Last Friday, members of the squad from the 1994/95 season came together for the belated 25th anniversary reunion event in the SBK Spires Restaurant.
A number of players from the squad made an appearance to reminisce about the promotion winning year, which ended with a 2-0 victory over Bury at Wembley in the Division Three play-off final.
Captain Nicky Law was joined by Tony Lormor, Jamie Hewitt, Jonathan Howard, Des Hazel, Mark Jules, Chris Marples, Tom Curtis, Lawrie Madden, Andy Beasley and Lee Rogers.
Striker Lormor, who had a big hand in setting the event up with the Community Trust, spoke fondly about reuniting with the memorable Chesterfield squad.
He said: “You see everybody and it’s almost like you’ve never been away – like we’ve just finished a training session. It was fantastic.
“I’ve not seen Des Hazel since we went our separate ways, leaving the club. Just to see people and talk about the things that brought us together.
“To see everybody looking well and healthy. That is what it’s all about. People talk about team spirit and that was massive between ourselves.
“To talk about and share stories amongst the players gives you those goosebump again, but also to share with the people that came along. Because there are stories in there that people might have no idea about. So, to come back and share experiences and stories works really well.”
The event raised money for the Community Trust Cancer Recovery Group – something that is really close to Tony’s heart.
The former Spireite has had his battles with lymphoma and he organises the coffee mornings to support people affected by cancer.
Speaking about the coffee mornings, Tony said: “I wanted to put a group together to help people and also speak about my experience with cancer and my journey.
“Hopefully other people have that feeling that it’s okay to talk about cancer. It’s been really successful and something I’ve really enjoyed doing.”
Alongside the players reminiscing, there was a keypad quiz, a raffle with some fantastic prizes and an auction – all of which raised money for the Cancer Support Group.
Lormor was happy with how the event went and he was also pleased that those who attended thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
He said: “The turnout was good. I would like to thank everyone that came. It was really pleasing to see people there.
“The feedback has been really good. It was a successful night and I really enjoyed it.”
The night was full of entertainment and laughs as well as some compelling stories. The players enjoyed reuniting and recalling the great memories that they had over the season.
Jamie Hewitt said: “The bond was different to what it possibly is in today’s football. John [Duncan] and Kevin [Randall] brought together a brilliant team. They were a great partnership and they built a team that has an amazing spirit!
“John based his teams on a solid backline. After the Mansfield game at Christmas, we had a team meeting. We were seventh and we thought it wasn’t good enough. From that, it changed and we went on a great run of form.”
Tom Curtis recalled: “The belief amongst the group was that we were going to do it. We took the disappointment [of missing out on automatic promotion] and turned it into confidence. It was a brilliant group and we deserved to get promoted.”
Des Hazel, commenting on the Mansfield game, said: “I didn’t know if I was going to start, it was my first game for Chesterfield. The mentality of the group at the time, it was more than enough to take us into the final.”
Please click on the ‘play’ button below to view a gallery of images from the event:
