1866:  The origins of football in Chesterfield go back 135 years, with the popular belief that the Chesterfield FC was formed in this year.

1867:  On October 19^th, the Chesterfield Cricket Club meet at the County Hotel, Saltergate, to form a football club.The first properly-constituted Chesterfield FC is born.

1868:  The club's first match takes place on a field now bisected by Tennyson Avenue.The mighty Garrick Club, of Sheffield, run out comfortable winners.

1869:  The Garrick Club's third visit to Chesterfield results in the homesters' first recorded win.

1870:  Discontent surfaces among the club's members as sides are picked on ability, rather than the principle that everyone should get a game.

1871:  The football club becomes independent of its cricketing parent.A uniform of blue shirts and white trousers is adopted, and Rotherham are the visitors on the occasion of the team's first match at the new Recreation Ground.The date: November 4^th, 1871.

1872:  The Sheffield FA abolish catching the ball.Matches are still rough, fourteen-a-side affairs.3,500 watch the men of Chesterfield play at Nottingham Forest.

1873:  Chesterfield's reputation grows as they lose only three of seventeen games in 1872-3.George Whomersley, a Post Office Clerk, emerges as a goalscorer of some repute.

1874:  Tommy Bishop turns out regularly for the Spireites.A tobacconist, he is probably the finest local player of this era and may well have been the first man to receive money for playing for Chesterfield.

1875:  Chesterfield join the Derbyshire FA.A match at Rotherham is abandoned after one minute when Henry Moss, of Chesterfield, breaks a leg.

1876:  Later accounts of the club's history speak of a victory over Rotherham by 22 goals to 1 during the 1870s.No contemporary evidence has been found to support this claim.

1877:  Sides drawn from the club's married and single players meet. In the shape of player John Marriott, the club have a future Mayor of Chesterfield.

1878:  Jack Hunter, a Sheffield-based England International, turns out regularly for the Men of the Crooked Spire.

1879:  The club's first competitive match - a Sheffield FA Cup game with Wednesbury - ends in a draw. "The Original Zulus" visit the Rec' in a November charity match.

1880:  Staveley take over the mantle of North Derbyshire's most powerful club, knocking Chesterfield out of the Sheffield FA Cup, 7-0. Chesterfield's best players are tempted to sign for the local Spital club.As this talent ebbs, many supporters follow, and the club is plunged into financial crisis.

1881:  Eviction from the Rec' is the last straw for the penniless Chesterfield FC: the club is disbanded at the end of the 1880-1 season. Those players that haven't joined Spital sign for another local side, Chesterfield Livingston, which plays at the Rec.

1884:  Members of the first club and players from Spital form the second Chesterfield FC. The Spital club continues, though - the birth of the new Chesterfield FC was no simple name-change or ground move on Spital's part. A local tailor named Tommy Severns scores freely.

1885:  Expansion on the Committee side gives the club strength that will serve it well in years to come. The new Chesterfield club is firmly established.

1886:  Staveley inflict a 10-0 defeat on the Spireites.Full-back Sammy Martin, a vet by profession, leaves a game at half time to attend to an injured horse.

1887:  Old Whittington Revolution 12 - Chesterfield 0.The worst recorded first-team defeat in any Chesterfield club's history.Brimington's Will Cropper is a Chesterfield player - he will later die playing for Staveley at Grimsby Town, from injuries received during a match.

1888:  The club are now popularly known as "Chesterfield Town".

1889:  The team take to the field against Clay Cross Works in November wearing unique "Union Jack" shirts.When Sheffield United purloin half of Staveley's team to form their own, Chesterfield Town are left as the masters of North-east Derbyshire football.

1890:  Walter Bannister becomes the club's first semi-professional footballer.The club's first silverware is won in the shape of the Alfred Barnes Charity Cup. A game is suspended after a pitch invasion… by a demented bull!

1891:  Chesterfield Town wins the Sheffield League championship at the first attempt. The Barnes Charity Cup and Derbyshire Minor Cup are won to complete a notable "treble"

1892:  Into the FA Cup for the first time, The Spireites lose to Gainsborough Trinity after a replay.

1893:  Walter Bannister dies from injuries received in an FA Cup tie against Derby Junction. An Eckington teenager named Herbert Munday joins the club.

