1866+ recently spoke with Tom Curtis, one of the heroes of our squads in the 90’s, who helped the club win the play-offs and enjoy a famous FA Cup run, about his memories from that time and the Spireites’ chances this season.
Starting with that famous side, saying: “The FA Cup run was a big memory for me, we had a good team around that time. And then a season or two before, when we went up from Division Three to Division Two, those two things are the biggest memories for me.
“For both of those seasons, the support was fantastic. The town really got behind the team; there were all sorts of mad things during the cup run. There were bakers selling Chesterfield FA Cup cookies; we had 65,000 people at Old Trafford.
“I remember being on the way to Old Trafford and looking out of the bus and seeing all of the fans and the blue and white scarves.
“The town really pulled together and got behind the team. We had a great bunch of lads, and a couple of them were from the town as well, which meant a lot to the supporters.”
After some turbulent seasons in the years that followed, the Spireites have now begun to find success again, and Curtis explains how this generation can replicate his side’s successes.
“I’d call myself a Chesterfield supporter without doubt,” he said. “It’s brilliant to look on, and hopefully Town can do well in the play-offs and get to the final.
“In the play-off games I played in, we played Mansfield, so again it was a strong local rivalry. I think it’s important to perform, and that’s the main thing.
“If I am talking to the players, I’m talking about performance and being the best they can be on the day. The result looks after itself, the performance is key and preparing themselves to make sure they play well in both games, that’s the most important thing.”
