Chesterfield fans have suffered play-off heartbreak far too often throughout the club’s history.

Firstly in 1990, when Dion Dublin scored the only goal of the game for Cambridge United to secure promotion from the Fourth Division, and more recently in 2015, when a 4-0 defeat to Preston North End ended the club’s hopes of back-to-back promotions.

There were then three consecutive failed campaigns in the National League, which ultimately preceded the 2023/24 title-winning season.

However, it is 30 years this week since one of the club’s finest ever moments – the 2-0 Third Division play-off final win over Bury on 27 May 1995.

John Duncan’s side had finished the season in third place two points behind second-placed Walsall and a further eight adrift of champions Carlisle United, this coming before three teams were automatically promoted from the fourth tier.

Their opponents Bury had ended the campaign only one point behind the Spireites, setting up home second-leg semi-final ties for both sides.

The Blues faced off against rivals Mansfield Town, who had finished 16 points behind them in sixth, for a place at Wembley and a memorable second leg at Saltergate, coming after a 1-1 draw in Nottinghamshire, saw them come from 2-1 behind on aggregate to triumph 5-2 after extra time.

The Shakers’ semi-final affair was much calmer as 1-0 victories both home and away against Preston North End saw them secure their path to the final to meet the Spireites.

The final at the old Wembley brought in 22,814 spectators, who saw Bury dominate the opening proceedings as they “flung everything at Billy Stewart’s goal from the start”, as reported by The Guardian’s Don Beet.

However, John Duncan’s Blues took the lead against the run of play when striker Tony Lormor struck into the bottom corner of the goal in the 23rd minute and the lead was doubled four minutes before half-time through a Phil Robinson header.

Despite Tony Rigby’s second-half freekick hitting Stewart’s post and missed chances late on from Robinson and a young Kevin Davies, the Spireites saw out the game and triumphed in the glory of promotion to the third tier.

Their 14-man squad that day was largely made up of Town heroes but also featured some lesser-known players, and they have all gone on to have different futures in the game and life.

Goalkeeper – Billy Stewart

Liverpool-born ‘keeper Stewart only played three times for Chesterfield.

He started the 1994/95 season at Northampton Town and ended it as a play-off winner on loan with the Derbyshire side.

He spent eight years of his career with Chester City and also made over 100 appearances for Southport, as well as playing for the England semi-professional XI in 1998.

Since retiring, he has had an extensive coaching career, including various roles with England and Republic of Ireland youth teams, 10 years at Liverpool’s academy and first-team, which saw him coach the likes of Jerzy Dudek, Pepe Reina and Scott Carson, and Everton’s academy.

After three years at Accrington Stanley, he joined West Ham United Ladies as their first-team goalkeeping coach and even had a temporary spell as co-manager in 2020.

Defence – Jamie Hewitt

A player that needs no introduction to every Chesterfield fan, Hewitt made more than 500 appearances for the club across 16 seasons and scored the famous last-minute equaliser against Middlesborough in the 1997 FA Cup semi-final.

Aside from one season with Doncaster Rovers in 1992/93, the former defender spent his whole career at his hometown team and later became the club’s physio for more than a decade.

Since then, he has regularly featured as a co-commentator on the club’s 1866 Sport radio coverage of matches and has also been a delivery driver for the local Ashgate Hospice for several years.

Defence – Darren Carr

6ft 2in centre-half Carr spent five years with the Blues and was part of the ’97 semi-final team, alongside Hewitt.

He arrived from Crewe Alexandra in 1993 and went on to play 112 games, scoring four goals.

His time at the club also featured him being sent off against Plymouth Argyle in 1997 for his involvement in the ‘Battle of Saltergate’ brawl, which was kick-started by Carr appearing to elbow Argyle keeper Bruce Grobbelaar at a corner.

The later part of his career saw him play for the likes of Gillingham and Brighton and Hove Albion, from where he had a loan spell at Lincoln City that saw him help them escape relegation to the Conference before retiring at Bath City in 2005.

Defence – Nicky Law

Law had success as both player and manager with the Spireites.

He first joined the club in 1993 from Rotherham United and made 128 appearances in three seasons before moving to Hereford United.

He returned to Saltergate a year later as the club’s Football in the Community officer before taking over from his former manager John Duncan in 2000.

He could not prevent relegation back to Division Three but, despite a nine-point deduction due to financial irregularities relating to Darren Brown’s ownership of the club, he guided the Blues to immediate promotion with a third-place finish, a place lower than they would have finished without the deduction.

However, he did not last until the next year and moved to second-tier Bradford City, before spells at Grimsby Town, Buxton and almost a decade in charge of Alfreton Town.

He left the latter in 2017 to take up a role as Burnley’s head of national recruitment for 17-23 year olds.

He returned to management last year with then-Step 3 side Matlock Town after seven years out of action but only lasted as many matches departing via mutual consent.

One of his sons, Josh, came through the Blues’ academy and spent one season in the first team before joining his dad at Alfreton in 2008.

Defence – Lee Rogers

Doncaster-born Rogers joined CFC in 1986 after only making one appearance for Rovers as a trainee and stayed at Saltergate for 12 years.

In his time with the club, he experienced both the ’95 promotion and ’97 semi-final run and made 401 appearances.

He was also one of only two players, alongside Hewitt, to play in six play-off matches for the Blues, including two finals. This record has now been overtaken by Liam Mandeville, who has made seven appearances in play-off games for the club.

After leaving in 1998, he played in non-league for Gainsborough Trinity before retiring.

In recent years, he has featured on 1866 Sport as a co-commentator.

