Following their first success as Third (North) champions in 1931, Chesterfield lasted only two years in the rarefied atmosphere of Division Two before crashing back down in 1933. They very nearly went straight back up in 1933-4 but missed out on the last day, having led the league all season. An indifferent 1934-5 came about as the directors tinkered with the side to find that little extra spark but that caused discontentment among the fans, and to their further frustration there was little activity on the transfer front during the close season of 1935.
In truth, the promotion team was all but in place, and only minor alterations needed to be made to the "near miss" side of '33-4. These turned out to be made in the form of York's centre-forward Maurice "Mick" Dando, and Robert Bauld and Joe Spence of Bradford City. Spence, particularly, came to be of great service to the club. An England international, he played 481 times for Manchester United, scoring 158 goals for them. At the age of 36 years, 261 days, Spence became Chesterfield's oldest League debutant but stayed long enough to establish a record for League appearances (621) by one player.
The most significant purchase of the summer was that of the Recreation Ground itself. The board paid £3,000 to those who had bought debenture shares to bail out the club in 1921 and who had first call on the ground if the club ever went under. With the ground in its sole possession, the club's ability to raise funds for its future development was greatly enhanced.
In the second public practice match the reserve completed a worrying 8-3 rout of the first team, Leslie Rowe (ex-Hednesford) and Billy Harvey (ex-Eden Colliery) each bagging four goals. Nevertheless the team went into their opening match at Barrow in confident mood, encouraged by a 'good luck' message from Bradford City. Ex-Bantam Bauld was injured after two games and Allan Sliman was handed the captaincy. The Bolsover-born England amateur international winger Barney Mulrenan made one appearance before Jimmy Miller was signed from Wolves to play outside-left and, with "Jent" Hardy settling into Bauld's place, the side developed a settled look.
Clifton tries to force the ball into the Kop net in the home defeat to Tranmere.
After six games, the team lay eighth. Their ability to come from behind in each of these games preserved an unbeaten record until perennial promotion rivals Tranmere won at the Rec, but the team remained undefeated away until December. Stability was the key: over a run of ten games without a team change, the team rose from tenth to second place. A brief spell at the top was ended in February despite victory in a remarkable game that would echo into the club's first season at the B2Net Stadium 75 years later, when visitors Crewe played their part in a feast of attacking football. With only 28 minutes gone, Chesterfield were 5-2 up. Crewe pulled one back before the interval, but the Spireites' sixth, on 65 minutes, seemed to settle it. The Alex didn't see it that way, though, and scored twice more to set up an exciting final ten minutes. Things might have been a little more calm had Sliman and Kidd not scored for Crewe!
Perhaps Crewe's second-half fightback was an omen. The next two games were disappointingly lost to inferior opposition and Horace Wass was ruled out for the rest of the season. Mick Dando, too, was bravely playing through an injury that required rest.
Mick Dando - 29 goals from 27 games in an injury-ravaged Chesterfield career
The team's seams were beginning to pop as they faced a vital match at Tranmere, who had dropped only one point at Prenton Park all season. Commendably, the directors took bold action and signed three players in time for the match. Stockport's Job Taylor came in to replace Hardy, whose only fault was a lack of experience. Two Southport players joined: Jack Seagravereplaced Wass and Charlie "Chick" Reed took some weight off Dando up front.
17,000 came to Prenton Park for the game and most were satisfield when Tranmere opened the scoring after 13 minutes. A goal down, Chesterfield were not on unfamiliar ground, and began another fightback. On the half-hour, Reed marked his debut with the equalising goal. Another thirty minutes of crisp, cut and thrust football followed before Reed, Miller and Dando combined to carve the defence open and allow Spence a simple tap-in. Rovers piled forward and left gaps at the back: in the final minute Dando exploited one of these to round off a remarkable victory.
From the Tranmere game, the team went ten without defeat and climbed back to the top of the League. With new halfbacks Seagrave and Taylor easing the pressure on fullbacks "Duke" Hamilton and Billy Kidd, the club conceded only eight more goals in the last fifteen games of the season. Jack Moody set a record (at that time) for a Chesterfield goalie in the League by keeping six straight clean sheets - one short of Jack Mitchell's Midland League record of 1920-1.
Chesterfield lost twice in four games over Easter but saw rivals Tranmere lose three, nullifying the effect of their game in hand. Rovers drew their next and the Spireites swamped Carlisle 5-0 to leave the club wanting only one point from two games to ensure promotion. Oddly, only 7,503 turned out to see a 2-0 victory over Hartlepools United that confirmed Chesterfield as champions of the Third Division (North) for the second time.
The team before the season's last match, at Rochdale.
In post-season play, Heart of Midlothian provided the opposition for Horace Wass's second benefit match. They were only the second Scottish club to visit the Rec, after a Kilburnie team in the 1880s. The Scottish connection may be explained by Wass's status as a professional cricketer north of the border. Horace was capped once for Scotland - at cricket - against South Africa.
Consistency was the key to the club's success. Moody, Spence and Sliman were ever-present and Kidd and Hamilton missed only one game each. Apart from the early loss of Bauld, injury only really deprived the side of Dando and Harry Clifton, and the directors' courage on the transfer front saw to it that replacements were at the club when the need arose. The triple-transfer prior to the Tranmere game was pivotal, since the victory there gave belief to the Spireites and shattered Rovers' season.
Stuart Basson
