It was a toss up between going to Mansfield or Chesterfield to see an F.A. Cup match, both league teams at home to Non-League teams.
I chose Chesterfield and the magic of this competition didn’t disappoint.
On a grey, cool, 9 degrees, day I drove to the Spireites stadium, leaving me plenty of time to look for a place to park and walk to the ground.
I was surprised to find that it was easy to park and there was not a throng of fans walking through Stand park. Reaching the ground there was not programme seller either. Asking about this, once in, I was only met with a shrug. After buying a coffee and Kitkat I went to sit down and was upset to see the empty seats.
This modern stadium is 4 separate all seated stands rather than a fully integrated concrete bowl. It still gives it a grounding foot in the past in my view. One complete end was closed and one side only housed the away fans and a few others. The popular end and main stand were only about 80 % full and it was later announced that the attendance was 4010 of which 514 had travelled up from Somerset. This was a complete contrast to the home teams average attendance so far this year of around 7500.
Was this due to the lure of the F A Cup waning, that season ticket holders have to pay extra for cup games having already forked out a tidy sum, the cost of living crisis or perhaps Yeovil were not a big draw with home fans expecting an easy win against a team one level below them. Chesterfield had reduced entry to £12 for adults to attract fans.
Chesterfield formed in 1866 claim to be the 4th oldest league club still in existence. A chequered history of league status and liquidation led to their reincarnation when they re-joined the football league in 1921. They have been up and down the leagues in their history but reached a low point in 2018 being relegated to the National League. Off the field problems were resolved by a take over in 2020 by a Community Trust who with great local support steered the club to a new era of ownership by local Phill and Ashley Kirk. Unfortunately Phil passed in August 2025 and the club is now owned by the kirk family. They have been back in the League system for two years.
Yeovil town F.C.were started in 1895 and after playing their football around Somerset, they were elected into the Southern league in 1921 where they played for fifty one years until becoming founder members of the Football Alliance in 1979. They dropped down to the Isthmian League for three years in the mid 80’s but soon regained their higher status back in the renamed Conference and gained league status in 2003. They made good progress and reached the Championship in 2013 only to suffer a rapid drop down to the National League South in 10 years. They climbed back up after a season and this is their second season back in the National League. Yeovil have a history of F.A.Cup giant killing exploits at their home ground.
Chesterfield FC 4 Yeovil Town FC 3
Saturday 6th November 2026, 15.00 pm kick off
F.A. Cup Ist Round, Attendance 4010
Chesterfield Football Club, 1866 Sheffield Road, Chesterfield, S41 8NZ.
Chesterfield 10th in EFL Two; Yeovil 5th in the National League
Spireites v The Glovers
Chesterfield, royal blue shirts with white shorts, goalkeeper in all bright pink.
Yeovil, all green shirts and shorts , goalkeeper in all yellow.
The grass pitch was well watered before kick off and although the grey overcast skies and a temperature of only 10 degrees the crowd were soon warmed to see the two teams come out to ‘Mr Blue Sky’. With it being Remembrance Sunday the next day a one minute silence was observed.
Chesterfield dominated play immediately but didn’t give the away keeper any difficulty until he made a one on one save after 35 minutes. Immediately Yeovil countered and Johl Powell was bundled over as he surged toward the right hand post. Slavi Spasov made no mistake with the penalty hitting it into the left side of the goal.
Chesterfield pushed forward again and a cross from the right was met by the tall Jack Simpson, who headed into the net for the equaliser. With half time beckoning another cross from the right along the ground evaded everyone except Josh Koroma who made no mistake to give the home side the lead. Chesterfield were worthy leaders at half time considering their pressure but Yeovil had fought hard to be still in contention.
The second half continued the same pattern as the first with Chesterfield having much of the possession and jack Simpson scored again on 55 minutes when he drilled the ball along the ground into the net.
Chesterfield now looked comfortable but their was still a twist when 12 minutes left Yeovil clawed themselves back into the game having made three attacking substitutions when James Daily clinically finished off a pass from the left which whizzed into the corner of the goal.
The 410 supporters from Yeovil were overjoyed 4 minutes later when they equalised through Hayden Muller who headed home corner from the left that had been headed on. Chesterfield looked rocky for a few minutes but they silenced the Yeovil fans with 89 minutes on the clock, Joe Randall connecting with another overlap cross from the right.
The excitement wasn’t over when in injury time Seb Naylor hit a shot that hit the cross-bar and went over. Two inches lower and it would have been the equaliser.
At times this game had looked a bit tedious until the Yeovil penalty, after which it was what you would expect from an F.A. Cup tie, highly competitive with tension to the end. Chesterfield awit their next opponents and Yeovil showed that they will be competing to regain EFL status this season.
No Chips at Chesterfield, a coffee and Kitkat had to suffice.
