Heard the one about the club suffering the worst run in their history and enjoying their best sequence in 12 years at the same time? Step forward Chesterfield.
Those with a glass at least half empty can point to the team having gone 19 league matches without a win – an all-time low for the club. They sit unexpectedly in the National League’s relegation places after dropping out of League Two last season.
The cheerier perspective is that after Tuesday’s 1-1 draw against Bromley the Spireites are 12 games unbeaten in all competitions. The problem? Ten of those have been draws, including nine in a row in the league.
When Chesterfield’s manager, Martin Allen, was informed of the contradictory statistic this week, his response summed it up perfectly: “Oh, blimey.” He added: “I can’t say I’m proud of that.”
In the league you have to dig past eight 1-1 draws, three goalless games and eight defeats to find Chesterfield’s most recent victory – 1-0 against Braintree Town at the Proact Stadium, three months and three weeks ago.
The FA Cup is where their wins have come. Getting past Fylde and Billericay Town has rewarded Chesterfield with a tie at home to League Two Grimsby on Sunday.
Elliot Hackney (@ElliotHackney)
I need more Martin Allen finding out about records he never knew existed please. pic.twitter.com/G8zr7tqNfQ
So let’s play up the positive. If they avoid defeat, they could end up with a plumb third-round tie and would be one game from matching the run achieved in League One in 2005-06, of 14 matches unbeaten. That sequence was extremely similar to this one: three wins and 11 draws.
Perhaps the last word belong to Allen: “It is confusing.”