Fin Shrimpton exit explained as Chester announce retained list

Popular midfielder had been a revelation in second half of the season

Fin Shrimpton has left Chester (CHARLIE STOCKTON)

Fin Shrimpton heads the list of names who will be departing Chester this summer as the Blues announced their retained list for 2026/27.

The 23-year-old midfielder, who was a revelation for the Blues in the second half of the season, netting eight goals in eight games during the club’s run to play-off qualification, leaves the club after being unable to commit to the extended training schedule that the new management team of Phil Parkinson and his assistant Neil Sorvel have planned for next season.

Shrimpton is joined in leaving the club by goalkeeper Bobby Jones, defenders Tom Leak and Dion Kelly-Evans, and midfielder Scott Burgess.

The Blues have offered contracts to Tom Davies, Lewis Leigh and Dylan Mottley-Henry, while options have been activated on Nathan Woodthorpe, Jack Bainbridge, Tom Peers and young goalkeeper Billy Davies. Connor Woods and Declan Weeks are under contract for next season.

Contract discussions remain ongoing with goalkeeper Alex Brown, who has been on loan at Colwyn Bay, as well as diminutive attacking midfielder and Blues fan favourite Iwan Murray. Henry Briscoe, Isaac Burgess and Oskar Rosenblatt have been invited back for pre-season.

Loanees Michael Kelly, Hayden Carson, Phil Croker, Fin Roberts, Jaiden White and Zak Emmerson.

It is the departure of Shrimpton that will likely stick out most for Blues fans.

Having joined from Scunthorpe United last summer, Shrimpton overcame a spell out of the side earlier in the season to become a key part of the Chester midfield before being pushed further forward in an attacking role under Connell Rawlinson for the final stretch of the season. He played 44 times for the club across all competitions, scoring 10 times.

Shrimpton had been making the lengthy trip from his home near Scunthorpe each week, staying in accommodation in Chester for part of the week, and had been travelling up with former loanee Kelly, who has returned to his parent club Boston United after his loan deal expired.

Following what were coined as amicable discussions about the club adding an additional training day, Shrimpton did not feel he could fully commit due to location and work commitments, with him having a second job with his father’s garage door firm, and the club opted not to trigger option that they had in their favour.

Parkinson, appointed as Blues boss on Monday, is wanting to maximise contact time with his squad next season, and that means that players will be adding an extra day’s training and potentially extending a session as the new manager seeks to maximise the players at his disposal and his budget.

The budget won’t be increasing, and while the training may be a step towards a full-time model, it stays short of that, as well as the club continuing to engage players on 44 week contracts instead of 52.

The new manager has already thrown himself into work at the Deva, and will spend part of next week assessing potential new recruits at a series of exit trials.

He will seek to build a squad using his tried and trusted method that has served him well at both Altrincham and Nantwich Town before that, where a high-energy brand of football was on show.