PICTURE the scene. You’re on the touchline watching Chester at Wrexham. It’s the 90th minute and the Blues score the most dramatic of winners.

What do you do? Start a Jose Mourinho-style jig of joy that starts on the sidelines and ends just short of the A483? Not if you’re a player, coach or supporter of a Chester FC junior or youth team.

“Believe me if that happened you wouldn’t be invited back,” says Blues director Mark Howell. “It takes weeks and weeks of very hard work to get a good name but it only takes a second to lose it.

“And that’s one of the best things Bernard (Concannon) does and brings – he knows how the club should be within football. These guys have lived and breathed junior football for years and you have to look and act in a certain way.

“We promote respect – and that’s respect for the kids, respect for the coaches, respect for the other teams and respect for the environment we play in.”

What head of youth development Concannon and his coaches are also keen to promote is passing football. The style of play being produced by the young Chester teams has led to a number of players wanting to join the club. It has also led to some admiring glances from club’s playing higher up the footballing pyramid.

Howell and Concannon admit the Blues could not legally – or morally – stand in the way of one of its starlets from joining a professional outfit.

It will only be if Chester’s first team reach the Blue Square Premier that the club could become an academy or centre of excellence, which in turn would enable them to command a fee for young players head-hunted.

That remains a long-term aim for Howell and Concannon. Shorter-term aims are to achieve the Charter Standard Club award and secure a permanent training base.

Sponsorship – like the packages provided by QHP for the youth team and the Crocky Trail in Waverton for the under 10s – are welcomed as the club’s junior and youth set-up is completely self-funded and run by volunteers.

Email mark.howell@chesterfc.com for more information.