Chesterfield have confirmed their retained list following the end of their 2024/25 campaign.
The Spireites reached the League Two play-offs in dramatic fashion on the final day of the regular league season. However, Paul Cook’s side were defeated 4-1 on aggregate by Walsall in the semi-finals to end their dreams of reaching Wembley Stadium.
Four Departures Confirmed
Chesterfield’s retained list reveals that four players will definitely not be playing for the club next season.
Rumours had been circulating for a while regarding Darren Oldaker and Friday morning’s announcement has confirmed that the midfielder’s future lies elsewhere. Football Insider’s Pete O’Rourke revealed back in March that Oldaker was attracting plenty of interest from League One, League Two and Scottish Premiership clubs.
While the loss of Oldaker is a blow to the Derbyshire outfit, the news won’t come as a surprise to fans. At the time of writing, Oldaker is reportedly moving to fellow League Two side Swindon Town.
Michael Jacobs is also departing the Spireites. The former Wolverhampton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic midfielder made 69 appearances for Chesterfield and scored seven goals.
The 33 year-old multiple League One title winner has bags of EFL experience and will surely be snapped up soon by another League Two side or perhaps even a National League outfit.
Kane Drummond and Ali Mohiuddin will also be departing the Spireites.
Drummond joined Chesterfield from Macclesfield in June 2024 but only scored one goal in the 2024/25 campaign. This includes a loan spell at Oldham Athletic in the National League.
The 24 year-old forward could never quite get going at Chesterfield despite a very impressive work rate. His departure will certainly attract interest from multiple National League clubs and perhaps even some National League North sides too.
Ali Mohiuddin will likely move into non-league football following his release. The 20 year-old came through Chesterfield’s youth academy and made two competitive appearances for the senior team in the past two years.
Mohiuddin undoubtedly has potential and his departure will attract the interest of non-league sides across Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Several Players in Negotiations
Chesterfield’s retained list confirms that seven players are currently in contract negotiations.
The most intriguing player in this list is arguably Ollie Banks. It has been widely reported recently that York City are interested in signing the midfielder. However, the Spireites are clearly keen on Banks staying. It will be very interesting to see what the final outcome will be here.
Ryan Boot and Ash Palmer are also in negotiations with Chesterfield. Both the goalkeeper and centre-half performed excellently in the second half of the 2024/25 campaign. Many Spireites supporters will be keen on the pair agreeing a new deal with the club.
The remaining four players in negotiations are Janoi Donacien, John Fleck, Kyle McFadzean and Tyrone Williams. All of these players have spent lengthy spells on the sidelines due to injury issues within the past nine months.
Contract Options Triggered
The biggest surprises have arguably come from the list of players who have had their contract option triggered.
Veteran centre-half Jamie Grimes has had his contract option triggered and will remain with the Spireites for the 2025/26 season. The defender is now 34 years old and has been criticised at times in the past on social media for errors that have resulted in Chesterfield conceding.
Grimes is a very popular man though and he loves the club. Manager Paul Cook clearly feels like the centre-half still has a lot to offer the club.
Full-back Vontae Daley-Campbell has also had his contract option triggered. The 24 year-old only made 12 appearances for the Spireites in the 2024/25 season. His time at the Derbyshire side has been blighted by injury.
The decision by Cook to trigger Daley-Campbell’s contract option has raised a few eyebrows amongst the Chesterfield fan base. However, the manager has seen enough from the full-back in the past few months to keep him on.
Ryan Colclough, Lewis Gordon, Liam Jessop and Ashton Rinaldo have also had their contract option triggered and will remain with Chesterfield next season.
Several Players Already Under Contract
A large chunk of the Spireites squad were already under contract heading into the retained list announcement.
Key players such as Armando Dobra, Will Grigg, Liam Mandeville and Tom Naylor will remain with the Spireites and continue to play vital roles for the club.
Connor Cook, Dylan Duffy, Bailey Hobson, Paddy Madden and Ryheem Sheckleford are also under contract.
Centre-half Chey Dunkley is under contract with the League Two side as well. The defender performed excellently during the first half of the 2024/25 season before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign. A fully-fit Dunkley for the next twelve months would be a huge boost for the Spireites.
Six Players Return to Their Parent Clubs
Six loan players have now returned to their parent clubs. These include Harvey Araujo, Jenson Metcalfe, Michael Olakigbe, Bim Pepple, Jack Sparkes and Max Thompson.
Metcalfe, who plays for Everton, enjoyed an outstanding second half of the season on loan at the Spireites. Chesterfield fans will be very hopeful of the young midfielder returning again in some capacity.
Closing Thoughts
All in all, this has been a retained list which has surprised the vast majority of Chesterfield supporters.
It was expected that more players would be released and there are concerns that this is an ageing squad.
As has already been pointed out by a number of Chesterfield fans online, the announcement suggests that Paul Cook was very confident indeed that Chesterfield would have been promoted to League One had they not been blighted by so many injuries.