Three seasons ago Chesterfield narrowly missed out on successive promotions after losing in the League One play-offs. Now they find themselves in a League Two relegation battle and the locals are getting restless
A woman with short white hair and glasses, clutching a children’s foot-ball magazine in a plastic bag, is in Chesterfield’s Market Place looking at the Princess Diana tribute. “Hair’s good,” she says. “Teeth aren’t bad. It’s the face, isn’t it?” She turns to her companion. “Let’s take a picture and show it Derek.”
Every year, the Town Pump in the Market Place is decorated with a picture made of flowers and other natural materials as part of a Derbyshire tradition known as well dressing. Normally, such artwork comes and goes with minimal comment, but this time, the roulette wheel of internet-driven universal mockery has landed on Chesterfield’s Diana picture.
On Thursday, ITV’s This Morning turned up to point and laugh, as a crowd of local pensioners gathered round the memorial to see who could deliver the most withering put-down.
Such notoriety has brought the Diana artwork a popularity it would never have achieved had it been any good. The memorial is set to be taken down today, Saturday, and I am among those in town for a look. A man in a luminous green jacket gets his son to take a photo of him pulling a bemused face next to the picture; camera phones are conspicuous.
It may be as much publicity as the town has received since the football team reached the FA Cup semi-finals 20 years ago. Back then, the achievements of John Duncan’s side attracted such attention that defender Jamie Hewitt ended up a guest on TFI Friday. On YouTube you can find a clip of future Burnley manager Sean Dyche, then Chesterfield’s captain, grinning in the background as Will MacDonald, Chris Evans’ put-upon sidekick of the day, performs a sketch with Jon Bon Jovi about how far away the US is from Britain.
This story is from the November 2017 edition of When Saturday Comes.
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This story is from the November 2017 edition of When Saturday Comes.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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