1894:  Eccentric goalie Charlie Bunyan is sacked after a goal is conceded with him in his opponents' half. Bunyan's greatest moment was as 'keeper to the Hyde United side that lost 26-0 to Preston in the FA Cup.

1895:  Only twelve spectators - including three reporters - turn up for the match at Sheffield Club in January!"Town" reach the FA Cup, first round proper, for the first time, losing 4-0 at Middlesbrough. Gilbert Gillies becomes the club's first proper Secretary/Manager.

1896:  Chesterfield Town take another step forward by gaining election to the Midland Counties League.

1897:  The club finishes a satisfactory fourth place in its first season in the Midland League, but attendances are mysteriously low.

1898:  Rushden and Glossop are beaten 9-0 as the team finish third in their second Midland league season. Winger Ellis Gee is sold to Everton for a massive £100 fee.

1899:  Chesterfield Town are elected to the Football League, Division Two, and progress to Limited Company status. Herbert Munday scores their first goal: the first win comes against Woolwich Arsenal.

1900:  A good opening season is completed as the Spireites finish in seventh place.Lack of money forces the club to operate without a reserve team during 1900-1.

1901:  A poor season - injuries and player unrest takes its toll as the club slip to 14^th place.Non-league Kettering knock Chesterfield Town out of the FA Cup at the Rec'.

1902:  The club are forced to apply for re-election after finishing 16^th, one place below Newton Heath, who have since gone on to better things!

1903:  Chesterfield Town defeat Glossop 10-0 as a creditable sixth-placed finish is achieved.

1904:  Herbert Munday is selected to play for the Football League against the Irish League.

1905:  Chesterfield Town finish fifth in the Second Division with a team containing eight locally-born players.One of them, Sam Hardy, is sold to Liverpool for £340 and goes on to be England's first-choice goalie for fourteen years.

1906:  The team reaches the second round of the FA Cup for the first time but suffers a poor season that culminates in a successful attempt for re-election.

1907:  An epic three-match cup tie with Derby County is scant consolation for another poor showing overall, but re-election is again secured.

1908:  Re-elected again - just - as the league's patience begins to wear thin.

1909:  The club fails in its fourth straight re-election attempt and returns to the Midland league. Herbert Munday has scored 106 Football League goals in 314 games.

1910:  Although the Midland league championship is won at a canter, fifth-placed Huddersfield are elected to the Football League instead. "Ebenezer" Owers rattles in forty goals in forty-one games.

1911:  Herbert Munday retires after a Chesterfield Town career that spanned seventeen years and saw him score around 230 goals in 600 first-team appearances.Full-back Will Cuthbert wins three England Amateur caps.

1912:  Tommy Revill, a nineteen-year old from Bolsover, scores 19 goals in 17 games before a £200 transfer to Stoke.FA Cup humiliation is dealt out by tiny Ripley Town & Athletic, who account for the Spireites in the fourth qualifying round.

1913:  Town finish runners-up to Rotherham County and 15,000 pack into the Rec' to see Forest in the FA Cup.

1914:  North Shields are knocked out of the FA Cup by eight goals to two.Billy Egerton scores five of them.The referee starts early, anticipating problems with the light: Chesterfield are 5-0 up before the advertised kick-off time!

1915:  The club becomes a casualty of war. Faced with mounting debts, the Chesterfield Town FC (1899) Ltd goes into voluntary liquidation. CW Everest, a local restauranteur, forms a new Chesterfield Town FC - the third club to bear the town's name.

1916:  Chesterfield Town win the Midland Combination with a side embellished by locally-based "guests" from Football League clubs.

1917:  Everest's club is disbanded after an illegal payments scandal that sees more than forty players and officials suspended by the FA. The local Council forms a Sports Committee and declares an intention to form a first-class club to play in a new stadium at the Queen's Park Annexe.The club will thus be indirectly answerable to its fans, the electors of Chesterfield.

1918:  No senior football in Chesterfield - but the Rec' is used for local cup matches.

1919:  The Chesterfield Municipal Football Club is formed on April 24^th.The club is slung out of the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player.Manager Tom Callaghan gets the sack and Councillor Tom Priestley, a local publican, takes over pro temps.Under his stewardship the team win ten out of eleven games!

