The Victoria Stadium was a football stadium in

Wincham 200px, Map of civil parish of Wincham in the former borough of Vale Royal Wincham is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is about three miles nort ...

, Northwich in the county of Cheshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and was home to

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

History

Following the sale of the

Drill Field The Drill Field was a football stadium in Northwich, Cheshire, which was the home ground of Northwich Victoria Football Club between 1875 and 3 May 2002. At the time it was closed, it was believed to have been the oldest football ground in ...

, Northwich's former ground in 2003, and a ground-sharing agreement with

Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. *Witton Gilbert, County Durham *Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, B ...

, Northwich moved into the Victoria Stadium in 2005. The stadium was located on a site in Wincham Business Park. The Trent and Mersey Canal passes behind the stadium and separates Northwich from their fiercest rivals Witton Albion. On 17 August 2005, Northwich played their first game at the ground, beating

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

2–0. The ground was officially opened on 30 November 2006 by

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

, who fielded a Manchester United team in a friendly match. Manchester United Reserves played at the ground for 14 months in 2007–08 and 2008–09 reserve seasons. In February 2008, the ground was used for filming a new

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

advert, directed by

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and featuring

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

and

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player. A quick, tenacious, powerful, hard-working and dynamic forward in his prime, Tevez was capable of playing as a striker, as a wing ...

. It was one of only three grounds, along with the Camp Nou in

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and the Emirates Stadium in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, to be selected by Nike for filming. The future of the stadium was cast into doubt in January 2009, when then owner Mike Connett removed safety equipment from the ground; this forced Northwich to temporarily move to rivals Altrincham's Moss Lane and Witton Albion's

Wincham Park Wincham Park is a football stadium in Wincham, a parish on the edge of Northwich, England. The home ground of Witton Albion, it first opened in 1989, after the club left their former Central Ground. Capacity is 4,813, with 600 covered seats ...

grounds. It also spelt the end of Manchester United Reserve's tenancy at the stadium, as they moved their permanent home, who also moved to Moss Lane. A team consisting of actors from Cheshire-based soap

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera '' Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on sister channel E4 a ...

and an All-Star XI consisting of former professional footballers and special guests played at the stadium on 10 October 2009 in a charity match for St. Luke's Hospice in

Winsford Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industr ...

. A record attendance of 3,154 was achieved on the penultimate game of the 2005–06 season, when Northwich defeated their nearest rivals Stafford Rangers 3–1 to win the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

, however this was bettered in the 2009–10 season on 28 November when Northwich played Lincoln City in the Second Round of the FA Cup, a game which was witnessed by 3,544 spectators.

Stands

The main Victoria Stand had a

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

of 1,180 supporters. It housed the club offices, shop, changing rooms for players and match officials, kit room, medical facilities, treatment room, fitness centre, staff and public toilets. Rare for a non-league ground, there was several executive boxes situated above the outdoor seats. The stand was also home to a bar and two restaurants. The green and yellow seating on this stand spelt out 'NVFC', the acronym for the club. The terraced Dane Bank Stand had a capacity of 2,988 spectators, and was moved from the club's original Drill Field ground in Northwich Town Centre following the stadium's demolition. Following the closure of the Victoria Stadium, the Dane Bank Stand was once again moved. The steel-work was re-fabricated and is now the "Saint Mary's Road End" terrace at

FC United of Manchester Football Club United of Manchester is a semi-professional football club based in Moston, Manchester, England, that competes in the , the seventh tier of the English football league system, and plays home matches at Broadhurst Park. Founded ...

's Broadhurst Park ground. Both of the goal-ends were open, and could accommodate 434 spectators each.

References

{{Northwich Victoria F.C. Northwich Victoria F.C. Defunct football venues in England Northwich Sports venues in Cheshire Sports venues completed in 2005 Sports venues demolished in 2013 Demolished sports venues in the United Kingdom