Stuart Alan Rimmer (born 12 October 1964) is an English former
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who is
Chester City's record goalscorer. He scored 134
Football League goals in two spells for Chester, and also represented seven other clubs during his professional career.
The early years
Rimmer came through the ranks at
Everton but found competition for places incredibly hard. He made his debut as a 17-year-old in a 3–1 win at
Swansea City on 1 May 1982, three days before helping the "Toffees" beat
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
.
[''Focus on Stuart Rimmer'', Chester City v. Port Vale matchday programme, 20 April 1985, p. 13] His reputation was developed further by being included in the England Youth side for a summer tournament in 1982 in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
, where he featured in three matches.
He was to make just one more appearance for Everton, in a 3–0 defeat at
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
on 27 December 1983 but with his first team chances not increasing he asked for his name to be circulated to other clubs.
This prompted a loan move to
Chester City, who were struggling at the foot of
Football League Division Four
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
when he joined them in January 1985 under new manager
Mick Speight
Mike Speight (born 1 November 1951, Upton, West Yorkshire) is an English former footballer who had a long spell with Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United and later had a five–month caretaker manager stint at Chester City F.C., Chester City i ...
.
The First Chester Spell
There was to be a dramatic start to Rimmer's career with Chester, as he struck a hat–trick against
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...
in a 5–1 win on 26 January 1985. By the end of the season Rimmer had comfortably had finished as the club's top scorer with 14 goals and helped City to mid–table safety. Rimmer had by now joined Chester permanently for a nominal sum made available by the sale of
Peter Zelem to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £12,500.
The following season began in explosive fashion, with Rimmer scoring 21 times in the first 23 league and cup games as Chester shot to the top of Division Four.
[Sumner (1997), stats section] This spell included four goals at
Preston North End on his 21st birthday in a 6–3 win.
However, he was injured the following month when scoring against
Orient, as he collided with goalkeeper
Peter Wells and was ruled out for the remainder of the season.
Chester soldiered on to win promotion as runners–up in his absence, although they were to struggle to match their early season form and finished 18 points adrift of champions
Swindon Town
Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...
.
Rimmer finally returned to action as a late substitute against
Doncaster Rovers
Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...
on 4 October 1986. He scored two penalties later in the month but it wasn't until the following February that he scored again from open play.
He ended the season with 13 goals to his name and was back to his prolific best in
1987–88, prompting the return of scouts from leading clubs to
Sealand Road
Sealand Road was the home stadium of Chester City Football Club (until 1983 known as Chester Football Club) from 1906 until 1990. Although officially known simply as The Stadium, it was more commonly referred to as Sealand Road. It was much loved ...
. He had struck 24 times in the league (27 in total) by the time top-flight side
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
signed him for £210,000 (with half of the fee going to
Everton) early in March 1988. Rimmer's final goals for Chester had come in a dramatic 3–1 win over
Gillingham on 2 March 1988, when he scored three times in the last 10 minutes to turn the match on its head.
The Middle years
Rimmer arrived at Watford in March 1988 with the "Hornets" staring relegation from
Division One in the face. Despite scoring on his debut in a 1–1 draw with fellow strugglers
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
it was clearly going to be an uphill struggle for Rimmer and Watford, who were comfortably relegated.
The following season saw Rimmer lead a nomadic existence, as he moved on from Watford after only a couple more appearances for £200,000 to
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
in
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
.
He was shortly off again, following manager John Barnwell to
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
, who were playing in
Division Two in another five–figure transfer.
Rimmer made his debut in a 7–0 home thrashing by
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
but a week later scored a hat-trick in a shock 3–0 win at
Sunderland. Relegation was already looming for the Saddlers, with a similar fate striking the next season despite Rimmer again finishing as the club's top scorer. He began the following season by scoring Walsall's first goal at their new
Bescot Stadium
Bescot Stadium, also known as the Poundland Bescot Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a association football, football stadium in Walsall, England, and the current home ground of Walsall F.C., Walsall Football Club. It was built in 1989–90, ...