Midfield – Phil Robinson

Robinson was one of the goalscorers on that glorious day in 1995, alongside Tony Lormor.

He scored 10 goals in just 25 games as a midfielder in that season, before 11 in 47 the next year.

He went on to play for Notts County, Stoke City and Hereford Town before becoming player-manager at his hometown team Stafford Rangers for five years.

He attained a physiotherapy degree from the University of Salford and has since coached at Cheltenham Town, been involved in Birmingham City’s academy recruitment and led Aston Villa’s talent identification.

His current role is as Manchester City’s Head of Emerging Talent Scouting and Recruitment, a role he has held since 2017.

Midfield – Tom Curtis

Another former Chesterfield player who has gone into the coaching world is Tom Curtis.

The central midfielder joined the Spireites as a part-time university student from fellow Derbyshire side Derby County aged 19 in 1993 and remained at Saltergate for seven seasons, making almost 300 appearances.

He later played for local sides Mansfield Town, Notts County and Alfreton Town before becoming head coach of the Loughborough University football team.

Since then, he has managed the Antigua and Barbuda national team, leading them to the most successful period in their history, Bristol Rovers’ academy, England U17s and is now the nation’s U15s head coach.

Midfield – Jonathan Howard

Howard was another long-serving player who made almost 300 appearances between 1994 and 2003.

The midfielder scored 44 goals in his nine seasons before departing for Burton Albion.

His finest moments for the Spireites came in the ’97 cup run as he scored twice against Bristol City in the third round and won the decisive penalty against Nottingham Forest two games later, which Curtis scored to win the game.

He was seemingly robbed of scoring the Blues’ third goal in the semi-final when his shot, which appeared to cross the lane after hitting the bar, was not given by referee David Elleray.

After retiring professionally, he played in non-league for Maltby Main and Dinnington Town before working for Scout7, a professional scouting and recruitment company.

Midfield – Des Hazel

In comparison to most players who played for Chesterfield in the play-off final, Hazel played only a small number of games for the club.

He only joined in March 1995 from Rotherham United, where he spent seven seasons, and made the starting XI for the final despite not long at the club.

After leaving Derbyshire after the 1995/96 season he moved to Australia to play for Joondalup City, now called Perth RedStar, before returning to England to play for Guiseley. He also played four games internationally for Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Since retiring, he has coached at Halifax Town, Manchester City, Bradford City and Leeds United before seven months as an academy coach at Bradford (Park Avenue) from 2019 to 2020.

His son Jacob also played for Chesterfield, making three appearances in the 2012/13 season.

Forward – Tony Lormor

North East-born Lormor scored 47 goals in 135 games for the club between 1994 and 1997 after signing from Peterborough United.

He starred in the 1994/95 season and scored alongside Robinson in the final against Bury.

He left after the FA Cup run and joined Preston North End and eventually retired after playing for Heanor Town in 2006.

He coached at Sutton Town and was Mansfield’s commercial manager for a year and has since inspired people with his battles against cancer, including setting up the ‘Walking and Talking’ support group with the club’s community trust.

Forward – Andy Morris

Lormor’s strike partner for the final was the 6ft 5in Morris, who spent 10 seasons at Saltergate after joining in 1988 from Rotherham United.

He left with the nickname ‘Bruno‘, for his supposed resemblance to the former boxer Frank Bruno, having made 320 appearances and scored 71 goals, including memorably opening the scoring against Middlesborough in the ’97 semi-final.

He moved on to Rochdale and retired at Hucknall Town in 2001 before returning to the Spireites as the club’s Football in the Community Manager.

Bench – Jim Brown

43-year-old goalkeeper Brown was on the substitutes’ bench at Wembley, whilst being the club’s commercial manager.

He had a solitary season as a player in 1972-73 before joining Sheffield United and then moving to the USA to play for Detroit Express, Washington Diplomats and Chicago Sting.

He returned to Chesterfield 10 years after leaving and made over 100 more appearances, and, although having retired, he made the bench for the play-off final and the first round of the FA Cup in 1997.

Whilst working as the commercial manager, he discovered owner Darren Brown’s financial irregularities and testified against him. Brown was later sentenced to prison for four years.

Jim also played once for Scotland in 1975 against Romania.

Bench – Chris Perkins

Perkins had four separate spells with Chesterfield, two of them coming on loan from Hartlepool United, and played over 200 times in total.

He replaced Jonathan Howard in the 77th minute against Bury.

He left the Spireites for the last time in 2001 and finally retired at non-league Chorley four years later.

He has since worked in sports marketing for Reebok and Adidas before entering academy recruitment, where he has been involved at Derby County, Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and currently Arsenal, who he joined in 2023 from their North London rivals.

His current role is professional development phase scout at the Gunners.

Bench – Kevin Davies

Probably the most well-known name in the Chesterfield squad from their play-off victory, Davies was only 18 when he became a promotion winner, having come on for Tony Lormor in the 85th minute.

He made his debut at age 16 in 1993 against West Ham, becoming the Blues’ second-youngest-ever player at the time, and spent four seasons with the club, scoring 30 goals in 158 games, before being signed by Premier League side Southampton in 1997.

He spent most of the rest of his career with Bolton Wanderers, spending 10 years with the side and winning his only England cap whilst playing for them, before retiring at Preston North End in 2015.

He became the oldest England player to make their debut in 60 years, at the age of 33 and 200 days, in October 2010.

Post-retirement, he managed Southport for six months between October 2017 and April 2018 and has since become a pundit, covering a lot of Chesterfield games on TV, as well as owning a football agency, KCD Management.