authority should have made the decision to pull the game then."

Chester City FC's expulsion from the Football Conference prompted fans to leave scarfs and written messages on the gates of the Deva Stadium

Seven City fans had already independently made their way to Forest Green before discovering the match was off.

Among them was London-based Sue Choularton, who said: "We were all on our way and got the call at 5.10pm to say the match was off. I wasn’t surprised about that, more surprised it hadn’t happened more recently.

"We had a nice long chat with Forest Green fans, who said this was the end for our club. We were in agreement - you’ve got to feel it’s finished. I can’t see a way out for them. At least the footballing community is thinking of Chester.

"It's not the end of football in Chester because there are enough people for a new club.

"I think there is a glimmer of hope."

Sue was right. There was hope - in the form of City Fans United.

Junior Blues members of City Fans United wait outside the Deva waiting to discover whether the fans would be handed the keys to the stadium

The following day the visit of rivals Wrexham was called off after the club missed the deadline to pay the police for use of their officers, leaving the council with no other option but to close the Deva.

The day after that Chester were suspended from the Conference.

And on February 26 they were expelled from the league with a not a single official from the club choosing to attend the meeting that decided its fate.

The fans still cared, though, and after Chester City Football Club (2004 Ltd) was wound-up in the High Court on March 10, they stepped up their efforts to restore football to this city.

The rest, of course, is glorious history.

Inclusive of those losses to Dagenham & Redbridge and Dover Athletic.