Football

Plans for £70m football facility and luxury hotel announced



Cheshire County FA – in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council and ION Developments – has announced its intention to develop a £70m football facility.


The 60-acre site in Northwich, Cheshire, will also contain a 150-key luxury hotel with a spa along with conference and event facilities. 

The site is aiming to become a leading centre for the provision of women and girls’ football, with a Women’s Super League club in talks to become a partner. 

The development will comprise two FIFA-quality grassmaster hybrid football pitches, with one flanked by a 1,000-seat stadium and the other being allocated to private training for visiting national or international teams.

It will also include two 3G pitches and six high-quality grass football pitches. 

Meanwhile, the hotel will comprise a selection of private pavilions, a destination spa with swimming pool and state-of-the-art gym, conference and banqueting facility for 400, meeting rooms, restaurant, bar and lounge.

“This site will become a world-renowned facility for the development of women’s football and will significantly improve the life chances and opportunities of all those involved in the game at every level,” said Stuart Manifould, business and operations manager and site founder at Cheshire FA.

The site is being designed by architects Space & Place, which has designed sports facilities for Olympic Games.

“This is an opportunity to design a facility that truly makes a difference from grassroots participants to elite level athletes in one place,” said Keith Ashton, chief executive at Space & Place.

Steve Parry, managing director at Ion Developments, said it was looking forward to bringing what will become a world-class football centre with luxury hotel to Cheshire. 

“The finished development will not only enhance Cheshire’s brilliant reputation as a footballing destination and bring hotel rooms to a thriving region, but will also give women and girls’ football the much-needed, state-of-the-art facilities to help reach its full potential.”

Further information about the development will be released as plans progress. 



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