1920:  Chesterfield Municipal are Midland League champions.At the end of the year the club is re-organised and Council ties are cut, to mollify FA and Football League officials who are alarmed by the prospect of democratically controlled football clubs.The club drops the word "Municipal" from its title, becoming the Chesterfield FC that we know and love.

1921:  Harry Cropper, a Director of the Chesterfield Club, is instrumental in the formation of the Third Division (North).Chesterfield are invited to join.The great Herbert Chapman is offered the manager's job, but Huddersfield Town get in first!

1922:  The team finish 13^th in their first season of League football.Winger Jacky Fisher is sold to Burnley for a club-record £1,000.The "Pop Side" of the ground is roofed over.

1923:  Willis Edwards is signed for £10 and makes his debut as the team finish in 4^th place under the management of Harry Parkes. Player James Bradley is warned that the Directors will not tolerate his "Attempted fouls on his opponents."

1924:  Despite success on the pitch, the club face financial crisis off it: debts of £2,000 are run up during the 1923-4 season.

1925:  Leeds United pay £1,500 for Willis Edwards, who goes on to captain England.

1926:  Reserve full-back Jimmy Cookson scores 44 goals from 34 starts after being shoved up front in an injury crisis.The club launches an "A" team to develop local talent: three of its first eleven players will make more than 1,000 League appearances between them. The first team go 38 games without a home defeat.

1927:  41 goals in 40 games earns Jimmy Cookson a club-record £2,500 transfer to West Bromwich Albion.

1928:  Edward "Teddy" Davison joins as Secretary/Manager, commencing an association with Chesterfield that will span nearly thirty years and two spells in the hot seat.

1929:  Mighty Huddersfield Town inflict a humiliating 7-1 home defeat in the FA Cup. Their players score all eight goals!

1930:  The team completes a run of scoring in 46 consecutive League matches - this remains a record for the Football League. 17 successive home matches are won. Ten-shilling season tickets are introduced for boys.

1931:  Chesterfield storm to the championship of Division Three (North), clinching promotion with an 8-1 win over Gateshead.The visit of Lincoln sets a new attendance record of 20,092.

1932:  The club shatter their transfer record, paying £1,800 for Bristol City's Allan Sliman. Liverpool's visit for an FA Cup tie attracts 28,393 and breaks the club's attendance record again.Teddy Davison leaves to manage Sheffield United, and is succeeded by William H. Harvey.

1933:  The club suffer relegation back to the Northern Section. An epic pair of FA Cup ties with Sheffield Wednesday sees the Spireites crush their neighbours 4-2 in a replay.

1934:  Chesterfield lead the Third (North) for all but one day - the last day.Barnsley pip them for promotion.Harry Clifton scores on his Chesterfield debut.

1935:  Mansfield Town are beaten 8-1 in the Third (North) Cup, with Ambrose Brown bagging five to set a club record for individual goalscoring in a match.

1936:  Champions again!Mick Dando's 29 goals in 27 games ease the Spireites to the Third (North) title, five points clear of second-placed Chester.A new Main Stand is built at a cost of £14,000.

1937:  Ireland's Walter McMillen becomes the first Spireite to be capped for his country.

1938:  Norman Bullock succeeds Harvey as Secretary/Manager.Clifton is selected for the England party to tour Europe in the summer, and is sold to Newcastle for a club-record £8,000.The club's attendance record is broken again, as 30,413 cram in for the FA Cup visit of Spurs.

1939:  A sixth-place finish is the club's best yet.Tom Lyon scores four in each of two successive home games and Ray Middleton is established as first-choice 'keeper.

1940:  Chesterfield are champions of the wartime East Midlands Regional League.

1941:  The club claim the runners-up spot in the League (North).

1942:  Billy Linacre and Bill Whitaker graduate from the reserves.The trying conditions of wartime football are evident as only 300 turn up to watch the visit of Rotherham United.

1943:  Among the unforeseen costs of wartime football are payments totalling £54 to Manager Norman Bullock, for firewatching at the Recreation Ground.

1944:  The club issue debenture shares to the value of £42,500. '43-4 has been a nightmare of a season, on the financial side, but the debenture scheme offers the club a way out of debt.

