Chris Chester (born 8 October 1978) is an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is the director of rugby and interim coach for

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

. As a player, Chester played as a forward for Halifax,

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

(with whom he won the

2005 Challenge Cup The 2005 Powergen Rugby League Challenge Cup was played by teams from across Europe during the 2005 rugby league season. Hull F.C. won the cup defeating Leeds Rhinos in the final. Qualifying round First round Second round Third round F ...

) and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

in the

. He was the head coach of

in the Super League from 2014, however his resignation was announced in February/March 2016. He was appointed head coach of

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in the Super League and

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at international level. On 10 August 2021, A statement from Wakefield said that they had parted ways with head coach Chris Chester, with

Willie Poching Willie Poching is a New Zealand professional rugby league football coach and former player. He is the former head-coach of Wakefield Trinity in the Super League. When he was appointed head coach of Wakefield, he became the first Samoan head coa ...

talking over as interim coach. He was director of rugby at

Leigh Leopards The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

for four years.

Background

Chester was born in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. He attended

Kettlethorpe High School Kettlethorpe High School is a mixed secondary school with specialist status for maths and computing in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It provides for children ages 11–16, with a comprehensive admissions policy, and had an enrolment of ...

whose P.E. teacher at the time was the former Leeds Rugby Union winger and ex-England Head Coach, Stuart Lancaster.

Playing career

The former

Stanley Rangers Stanley Rangers (founded 1919) is an amateur rugby league club situated in the village of Stanley, West Yorkshire, Stanley near Wakefield. They are in Division One of the National Conference League. Players range from 8-years old and receive t ...

junior was captain of England Schools before he signed as a professional with Halifax. He made an impression in 1998's

Super League III JJB Sports Super League III was the official name for the year 1998's Super League championship season, the 104th season of top-level professional rugby league football in Britain, and the third season played in summer. The League format changed ...

, where he was the runner-up for the Young Player of the Year award. He moved to the

in 1999 and played from the interchange bench in their 2000 Super League Grand Final defeat by St. Helens. He also played for the Wigan Warriors from the interchange bench in their

2001 Super League Grand Final The 2001 Super League Grand Final was the Fourth official Grand Final and the conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League VI. The match was held on Saturday 13 October 2001 at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Bradfor ...

defeat by the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

. Chester then moved to

, and played in the

Final from the interchange bench in the victory over the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

. After spending seven years at

, Chester joined

for their inaugural season in Super League and played for the club for two seasons.

Coaching career

Hull Kingston Rovers

Chester retired from playing following a serious neck injury and took up a role as first team coach of

Hull KR Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

. He had previously been on the coaching staff at

. In 2014, Chester was promoted to head coach following the departure of

Craig Sandercock Craig Sandercock is an Australian rugby league coach who is the head coach for the Wyong Roos. Coaching career Newcastle Knights Sandercock taught Human Society and its Environment (HSIE) subjects at The Pittwater House Schools in Sydney, alo ...

. In his first full season as head coach, Chester guided Hull KR to the 2015 Challenge Cup final, but his team were soundly beaten. On 24 February 2016, Hull Kingston Rovers dismissed Chester as head coach following the home defeat by

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

on 21 February 2016; they had gained one point from their opening three matches in the 2016 Super League season.

Wakefield Trinity

On 16 March 2016, Chester was appointed Head Coach at

with immediate effect following the departure of Brian Smith. Chester guided Wakefield to 8th position in the table in 2016 and 5th the following season. In 2016, Chester also led Wakefield to a

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

semi-final. On 10 August 2021, Chester was terminated as head coach of Wakefield after recording only four wins in the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the 2021 Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021 ...

and with the club sitting second last on the table.

Castleford Tigers

On 7 July 2025, he took over as interim head-coach at

, following the departure of

Danny McGuire Daniel Phillip McGuire (born 6 December 1982) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer who is the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. He played as a or and spent the majority of h ...

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Hull Kingston Rovers profileWigan Warriors profile
*(archived by web.archive.org

* ĎŔ�
"My life in rugby league: Chris Chester"
interview at TotalRL.com 1978 births Living people 20th-century English sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen Castleford Tigers coaches English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Halifax Panthers players Hull F.C. players Hull Kingston Rovers coaches Hull Kingston Rovers players Rugby league players from Wakefield Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Scotland national rugby league team coaches Wakefield Trinity coaches Wigan Warriors players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub