The Weaver "Stadium" - Nantwich Town FC Ground Guide

Pliny Harris

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How Easy Was The Ground to Get To (from the station, by car, etc)
West end of town. You'll probably be getting off J16/17 of the M6 via Crewe on the way there, and it's on your right off the B5341 that weaves (no pun intended) around the town. It's a small place that you can get round within a few minutes, traffic permitting. You'll see the sign and main stand once you get there quite easily, although it didn't seem well signposted otherwise.

If Applicable, How is Parking Near The Ground?
Big car park at the ground, alternative parking around the residential roads and off Welsh Row behind the Black Lion.

Based on Where You Were Sat, How Was the View?
The pitch is set somewhat above the actual hard standing, which is where most will be watching the game, making it a pain when a good crowd's in. The main stand has a decent gradient and views are quite clear, pretty bogstandard terrace opposite that still beats the hard standing.

How Were The Stewards on The Day?
Embarrassingly, there was a sort of ruckus, and it became the police's problem to look after the element that tagged along last week. Stewards weren't really visible other than at the problem area, which is what they're supposed to do I guess.

If You Ate at The Ground, How Would You Rate the Food?
N/A

How Was The Atmosphere At The Ground, From Both Sets of Supporters? Does the Stadium Hold the Noise?

It's very open, so noise is very limited, with a good three quarters of it not being built on. There was still singing throughout though, although it was gentle from a distance.

How Are the Pubs and Local Attractions in The Local Area?
I came on here to recommend Nantwich as the sort of team others should hope to draw in cup competition, host friendlies against or just go to the odd game of interest. It's a lovely looking town, gentle mid-Cheshire, unspoilt and well-to-do. It's not exactly a tourist town but it's absolutely an away day town. A local told me there were 32 pubs there, the highest concentration pretty much anywhere. Of these I sampled the Black Lion on Welsh Row near the ground, a gorgeous wattle and daub build with great beer, food, service, well and faithfully done up, calm, simply one of the best near-ground boozers I've set foot in. Why not czech out some of the other 31, too?

Overall Score Out of 10?
8/10
The ground is very sparse despite its snazzy modern look and could do with some more development before we start thinking about character, but overall an away day at NTFC is exactly what you would want from a non-league jaunt. Good area untroubled by heavy footfall, very friendly locals, plus they've got a decent side together.
 

Pliny Harris

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Definitely. Small town Cheshire gets a lot of flack for being staid and yuppified but for my money Nantwich is an unspoilt place and worth a visit.
 

Blue Lion

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I first went to the Weaver for the Cheshire Cup Final last season. The most memorable part was the robotic sounding PA announcer and the attempted enthusiasm in his voice as he tried to congratulate us!
 

Football Purist

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The daftest thing is the name...Weaver Stadium.
How come every football ground these days has to be tagged a stadium?
It's a smart little facility for Nantwich but it's no more a stadium than my back garden is a stadium.
Silly.
 

Pliny Harris

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The daftest thing is the name...Weaver Stadium.
How come every football ground these days has to be tagged a stadium?
It's a smart little facility for Nantwich but it's no more a stadium than my back garden is a stadium.
Silly.

A very provocative topic for me, perhaps as a football purist in all but name.

As a ground it's a decent fit for them. Up to several hundred in and you can get a good view from the two stands. No elevation lets the rest of it down, as you're slightly below the pitch level. It's not such a problem when you're on the hard standing at a slightly raised level, but that day most fowk in the ground barely saw a thing. We went behind the terrace and found a few old railway sleepers there and brought them pitch side, stood four men to a sleeper. Non-league and functional, although I lost my place on it having jumped off when we scored, which was a shame as the sleepers were my idea.

Onto what classes as a stadium. I think it needs stands on all four sides, all higher than the goalposts, bottom-to-top, and of significantly greater width. Structures need to be permanent. A ground can still be classed as a stadium is it has one empty side, or lack of a side, provided the other ends have great height eg. places like Highbury and St. James' Park when their new ends were being done up during the season in the '90s, or more recently Bloomfield Road/Boundary Park. Oxford's Kassam Stadium also qualifies. It's at this point that I should conveniently clarify that being a stadium makes a ground no better than any other ground. It's grandiloquent to call a two-stand non-league ground a stadium, but if it had two new Ikea stands built at either end, it'd have no grandeur. Some of the best grounds are just grounds. I'm not groundist, but.

CASE STUDIES
Marine - Rossett Park. Three sides, one good main stand, one the height of the nets, one ground-level touchline stand, one end backs onto houses. Verdict: two sides aren't large enough. Easy GROUND.
Oxford United - Kassam Stadium. Three sides, all huge. Verdict: unattractive place, another indictment on the ultra-conservative fashion of modern British architecture, but doesn't prevent it being imposing enough to pass. STADIUM.
Woking - Kingfield Stadium. Four sides. One side a patchwork of older stands, one end a decent terrace, one end a vertiginous modern stand. However! One touchline is open with a few uncovered steps. Despite its capacity, its elevation means it remains a GROUND by the skin of its teeth.
Chorley - Victory Park. Had four sides, but the touchline banking opposite the main stand is now cordoned off. But being no more developed than made ground with a few crush barriers, this old girl has always been a GROUND.
Bishop's Stortford - Woodside Park. Four sides. However, the opposite touchline stand is a very minor effort. The terraces behind each goal pass as stadium fodder by a whisker, but that one flatpack seater stand makes this a GROUND.
Alfreton Town - North Street. Four sides. A long, low main stand, two mostly open terraces behind each goal, executive area around the opposite touchline. Just about prominent enough to class as a STADIUM. However, under a sponsorship deal they have renamed their ground as The Impact Arena. Calling it an arena tell us (falsely) that the ground is entirely enclosed, with even (most of) the corners filled in with viewing areas or similar amenities. Such a bold claim puts this venue in poor favour, and thus it is relegated to a GROUND.
FC United of Manchester - Broadhurst Park. Another interesting one. Four sides, tightly enclosed. Two, for the time being as is told, are hard standing. However, with the promise that they will be stepped when the funds and support emerge, combined with the promising heights of the roofs, edge it into the STADIUM sector.
Stalybridge Celtic - Bower Fold. Four covered, low but sprawling ends. STADIUM. See also: Hyde United.
Altrincham - Moss Lane. GROUND. Don't @ me.
 

