Although Chester FC fans have not endured an FA Trophy nightmare quite like the one Wrexham suffered on Sunday, the date March 31 brings back memories of the Blues' biggest failure in the competition.
Fourteen years ago manager Graham Barrow, his squad and about 500 supporters made the long trip to Essex to take on Canvey Island in the first of a two-legged semi-final.
Chester had taken full advantage of a kind draw, which handed them four home ties on the trot, to reach that stage of the competition.
Steve Whitehall scored both goals in a 2-0 win over Doncaster Rovers in the third round, and goals from Carl Ruffer, Chris Blackburn, Scott Ruscoe clinched a 3-2 defeat of St Albans City in the next round.
Jimmy Haarhoff, Mark Beesley, Paul Beesley and Whitehall netted in a 4-2 win over Blyth Spartans in round four to set up a quarter-final with Southport.
A good crowd of 3,204 saw Matt Woods score the only game of the game at the Deva Stadium, putting the Blues into the semi-finals.
Chester, who wore black and white stripes, had been confident of reaching the final and the travelling support made up almost half of the 1,221 crowd at Park Lane.
However, the dream quickly turned sour as the Ryman Premier League part-timers recorded a deserved 2-0 win with goals from Steve Tilson and Wayne Vaughan.
The defeat would have been much worse but for some wasteful finishing from the Gulls and fine saves from Wayne Brown.
Hopes the Blues could turn the tie around in the second leg a week later did not last long as Jeff King's team silenced the Deva Stadium faithful, again running out 2-0 winners.
The second-leg came at a time when the actions of American owner Terry Smith were alienating many supporters and former manager Kevin Ratcliffe started legal action against the club.
In the wake of the FA Trophy exit, a number of senior players were transfer-listed and player assistant manager Paul Beesley was fined and dropped because Smith claimed he had not stood in the correct position at set pieces during the loss to the Gulls.
Canvey went on to win the FA Trophy, defeating Forest Green Rovers 1-0 in the final, which was played at Villa Park due to the rebuilding of Wembley.
