- Jun 1, 2017
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Between us, Vics and Witton, the aggregate attendance of the last last three home games for each club has been just over 550.
Discuss….?
Discuss….?
Football in Northwich
- Thread starter James Wood
- Start date
- Aug 4, 2013
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If you were looking at it from the outside you would probably think it’s daft a town our size has three clubs competing for fans,sponsorship,attention,youth players etc etc, don’t think there is any appetite for that to change any time soon though.
- Jun 1, 2017
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- Thread starter
- #5
That was the exact point I was making…..
- Jan 31, 2017
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it was suggested years ago that there should be just one town team when vics and witton were getting good gates. i noticed a few weeks ago on the witton forum it was mentioned again. there has never been so many people living in the area so the potential is there. could we not try for one of the many empty shops in Northwich for a club shop to raise the clubs profile and attract more supporters.
- Jun 24, 2013
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Off the top of my head...
Us & Vics won't merge.
The rent money from Vics outweighs the benefits of a WA/NV merger.
Which leaves us & Witton.
Any merger would put the club into our league (I think) & I just don't see it happening.
Buying a stake in Wincham Park might be an option in the future but that's a cost we don't need to pay at this moment.
Us & Vics won't merge.
The rent money from Vics outweighs the benefits of a WA/NV merger.
Which leaves us & Witton.
Any merger would put the club into our league (I think) & I just don't see it happening.
Buying a stake in Wincham Park might be an option in the future but that's a cost we don't need to pay at this moment.
- Jun 24, 2013
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The (potential) major sticking point would be sufficient willing volunteers to make it viable, assuming we could get a unit rent free or on a peppercorn rent.
- Jun 24, 2013
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While Witton remain in the NPL and Vics in the NWCFL, a merger is dead in the water before it started. Any merger would mean Witton dropping to Step 5. Difficult enough to imagine the Alb’s dropping down to Division 1 voluntarily, they certainly wouldn’t contemplate playing in the North West Counties.
The fact is we don't need Witton or Vic's,We have our own club and we should leave well alone and get on as we are with our good friend's at Barnton.What we do need is people to go out into the community and promote our club(any volenteer's)that's the way forward.
- Dec 18, 2014
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If you change that first sentence to be "the fact is that we don't need Witton or vics at the moment", then it becomes a different discussion. All three clubs are surviving on their own - but doing no more than that and are not winning over any newcomers to any great extent. There will come a point where "the moment" becomes of more significance and thoughts have to be distilled and pathways explored should they need to be walked.
Knutsfordian in the future do you think all three clubs should unite or two out of three,if so what benefit would that be to 1874 to be one of them.I for one would never support it,we were formed to get away from one club why would we go back,we are independent and I hope we always stay that way.
- Jun 1, 2017
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- Thread starter
- #13
Since I started this thread ( which I knew would attract some significant and passionate debate) I thought that I’d add to what has already been said.
Firstly- and most unusually for me - I think that what Knutsfordian says has a great deal of merit, particularly with respect to none of the three clubs being able to persuade new residents to the area to watch their club.
Compare this with Macc who attracted over 3000 last night v Vics. Ok, we know that they’ve got cash to splash and a big noise in Robbie Savage who has generated lots of publicity for them, but it shows what can be done in a town of a similar size to Northwich.
Turning to your very valid point Toddy, I’m not suggesting for one iota of a second that we would be “going-back”.
As one of the biggest proponents of breaking away from Vics why on earth would I?
Indeed, the very point about starting the thread was to look to the future to see if there might be a better model than the current one, in which 3 (or 4 if you include Barnton - which I do) are each furiously ploughing their own furrows with a pair of Shire horses whilst the farmer next door is using the latest state of the art John Deere
- Jun 1, 2017
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- Dec 18, 2014
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There are people on all sides who would oppose any merger or working together.
What convinced me that working closer together has merits is the contribution to the work done by the guys from Vics at Witton. The ground is superb and they have made a massive contribution that has turned the tide on getting the ground into a fantastic facility that has never been better since it was new. Makes me wonder me wonder what we could be.
I once wrote one of the most vitriolic anti-Vics pieces ever printed in a Witton programme. Its a massive u turn for me to even consider the above too.
- Jun 24, 2013
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Really. ? I stand corrected. Always thought it was the opposite way around. You live and learn ??
- Jun 24, 2013
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Would the two merged clubs require a different name (assuming they were both still operationally active beforehand) or could Witton be absorbed into the Northwich Victoria name (or visa versa) and still retain the senior club’s status?Really. ? I stand corrected. Always thought it was the opposite way around. You live and learn ??
Two points.
1. 1874 are a fan run club,we were formed to get away from one man band's and all that comes with that,so Mac is not comparable.
2.To my knowledge none of the three clubs have made a great effort to engage with the new input into the area.
1. 1874 are a fan run club,we were formed to get away from one man band's and all that comes with that,so Mac is not comparable.
2.To my knowledge none of the three clubs have made a great effort to engage with the new input into the area.
- Nov 28, 2015
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As a life long Wittoner I certainly wouldn't support a merged club , but that's me. As someone who is approaching 50 there's to much history in Witton Albion to even consider it.
As a club we own our ground and need to make full use of that. I have thought for a long time building a separate 3G/4G pitch or converting the main pitch has to be the way forward. However the cost implications will always be a massive hurdle.
Unfortunately the way things are looking I certainly see tough times ahead for all three clubs .
As a club we own our ground and need to make full use of that. I have thought for a long time building a separate 3G/4G pitch or converting the main pitch has to be the way forward. However the cost implications will always be a massive hurdle.
Unfortunately the way things are looking I certainly see tough times ahead for all three clubs .
- Jun 1, 2017
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- Thread starter
- #20
And that is exactly why I started the post. Witton are the only club with a ground and are the senior club in the town but are struggling to get over 300 fans regularly and clearly cant raise the capital needed for the 4G pitch (which would enable them to generate additional income, if well managed (it wouldn’t be a panacea). At the moment they are largely reliant on their tenants to keep them afloat, but Vics themselves can’t move away from WP as the only real alternative - Winsford - would probably result in them losing even more fans which would make their finances tighter (not that I’ve a clear idea of the state of their current finances as their latest accounts have not yet been published, but the last (and first) set weren’t that healthy)
Meanwhile, whilst we at 74 are financially sound at present (and the way the club is run, will probably remain so), if we are to progress further up the pyramid then significant upgrades will be needed to Townfield. Although grants may cover some of these, there is also the added complication that we are Barnton’s tenants and that the Parish Council - who own the site - may well block or object to any further developments.
So as you say Charliebel, not a rosy picture for any of he three. So my question is, for the longer term good of football in the town, is now the time to consider joining forces?