Every fortnight we cover the best and worst football songs from every club in the UK from our book ‘The Sound Of Football: Every Club, Every Song’. You can buy it here

Chesterfield

Nickname: The Spireites

Ground: The Proact Stadium

Stadium Capacity: 10,300

Song: Chesterfield Song

Everyone knows the devil has the best tunes, but for Chesterfield fan, Carl Newton, both the church and the devil inspired him to write ‘The Chesterfield Song’.

The town of Chesterfield is renowned for the famous crooked spire of the Parish Church, which twists 45 degrees and leans nearly three metres from its true centre.

A local legend explains that the spire was knocked out of shape after the devil jumped over the spire in pain after a local blacksmith miss shod his cloven feet.

Another story blames bad workmanship for those who don’t believe in legends. The Church was built during the Middle Ages. The black death had killed many skilled workers leaving only unskilled labourers to finish the spire.

Whether legend or historical fact, the spire defines the town and the club. Chesterfield even takes its nickname from the spire and is known as The Spireites.

Although the exact date the club was formed is uncertain, a team has played in the town since at least the 1880s. The club wore shirts featuring the union flag across their chest during this early period. This unusual design was thought to have come about when a local landlord discovered the shirts in one of his properties. He didn’t want to throw them out, so he donated them to the club. Unfortunately, there is no record of why these strips were made in the first place.

In 2010 the club moved to a new stadium. At its first home game, the club unfurled a championship flag which it had received after winning League 2 the previous season. Chesterfield also played the club’s new anthem: ‘The Chesterfield Song’.

Carl Newton wrote the song in honour of the club and uploaded it to YouTube. Within a couple of weeks, it had been viewed over 10k times. He was invited to the stadium to play the song, and it has since been released on iTunes, with the proceeds going to charity. The lyrics celebrate the town and its devilish spire.

“From the blue and white on the football ground,

to the crooked spire of this old town.

From the blue and white on the football ground,

to the crooked spire of this our home town.

Chorus:

Singing, Chesterfield na na na x 6“

(Source: Carl Newton)

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