A decade on from the start of his tenure at Chester, Neil Young ranks his trophy-laden spell with the Blues among his proudest achievements.

Young took the reins at the newly-reformed Chester FC in 2010 following the winding up of Chester City FC just months earlier.

A superb three-and-a-half season stint at the helm saw him steer the club to three successive championships, winning the Evo-Stik First Division North, Evo-Stik Northern Premier and Conference North.

And while he has since enjoyed spells at several other prominent non-league clubs, Young will never forget his Deva days.

“I'd put my time at Chester among the very best times, not just in football but in life,” said Young.

“It felt like you were part of something very special at a club who were all pulling together and driving the club forward.

“The committee and the volunteers at the time put so much work into reviving the football club and securing new sponsorship.

“It was a case of learning on the job for a lot of people. But there was always a togetherness that was built on their phenomenal love for the football club.

“That made it a perfect job for me and I feel grateful to have been a part of that.”

Young, who had guided Colwyn Bay back to the Northern Premier League a season earlier, admits that his switch to Chester was not without risk.

His first task was to assemble a squad capable of challenging at the top end of the table.

An extensive pre-season recruitment drive saw eight players, all known to Young, drafted in.

The subsequent arrival of Chester-born George Horan and prolific striker Michael Wilde proved a masterstroke, with the duo playing an integral role in the success that followed.

Young added: “ I was at a good club in Colwyn Bay and we'd been promoted in my second year there.

“The move to Chester came out of the blue, really. But once I'd met the chairman and the board at the time they sold their vision of the club to me.

“At that point, I don't think they even had the keys to the ground, because the use of the Deva was up in the air.

“Obviously they got an agreement in place but there was still a lot of work to be done just to get ready for that first season.

“I was quite lucky in that I'd done a lot of recruitment within the game previously and went into the job with ideas of which players were available and who I wanted to bring in.

“But there were still plenty of unknowns. We didn't know what the fanbase would be like and you can't really build a budget without knowing how much backing you're going to be getting from supporters over the course of a season.

“As it turned out, we were getting massive gates of 3,500 and upwards which was just unbelievable.

“It was a building job, but we got the players I wanted in and we were able to hit the ground running.

“Bringing the likes of Mike (Wilde) and George (Horan) into the club in that first year proved to be brilliant signings for us.”

The club's 2010/11 title-winning season created the momentum for two successive title-winning campaigns.

Winning became a welcome habit for the Blues, whose dominance of the 2012/13 Conference North saw the club set impressive new records.

That season saw Chester accrue the most wins (34), fewest defeats (3), most points (107), most goals scored (103), best goal difference (+71) and also the longest unbeaten streak (30 games).

Reflecting on that golden period, Young believes the club's achievements that year have not received adequate recognition.

“A lot of those records still stand today and I do think what we achieved that season has been understated,” he said.

“We were excellent that year and played some really great football. It came after two years of building and evolving as a team.

“It's tough when you're winning promotions like that and having to let some players go and bring others in.

“Fans see success and get attached to certain players, but as a club we had to keep evolving.

“Winning the Conference North in the way we did showed that we'd got it right.”