City Fans United director Jeff Banks has called on Chester’s supporters to try and take CFU membership numbers past the 2,000 mark.

The CFU - the supporters-group that owns Chester FC - currently has over 1,000 members, with some 650 members from last year yet to renew their memberships which expired on May 31.

Blues fans can become a co-owner of their club for just £12 per year, and Banks stressed what a difference large membership numbers can make for the fan-owned club, before the start of the new National League North campaign under new managerial duo Anthony Johnson and Bernard Morley.

Last season saw a growing apathy towards Chester from the club's supporters, after a series of poor decisions and financial overspend last summer saw the club engulfed by a financial crisis, with supporters raising over £100,000 to stave off the threat of insolvency.

“Last year’s CFU membership expired on May 31 and there’s still 650 members out there who haven’t renewed,” he said.

“What I’d say to those people is we hope they will renew as soon as possible, as it all helps Bernard and Jonno’s budget for next season.

“It’s just £12 a year which might not seem like much but imagine multiplying that by 650 and it’s a significant amount of money for the football club.

“We’d love to reach 2,000 members. We’ve got over 1,000 now and it really makes a massive difference to have as many members as we possibly can.”