1945:  The club reach the semi-final of the War League Cup, knocking out Liverpool before narrowly losing to Manchester United.Bullock resigns and is succeeded by Bob Brocklebank.

1946:  In the last season of wartime football, a creditable seventh place is recorded in the Football League (North). The club donates a set of old shirts to the hard-pressed Ajax club, of Amsterdam.

1947:  Back in Division Two, Chesterfield finish fourth.This remains the highest-placed finish in the club's history.First Division Sunderland become Chesterfield's FA Cup victims. Plans to tour Brazil fall foul of FA objections.

1948:  The Milburn brothers, Stan and George, play briefly in the same Chesterfield side. At the age of 40 years and 232 days, Billy Kidd becomes Chesterfield's oldest player and retires at the end of the season.

1949:  The Spireites finish sixth, six points (three wins, in those days) away from promotion to Division One.

1950:  The club reach the fifth round of the FA Cup, beating Yeovil and Middlesbrough before going out to Chelsea after a replay, in front of 59,660 fans.Cup tie money is not invested in the team, though, and a decline begins.

1951:  Chesterfield are relegated to Division Three (North).A haemorrhage of talent sees Ray Middleton, Gordon Dale and others sold: winger Dale's £20,000 transfer to Portsmouth sets records for both clubs.

1952:  Teddy Davison is reappointed Secretary/Manager. Gerry Sears signs professional forms for the club.

1953:  Chesterfield and Tranmere Rovers share 12^th place after finishing with identical records - this remains the only time in the League's history that this has happened.

1954:  A sixth-place finish is the club's best since relegation. Gerry Clarke turns professional

1955:  Sixth again.Keith Marsden is a young and largely untried centre-forward, but is rated by many as the club's best post-war player.His sale to Manchester City for £6,250 causes uproar when the news finally breaks.

1956:  Sixth, again. Chesterfield's youth team, including Gordon Banks, reaches the final of the FA Youth Cup, going down 4-3 on aggregate to a Manchester United side that included Bobby Charlton.

1957:  Chesterfield finish sixth for the fourth successive season. The club find the net in 57 consecutive home games.

1958:  Banks ends Ron Powell's run of 284 consecutive League games.Teddy Davison retires, to be succeeded by Duggie Livingstone.An eighth-placed finish guarantees a spot in the new Division Three.

1959:  Gordon Banks is sold to Leicester for a paltry £6,000.

1960:  The club loses £25,661 on the season 1959-60. As the Chairman put it, "This is not running on a shoestring - it is below the breadline."

1961:  The club is relegated to Division Four.A club record of nine straight League defeats seals their fate.The supporters pay to put a roof on the Kop terrace. A gas fitter named Albert Holmes turns professional with Chesterfield.

1962:  Chesterfield win their last two games to avoid having to apply for re-election.Livingstone quits and is succeded by Tony McShane. John Beresford and Ian Sharpe become the club's first apprentice professionals.

1963:  The club purchase a set of second-hand floodlights from Sheffield United. Chesterfield will become the last club to install floodlighting.

1964:  Albert Phelan signs semi-pro forms for Chesterfield. Another new signing, centre-forward Ralph Hunt, is killed in a car crash.

1965:  Chesterfield's apprenticeship scheme begins to show promise: nine of the eleven players used in the team that entertained Notts County in February were born within fifteen miles of the town.

1966:  Ron Powell retires after making 471 League appearances in fourteen years.Kevin Randall joins the club on a free from Bury. Chesterfield escape re-election by one place and remain the only founder-members of Division Three (North) to avoid that ignominy.

1967:  The sale of goalie John Osborne to West Brom for £9,250 offsets the cost of a new floodlight installation. October 8^th sees the big switch-on. Dave Blakey retires after making a club-record 617 League appearances.McShane leaves in July, to be succeeded by Jim McGuigan.

1968:  McGuigan's canny man-management turns McShane's no-hope outfit into a team of winners, but promotion slips from the team's grasp. Ernie Moss signs professional forms and Charlie Bell joins from Sheffield United, while Gerry Clarke becomes McGuigan's right-hand man.

1969:  Chesterfield's juniors win the Northern Intermediate League Cup. Five of the side, including Ernie Moss and Alan Stevenson, go on to enjoy professional careers.