Football Purist

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A very provocative topic for me, perhaps as a football purist in all but name.

As a ground it's a decent fit for them. Up to several hundred in and you can get a good view from the two stands. No elevation lets the rest of it down, as you're slightly below the pitch level. It's not such a problem when you're on the hard standing at a slightly raised level, but that day most fowk in the ground barely saw a thing. We went behind the terrace and found a few old railway sleepers there and brought them pitch side, stood four men to a sleeper. Non-league and functional, although I lost my place on it having jumped off when we scored, which was a shame as the sleepers were my idea.

Onto what classes as a stadium. I think it needs stands on all four sides, all higher than the goalposts, bottom-to-top, and of significantly greater width. Structures need to be permanent. A ground can still be classed as a stadium is it has one empty side, or lack of a side, provided the other ends have great height eg. places like Highbury and St. James' Park when their new ends were being done up during the season in the '90s, or more recently Bloomfield Road/Boundary Park. Oxford's Kassam Stadium also qualifies. It's at this point that I should conveniently clarify that being a stadium makes a ground no better than any other ground. It's grandiloquent to call a two-stand non-league ground a stadium, but if it had two new Ikea stands built at either end, it'd have no grandeur. Some of the best grounds are just grounds. I'm not groundist, but.

CASE STUDIES
Marine - Rossett Park. Three sides, one good main stand, one the height of the nets, one ground-level touchline stand, one end backs onto houses. Verdict: two sides aren't large enough. Easy GROUND.
Oxford United - Kassam Stadium. Three sides, all huge. Verdict: unattractive place, another indictment on the ultra-conservative fashion of modern British architecture, but doesn't prevent it being imposing enough to pass. STADIUM.
Woking - Kingfield Stadium. Four sides. One side a patchwork of older stands, one end a decent terrace, one end a vertiginous modern stand. However! One touchline is open with a few uncovered steps. Despite its capacity, its elevation means it remains a GROUND by the skin of its teeth.
Chorley - Victory Park. Had four sides, but the touchline banking opposite the main stand is now cordoned off. But being no more developed than made ground with a few crush barriers, this old girl has always been a GROUND.
Bishop's Stortford - Woodside Park. Four sides. However, the opposite touchline stand is a very minor effort. The terraces behind each goal pass as stadium fodder by a whisker, but that one flatpack seater stand makes this a GROUND.
Alfreton Town - North Street. Four sides. A long, low main stand, two mostly open terraces behind each goal, executive area around the opposite touchline. Just about prominent enough to class as a STADIUM. However, under a sponsorship deal they have renamed their ground as The Impact Arena. Calling it an arena tell us (falsely) that the ground is entirely enclosed, with even (most of) the corners filled in with viewing areas or similar amenities. Such a bold claim puts this venue in poor favour, and thus it is relegated to a GROUND.
FC United of Manchester - Broadhurst Park. Another interesting one. Four sides, tightly enclosed. Two, for the time being as is told, are hard standing. However, with the promise that they will be stepped when the funds and support emerge, combined with the promising heights of the roofs, edge it into the STADIUM sector.
Stalybridge Celtic - Bower Fold. Four covered, low but sprawling ends. STADIUM. See also: Hyde United.
Altrincham - Moss Lane. GROUND. Don't @ me.
Weaver Park would've been a far better name for Nantwich's ground.
 

rudebwoyben

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But I liked the way you wove a pretty line there Pliny..
 

AdamStag

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The daftest thing is the name...Weaver Stadium.
How come every football ground these days has to be tagged a stadium?
It's a smart little facility for Nantwich but it's no more a stadium than my back garden is a stadium.
Silly.

The river Weaver runs behind the ground, hence the name
 

TrinidadsNumberOne

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Noble little ground at the back of my old school field and a significant upgrade on the old Jackson Avenue ground they left nearly 10 years ago. Was always an aim in our PE lessons to boot a football from the end of our field into their ground (one which we just couldn't manage!). Has great facilities around it as well which shows Nantwich's statement of intent that they want to be a Conference North club minimum and I think they'll make it and sustain it in the next few years.

Had a great 7 years at school and college in Nantwich and will tell you it's nothing like yuppified Cheshire at all, well maybe the Residence bar is but dregs of society like Steve Davis go there talking about when they were good once every week.

There's enough land to expand the ground should they ever be in a position to challenge for the National League but I don't see them ever progressing that far barring a miracle.
 

Alex Loyal

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The river Weaver runs behind the ground, hence the name
Yes I'm well aware of the connection to the River Weaver but that's not my gripe.
My issue is with the silly 'stadium' tag they've ridiculously settled on.
 

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