New Chester FC signing aiming to deliver the goods

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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MATTY McNEIL is hoping he can help deliver Chester a Premier Division title success.

McNeil, who joined the Blues from Southport at the weekend, will combine his time at Chester with a full time Royal Mail job.

The experienced player, who celebrates his 35th birthday next month, is looking forward to the new campaign.

He said: “Chester’s assistant manager Gary Jones was on the same level two coaching course as me at The Cliff in Manchester last year, and we got talking about Chester.

“I’ve known Gary since he played for Grimsby because I used to face him as a Macclesfield player.

“He rang me at the end of last season and asked whether I was interested in playing for Chester. I had received calls from other clubs wanting to sign me and I told Gary I would think about it.

“Moving down a few divisions would only have been an issue for me if I was younger.

“It was disappointing to see Southport relegated, but I then received offers to join clubs in both the Conference Premier and Conference North.

“I wasn’t too keen to join a club in the Conference North, but the idea of playing for Chester in front of crowds of more than 2,000 did appeal to me.”

Admitting he had been impressed with the progress achieved at Chester, McNeil added: “The club did really well last season, but people tell me that Chester should have walked away with the league instead of clinching promotion on goal difference.

“The club’s target of being a Conference Premier club again within four years is not too much to ask. I definitely feel they can finish in the top six this season, but anything less would be looked at as a failure.

“I’ve seen the players that Neil Young has signed in the last few weeks and I feel there will be plenty of belief that another promotion campaign is possible.”

McNeil’s versatility will provide another dimension to the Chester squad, and he added: “I can play as a striker or as a defender. I started my amateur career at the back, but I was then used as a striker when I started playing semi-pro football.

“Macclesfield used me up front, but when I moved to Stockport manager Jim Gannon used me as a defender.

“I like to think that I can play in either position but I feel I may be used as a defender at Chester because their forward line looks very strong.”

And McNeil believes the Blues will face a tough test in the Premier Division. “It won’t be easy because I know how hard I had to work when I played for Hyde in the Unibond League,” he said.

“Hyde’s supporters expected the team to walk their way up the league table and we were only six games into the season when I joined the club.

“Hyde were second from bottom in the table and I remember the 2-1 defeat at North Ferriby in my first game, but we bounced back with a 2-1 win at Matlock in the next match.

“It was a good journey at Hyde and I’m hoping it will be a good journey at Chester, but we will have to be prepared to break people down and want to win.”

- Former Chester City player Laurence Wilson has signed a new one year deal with Morecambe.

The 24-year-old Shrimps left back has scored six goals in 89 appearances for Morecambe since leaving Chester City two years ago.

[postmanplod69]

So there are some full time jobs out there at Royal Mail? Guessing Matty wont be on delivery with saturdays being a full 8 hour day .