1970:  Chesterfield are Champions of Division Four. New signings Dan Archer and Tom Fenoughty turn a good 4^th Division side into a great one. Jimmy McGuigan is the Bell's Manager of the Season for Division Four.

1971:  Keith Stott and Kenny Tiler emerge as players of ability as the team takes fifth place on its return to Division three.

1972:  Alan Stevenson's January sale to Burnley for around £60,000 puts the club in the black for the first time since 1936! Ian Gaunt, A local builder, joins the board shortly before the death of long-serving Chairman, Harold Shentall.

1973:  Jim Brown becomes first-choice 'keeper after signing from Albion Rovers. McGuigan resigns after a dispute about bonuses for senior players. Joe Shaw, the former Sheffield United stalwart, succeeds the popular Scot.

1974:  Sheffield United pay £90,000 for Jim Brown shortly after he wins Scotland under-23 honours. A promotion challenge falters after Brown's sale, and the club finish fifth.

1975:  Shaun O'Neill and Les Hunter make first-team debuts in '74-5, but player unrest leads to many departures. Shaw commits the cardinal sin of selling Ernie Moss!

1976:  Joe Shaw resigns shortly after a 6-0 home defeat by Wrexham - the club's worst such loss for forty-one years. The relatively unknown Arthur Cox is named as his successor. In difficult conditions, the team beat Bury 7-0.

1977:  Goalie Steve Hardwick joins Newcastle for £80,000. Cox breaks the club's transfer record to bring Ricky Green from Scunthorpe for £20,000. Colin Tartt joins from Port Vale for £15,000. Hardwick's successor, Steve Ogrizovic, is sold to Liverpool for £65,000 after just sixteen first-team games.

1978:  Midfielder Geoff Salmons comes from Leicester for £35,000 - another club record fee.

1979:  Ernie Moss returns as the club scrapes clear of relegation. Bill Green and Alan Birch join for £40,000 each, and John Ridley arrives for £35,000.Reading are beaten 7-1 in November as the new team puts on some stylish displays.

1980:  The club transfer record is demolished with the arrival of Carlisle's Phil Bonnyman, for £150,000. Another £120,000 is spent on Torquay's John Turner, but promotion dreams disappear in an agonising finale. In the summer, a further £150,000 is spent on Bury's Danny Wilson.

1981:  Arthur Sutherland announced his retirement as Secretary after 40 years' service to the club. Arthur Cox leaves to take up the Newcastle job. Frank Barlow guides the Spireites to a 6-2 win at Carlisle but the highest drama is reserved for the 3-0 defeat of Glasgow Rangers in the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

1982:  The Anglo-Scottish Cup is won, but promotion remains as elusive as ever. The promotion campaign was a gamble that failed: as a financial crisis deepens, Alan Birch is sold to Wolves for a £200,000 fee that Wolves themselves cannot afford. Debts mushroom to around £400,000 as Chairman Ian Gaunt sees little hope for the club's future.

1983:  The club are relegated to Division Four. Late intervention from two local businessmen, Mike Watterson and Barrie Hubbard, saves Chesterfield from closure. John Duncan becomes the new Manager.

1984:  Torquay are beaten 3-2 in the first Chesterfield match to be played on a Sunday. Ernie Moss signs for a third time and the team finish in a mid-table position.

1985:  Chesterfield complete a remarkable rise from ruin by becoming champions of Division Four.

1986:  Battles in the board room make all the headlines as financial constraints prevent team strengthening. Sick of the board room squabbles, supporters stay away.

1987:  Only 1,435 fans watch the visit of Darlington - Chesterfield's lowest home attendance since joining the Third (North). John Duncan is lured to Portman Road to manage Ipswich Town: former player Kevin Randall, his assistant, steps up. Chesterfield concede ten goals at Gillingham.

1988:  A disastrous start to the '88-9 season sees Kevin Randall leave to be replaced by Paul Hart. Tony Brien is signed from Leicester for £90,000.

1989:  The club suffers relegation to Division Four, but does the "double" over Sheffield United. Dave Waller scores in eight successive League games to equal the club record. John Ryan, Bryn Gunn and Calvin Plummer bring style and ability to the team's Fourth Division promotion campaign.

