For Chesterfield, there was a sense of deja vu last season.
After losing to Walsall in the 24/25 League Two play-offs, which they snuck into on the final day of the season, optimism was high for another promotion push the following year. While there was an improvement in performance, the outcome was painfully similar for the Spireites.
This time, it hurt more, losing to local rivals Notts County. To compound their misery, the Magpies went on to win at Wembley and will be playing League One football next season. It’s also not the first time that the Derbyshire outfit have lost to their Nottinghamshire rivals in the end-of-season competition.
In 2021, County defeated them in the National League eliminators. Two years later, it was penalty heartbreak at Wembley against their near neighbours. While Chesterfield won the fifth-tier title a year later, there was hope that the Spireites could follow several sides in recent years and continue their ascent into the third tier. There must be some relief that Chesterfield won’t be playing County against next season, if only to avoid facing them in the play-offs once more.
Local Sheffield Star columnist and Chesterfield fan Alan Biggs gave his exclusive verdict to Football Lowdown on how the Spireites’ season played out.
“I think it’s very hard to assess because any team that reaches the play-offs has had a pretty decent season. However, I think it was realistic for supporters to hope for promotion, and for the club to aim for the top three based on strengthening, the calibre of players they brought in and the expenditure on that squad.
“The season as a whole, it was a slight underperformance. However, I saw one or two knee-jerk calls for Paul Cook to go, which was frankly ridiculous. If you look at what he’s done, achieving promotion out of the National League and two successive play-offs campaigns, that’s nowhere near failure.”
Such calls do feel exaggerated, given that the Spireites came so close to achieving their seasonal goal, but fell short against a familiar foe. However, Cook isn’t immune to criticism, and there are some areas that Biggs believes the former Portsmouth manager needs to improve in his game if they are to escape from League Two in the right direction in the coming campaign.
“He deserves another go next season, and I’m sure that the aim will be automatic promotion. The criticism of Paul Cook that I do sympathise with is that he does seem very set on a 4-2-3-1 formation, and he very rarely plays a second striker, even off the bench.
“Some kind of adjustment needs to be attempted next season in that regard. But overall, I’m a Cook enthusiast, and I hope that he just goes that step further next season.”
