Chester

Three promotions in three seasons is not something English football sees often, and Chester FC did it. The club was put together in May 2010 by a supporters' group, City Fans United, after Chester City FC — the team that had carried the same city's name since 1885, before a rebrand in 1983 — went into liquidation. Within a year the new side had won the Northern Premier League Division One North; a year after that, the Premier Division; and in 2012-13 they took the Conference North title, climbing three tiers without a break.

They play in blue and white stripes, colours that gave the club its main nickname, the Blues, though older supporters still use the Seals. The Deva Stadium, shared in name if not in loyalty with the border it sits close to, holds 5,400. The fixture that matters most is the one against Wrexham, just across that border in Wales — the Cross-border Derby, a game with no love lost on either side.

Antoni Sarcevic was part of that early promotion run, and his name still comes up when supporters talk about how the club found its feet so quickly after re-forming. The 2012-13 season also brought the Cheshire Senior Cup, a smaller honour but one that came in the same campaign as the step up to the Conference North.

Owned by its supporters rather than a single benefactor, Chester's task now is the same one every phoenix club faces once the early promotions stop coming: staying competitive on a budget that answers to the people in the stands rather than to outside money.