.
A brief spell with
Barnsley in the closing stages of
1990–91
Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...
was largely unproductive, leading to Rimmer making a shock but welcome return to
Chester in August 1991.
Return to Chester
Rimmer, who had become Chester's record signing at £94,000 (since broken by
Gregg Blundell), made his return for Chester in a 2–0 home win over
Fulham on 17 August 1991, with his first goal coming at
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
the following week.
He scored 15 goals during the season as Chester bravely avoided relegation, with his tally rising to 20 the following campaign when Chester finished bottom of
Division Two. This season saw him break the
Chester City Football League goalscoring record previously held by
Gary Talbot
Gary Talbot (15 December 1937 – 22 December 2019) was a professional footballer in the 1960s with Chester, where he set a record as the second highest Football League goalscorer, and Crewe Alexandra. He also worked as a photographer.
Playin ...
, with his 84th such strike coming in a 2–1 home defeat to
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
.
The
1993–94 season ended in promotion for Chester as runners–up in
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
but produced a mere eight goals for Rimmer as he played second fiddle to loan man
Graham Lancashire in the closing stages of the campaign.
The following season was even worse, as Chester were again relegated and Rimmer struggled to command a regular place under
Mike Pejic and spent time on loan with
Rochdale
Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...
and
Preston. But Pejic's departure in January 1995 and the appointment of new boss
Derek Mann led to Rimmer becoming involved in first–team duties again. He ended the season with just two goals to his name.
The final three seasons of Rimmer's league career (1995–98) were all spent with Chester in
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
, scoring 13, four and eight league goals respectively in the three campaigns. His final game for the club appropriately saw him have the final word, netting a late equaliser in a 1–1 home draw with
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to:
People
* Scarborough (surname)
* Earl of Scarbrough
Places Australia
* Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth
* Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong
* Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
on 2 May 1998. Despite Rimmer scoring in his last three home games for the club, manager
Kevin Ratcliffe
Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton.
Club career
Ratcliffe was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in Flintshire, Wales. He joined Everton as an appren ...
opted not to renew his Chester contract.
Rimmer's departure brought to an end his long–running partnership with fellow forward
Gary Bennett, who he first played up front with at Chester in 1985, with the pair enjoying three separate spells as teammates at the club.
Life After Football
After leaving Chester, Rimmer left professional football. He joined non–league side
Marine.
He has received a warm welcome on his occasional returns to the club to watch a game and when he was involved in the re–naming ceremony for the Harry McNally Terrace in tribute to his former manager.
In March 2007, Rimmer was guest of honour at the
Bescot Stadium
Bescot Stadium, also known as the Poundland Bescot Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a association football, football stadium in Walsall, England, and the current home ground of Walsall F.C., Walsall Football Club. It was built in 1989–90, ...
as
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield.
Walsall is th ...
beat
Chester 1–0.
Stuart was inducted into the Chester Football Club Hall of Fame in March 2011 at a home game v Salford City, confirming his legendary status amongst the supporter owned club's fans.
Stuart no longer plays football but now enjoys playing cricket for local Southport team (Bedford Park) who are known as the Southport Barmy Army. After a short absence at the end of the 2011 campaign Stuart has come out of retirement to sign again for 2012 where he will fit into his accustomed No 4 slot.
Honours
Everton
*
FA Youth Cup runner-up:
1981–82
Chester City
*
Football League Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...
runner-up:
1993–94
*
Football League Division Four
The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...
runner-up:
1985–86
Individual
*
PFA Team of the Year:
1990–91 Fourth Division
Achievements
*
Football League top goalscorer for Chester City
External links
*
Rimmer's first 84 league goals for Chester CityChester Chronicle article on Stuart Rimmer
Bibliography
*
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rimmer, Stuart
1964 births
Living people
Footballers from Southport
English footballers
Men's association football forwards
Everton F.C. players
Chester City F.C. players
Watford F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Walsall F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Rochdale A.F.C. players
Preston North End F.C. players
English Football League players
Marine A.F.C. players