• Hello Guest, You'll need to login or signup to be able to post on here.

New ground

Bit of a disappointment for it not to be in Northwich, however, given whats on offer, lets see how things pan out for 74.

Looking forward to seeing what the plans are before making a judgement.
 
Last edited:
We can dress it up however we want but if we’re not playing in Northwich it’s not a home ground, might attract a few new faces initially but once the novelty wears off, we’ll be getting the same crowds in a massive stadium, not meant to offend anyone who’s put all the hard graft behind the scenes, just my opinion.
 
dave eds said:
We have a ground, end of story.
Click to expand...

We may end up being tenants at a ground in Winsford so may as well be tenants at a ground in Northwich (Barnton) as long as they'd have us. I say 'may' as the membership presumably will have the final say on whether to give the green light for the move.

We need to be patient and see what opportunities this may open up at Moss Farm if the Cheshire FA move their HQ to the new site. It is still a fantastic facility to have in Cheshire for the sport.
 
That's a real kick in the balls with it being in Winsford. Especially when the idea was that it would be in Northwich to begin with. The idea of this club being set up was to have a team in green playing football in Northwich once again and this new ground doesn't fulfill that ambition unfortunately.
 
Well a disappointment it might be to many and though I would prefer Northwich option I am not too unhappy as some seem. . I don’t consider Barnton to be Northwich as its right on the edge of Northwich and mileage wise not much difference between Barnton and Knights Grange. I think we would be foolish to say no. A great opportunity. We will never find anywhere “in Northwich “ imo as practically all options have been explored before. And if we don’t take this chance someone else might.
I do accept though it’s not ideal. Let’s see what the plans for the site entail. Certainly needs access improvement.
 
Not sure how I feel about this announcement..... further away from Northwich than we are today..... but what a fantastic opportunity for us......

Let's just remember that this is a Cheshire FA decision, we are just piggy backing on their development, so don't really have a say in the location.... If the original idea was to attract and host European Champions league teams playing in the Northwest, the road links into Manchester and Liverpool needed to be there (and presumably close to the M6).... not sure if this satisfies that requirement.... but am sure the due diligence has been done to satisfy that this remains a viable option...

Lots of negative commentary on the social media sites, but we have to remember that this will go to a members vote (as mentioned at the AGM); so it is not a done deal... but what other opportunities will we have to play at such a fantastic location? If/when it goes to a vote, i will be supporting the move...... and hopefully getting a swanky new turnstyle to play in!!

I do however agree that we need to look at continuing to have 'Northwich' in our club name.... as we aren't ever going to be a Northwich club
 
Last edited:
The thing is Barnton is in Northwich, granted not centrally, and while the facilities at this new ground will be amazing, personally rattling round an empty state of the art stadium playing under a different name doesn’t appeal.
Surely we’d be better basing ourselves in Barnton as a Northwich team, smaller ground, better atmosphere and seeing what other opportunities may arise at some point in the future however slim?
 
Not what was hoped for but nevertheless still a wonderful opportunity for 1874 with the facilities on offer. Just puzzled currently on the road structure for the development one has to be to the Chester Road area, but with amount of houses built there already and more having been given the OK who knows !.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tez
Wouldn’t be surprised if we end up sharing the new facility with Winsford United. It would make a lot of sense both locally and in terms of stadium usage
 
We can't call ourselves a Northwich club if we move to Winsford permanently, would need a name change to something like Vale Royal Fc at which point I would be out.
 
I see that the club’s press release omits the location referring only to mid Cheshire. Very disappointed that it is going to be Knights Grange. The board are going to have to work hard selling this to the membership.
 
I feel that once the initial disappointment of the location has had time to sink and people start to think with heads and not hearts we will understand what a wonderful once in a life time opportunity this will be. Playing on a wonderful pitch with state of the art facilities, revenue from catering and bar, attracting larger crowds and higher profile players all for just a few extra minutes drive away. Surely there will be an opt out clause to return to Northwich if someone won the lottery!
 
A lot of negativity already. Let’s see how things pan out over next few weeks. At the end of the day it’s a facility for football not just 1874 Northwich. Personally I can’t see us progressing as a club at Barnton. It might be more homely and compact but still lacks the facilities of a great playing surface and comfort of a new stadium with possibility of attracting good players.
With hindsight I can’t understand why the announcement was made at the AGM in the first place. Would have been better to announce it when firm details were known. We wouldn’t have had all this disappointment then.
 
Mixed feelings, and feel a bit sorry for the board having committed publicly to what they must have been led to believe was going to be a facility inside the Northwich boundary. I have no doubt that was the original intention, so it would be interesting to see what factors worked against a possible Northwich site. While we can't be too critical of Cheshire FA, who have a whole range of aspects to consider, with a home for 74 probably not being high up their list of priorities, it does make you wonder a bit what their thinking was when they offered us the chance of being a part of all this.

Now we are caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. Barnton may well offer long-term stability within (just about) Northwich, and there is no doubt that we have already established good relationships there, but it offers little room for development and progression - should it ever be needed. KG offers the opportunity to be a part of a prestigious development with top class facilities, and clearly gives room for progression, but the location is far from ideal.

But presumably if Cheshire FA couldn't find stadium land within Northwich, there's little chance 1874 on its own could do so.

Like others, I will be interested to see what the plans are for developing the road infrastructure, as to me it seems a bit out of the way in that respect.
 
Obviously I'm a little disappointed with the location of Cheshire FA's project & in my personal opinion I would much prefer to stay in Barnton & play within the Northwich boundaries, however we can't deny that this is a great opportunity for our football club & I think we should all listen to our board memebers & hear them out on their plans for our future.

As for the Project itself I think it's an wonderful idea which will for sure benefit the local area & hopefully benefit grassroots & woman's football for years to come so in that aspect I congratulate Cheshire FA on going forward in such an ambitious project.
 
Very disappointing. Unless they build a decent cross country access road it’s difficult to see how such a facility can meet their declared aims as the existing access is painful to put it mildly.
And let’s not forget why Knights Grange failed as a sports centre in the first place. In my opinion it was mainly due to its very poor location and access.
Having said all of that having a team playing on a premier league standard pitch with world class training and medical facilities close at hand should make it much easier to attract top class players to our club and so I think the future looks very bright apart from the location issue. Maybe we need to consider rebranding our club to make the venue more acceptable. 1874 Mid-Cheshire anyone??!!
 
Last edited:
I dont live in Northwich and after traveling to Winsford for the last few years as we had no other option.It takes me approx 35/40 mins to get to a home game. i was made up when i found out we were going to Barnton next season cuts my traveling time down a lot.
After 2 years at Barnton i dont think i will start making the trip to Winsford again. I thought the aim of our club was to get back in Northwich which this isnt.
I would rather be tennants at Barnton or Witton .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top