1990:  Chesterfield reach the play-offs and dismiss Stockport County 6-0 on aggregate in the semis. The final is a disappointment: the club lose 1-0 to Cambridge United in the first such match to be held at Wembley.

1991:  Paul Hart is sacked and succeeded by his deputy, Chris Mcmenemy, who becomes the youngest manager in the League. The team finish a poor eighteenth in the division.

1992:  One of the most remarkable results in the club's modern era is achieved at Liverpool, in the League Cup. Speaking of the 4-4 draw that night, forward Dave Lancaster says "We thought there'd be eight goals in it - but we didn't think we'd get four of them!"

1993:  John Duncan makes a shock return to the club.  Nicky Law is signed and installed as Captain.

1994:  The side finish eighth - one place below play-off qualification. The Spireites win the Derbyshire Centenary Cup for the first time and make a promising start to '94-5.

1995:  A run of 21 games without defeat earns another play-off place. On a memorable night, Mansfield are swept away 5-2 in the semi-final, and Bury succumb 2-0 at Wembley as Chesterfield claim promotion.

1996:  The club miss out on the play-offs for promotion to Division One by one place. Plans are drawn up for a 12,000 seat stadium, leisure and retail complex at Wheeldon Mill, on the outskirts of the town.

1997:  Chesterfield capture the hearts of the nation by reaching the FA Cup semi-finals and enjoying a stirring 3-3 draw with Middlesbrough. The price for the team's success is the loss of its better players, including Kevin Davies, who moves to Southampton for £750,000. Around £2 million comes into the club from player sales and the cup run.

1998:  The Council refuse planning permission for the Wheeldon Mill scheme. With no "plan B" in place, the club seem stuck in limbo as the Recreation Ground crumbles. Despite this, the Council pledges £1 million towards the club's stadium development plans. Jason lee is signed for a club-record £250,000.

1999:  Mark Williams becomes the first player to debut for his country (Northern Ireland) while still a Chesterfield player. He moves on to Premiership Watford during the summer.

2000:  A club-record 21 games pass without a win as the club are relegated to Division Three.  John Duncan pays the price when Nicky Law takes over as Manager, with relegation inevitable. Darren Brown's UK Sports Group buys out Chairman Norton Lea.

2001:  Promotion to Division Three is completely overshadowed by off-field traumas. Under Darren Brown's chairmanship hundreds of thousands of pounds disappear from club accounts and the club is docked points for attempting to cheat Chester City FC out of a proper fee for Luke Beckett. Brown is eventually seen off as the fans, in the form of the Chesterfield Football Supporters Society, take over the club.

2002:  Harry Cropper's 1919 dream of a democratic club is finally realised. The Chesterfield Football Club is placed in the supporters' hands in January.  Fans of other clubs facing financial ruin look to recent events at Chesterfield with hope, forming their own Supporters' Trusts. Manager Law leaves for Bradford in January, to be succeeded by Dave Rushbury. After the upheaval of the last couple of years the club's 18-pace finish is creditable.

2003:  Dave Rushbury is sacked with two games to go, and Chesterfield leave it to the last match to avoid relegation. In the first vote of its kind in modern football CFSS members opt to turn their backs on Saltergate and renew the dream of a new stadium at the Wheeldon Mill site.

2004:  Roy McFarland becomes the Spireites' Manager. Chesterfield beat Luton 1-0 with an 88^th-minute goal in the last match of the season to stay up! The Creditors' Voluntary Agreement hanging over the club since 2001 is paid off, thanks to financial input from the local council. Former Chairman Darren Brown is sentenced to four years' imprisonment for fraud.

2005:  A site at a derelict glassworks one mile from Saltergate is identified for the new stadium as the club and council begin to co-operate on the matter.

2006:  Jamaican international Paul Hall finishes with 15 goals to his credit but a play-off challenge withers as the club record ten straight home games without a win. Demolition and preparation of the glassworks site begins in April.

2007 In a season of contrasts the club equals its best League Cup run, knocking out two Premiership sides on the way, but suffers relegation to League Two. Top scorer Caleb Folan is sold to Premiership Wigan for £500,000 in January. CFSS dilutes its shareholding amongst its members leaving control with a group of local businessmen and fans.