Thank you for supporting The Seal and allowing journalism to return to the Blues at a time when local coverage of football teams is disappearing. Your support means the world.
You can get occasional free public posts by signing up to The Seal, but for the full experience, including news, views, interviews, exclusives, podcasts, videos and around 250 Blues stories a year, plus access to the full archive, consider becoming a paid subscriber for £5 per month.
Former Chester manager Calum McIntyre has returned to football as boss of the Blues’ National League North rivals Southport.
The 33-year-old returns to the dugout for the first time since leaving Chester at the end of February after the club suffered a challenging 2025/26 campaign.
McIntyre is understood to be taking familiar faces with him to Haig Avenue, with former Chester assistant manager Colin Woodthorpe to take up the same role with the Sandgrounders.
At Chester, McIntyre delivered play-off finishes in two of his three full seasons in charge, guiding the club to within a whisker of promotion to the National League when his team were cruelly beaten in the National League North play-off final against Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park.
Having gone from terrace, to academy coach, to academy head coach to first team manager, Southport represents McIntyre’s third role in senior men’s football at managerial level after he cut his teeth with a successful stint in charge of Runcorn Linnets.
He had been linked with the job at Southport earlier in recent weeks only for it to be handed to Mark Duffy, whose time in charge lasted just 19 days after his contract was terminated due to historic social media posts that had emerged that made his position untenable.
Two other former Blues bosses had been in the frame, with three-time title winner Neil Young and last season’s interim, Connell Rawlinson, whose time in charge took Chester into the play-offs after a remarkable late run, both having been considered.
But McIntyre has been given the nod and must not focus first and foremost on ensuring his team is a National League North outfit come the end of the season with his new charges occupying second bottom in the division, five points from safety.
McIntyre will face his former team for the first time on December 28 when Chester make the short visit, before the corresponding fixture at the Deva Community Stadium on March 26.
Good luck to him. His time will us ended at the right time. He is a solid manager who gets results the question mark is around winning the games that matter . He has been to two finals and not won them through possibly being too cautious.
Made up he’s got another job.Good luck Cal