1874 Northwich - Townfield

1874 Northwich FC

Barnton FC

Creative Hut Stadium

Townfield Lane

Barnton

Northwich

Cheshire

CW8 4LJ

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1339
Saturday 31st August 2024

1874 Northwich 3-2 Stocksbridge Park Steels

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round

1874 NORTHWICH - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in November 2012 by a group of supporters unhappy with the running of Northwich Victoria. The once great club was in freefall, crippled by financial issues and playing some 45 miles away at Stafford Rangers. The original club carry on to this day, the rift unhealed. They now both play in the Midland League Premier Division. 1874 Northwich joined the North West Counties Division 1 for the 2013/14 season. Despite gaining 84 points from 36 games, they still only finished 3rd behind Nelson & Formby but this was still good enough for promotion. Their first season in the NWC Premier saw them finish 3rd in 2015. They remained in this division until 2021. Top of the league when the season was cut short due to the pandemic, the results were expunged and the new season was just five games old when the plug was pulled again. They won promotion based on results over these two seasons and finished 12th in the NPL D1 West in their debut season. That was the best in their history. The next season saw a slight drop but last season was a disaster as they finished 14 points adrift at the bottom of the bottom of the table. They now play in the Midland League Premier Division due to geographical quirks.

1874 Northwich's best FA Cup run came in 2017. They beat rivals Northwich Victoria 2-0 following a 2-2 draw. Replays were also needed against West Didsbury & Chorlton and Mossley. North Ferriby United were then beaten  1-0 before they went out on penalties to Ossett Town in the 3rd Qualifying Round. That same season also saw their best FA Vase run. Eleven games were played before they lost 4-2 to Thatcham Town in the two-legged semi-finals. That home tie attracted their record attendance of 1,693. Local honours include two NWCFL Challenge Cups, two Mid-Cheshire Senior Cups and the Supporters Direct Shield in 2014. A barren run in the FA Trophy has seen them lose all three games.

The club represents Northwich, a town in mid-Cheshire with a population of 23,000. The town has a history in salt mining which has caused subsidence issues for the town. More recently, a Pina Colada festival for which Northwich Victoria released an absolutely epic shirt for. This was in recognition of Rupert Holmes who was born in the town and wrote "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)", released in 1979. Other famous people include actress Jennifer Saunders and footballing cousins Andy & Michael Oakes. The club plays in the village of Barnton, which has a population of just under 6,000. They share at the home of Barnton FC, who play in the North West Counties Division 1 South. Barnton became known as "Jam Town" in the late 1800s due to so many people owning and not renting their homes. "People in Barnton eat Jam butties so that they can own not only their own houses, but buy their neighbours too!". In December 2018, a wooden carving of a young boy eating a Jam Sandwich was unveiled in honour of the sacrifices for home ownership in the village. The statue was named the 'Jam Butty Boy', and is located on the A533 (Runcorn Road) that runs through the village.

Other Northwich clubs include....

NORTHWICH VICTORIA - The original Nortwich club. Established in 1874 and played at the Drill Field from 1875 until 2002. This was the oldest continuously used football ground in the world until it was sold for housing due to overzealous ground requirements by the Conference (now the National League). Constant financial issues plagued the club following this but after sharing for three years at Witton Albion, the new Victoria Stadium was built half a mile away. The ground was only a year old when the club changed ownership, but the ground was retained by the former owner who sold it to the adjacent chemical firm at the start of 2012. Since then, they have tumbled down a few levels and have shared at Stafford Rangers (2012-13) Flixton (2013-15), Witton Albion (2015-16), Barnton (2017-2023), Winsford United (2023-24) & currently a third stint at Witton Albion. Their best finish in their history was when they finished 4th in the Alliance Premier League in 1981 and they have spent a total of 29 seasons in Non-League's top tier. They currently play in the Midland League Premier Division (step 5)

WITTON ALBION - The town's most stable club in the higher echelons of Non-League. They played at Central Park in Northwich up until 1989 which is now a Sainsburys. They now play a few miles away at an industrial estate in Wincham, moving in after leaving their old ground. Estanlished in 1887, they spent three seasons in the Conference  in the early 1990s, finishing 10th in 1992. They reached the FA Trophy Final that year, beating Wycombe Wanderers in the Quarters before losing to champions Colchester United at Wembley. They currently play in the NPL D1 West (step 4) and are currently the town's highest-ranked club.

BARNTON - Established in 1946, they play in the nearby village of Barnton. Landlords of both incarnations of Northwich Victoria, currently 1874 Northwich. They spent 2016-17 in the North West Counties Premier but currently play in the NWCFL Division 1 South (step 6)

NORTHWICH VILLA - A short-lived club that was around from 2005-2016. They were originally Woodley FC and were established as a feeder team for Northwich Victoria. Originally a Cheshire League side, they were members of the North West Counties League and shared at Witton Albion. In 2013 they moved to Flixton and were renamed Northwich Flixton Villa. They spent 2015-16 as Northwich Manchester Villa, sharing at the Manchester Regional Arena in  the shadow of the Etihad Stadium before folding in 2016. 

Additionally, Cheshire League sides Hartford, Rudheath Social and Lostock Gralam also play nearby.

MY VISIT

I was very keen to do an FA Cup game on this day but was frustrated in my search to find a reasonably priced train fare. My number one choice would have been Campion v Blyth Spartans but that was very expensive and affected by strikes. It was also an early kickoff. Another option I fancied was Bamber Bridge, a long-term target of a ground. But that would involve advanced singles, a drive to Milton Keynes, parking and a long day. With Colin usually taking a week or so to respond to messages, it was a bit of a non-starter as we needed his disabled railcard. Little did I know there would be a longer day in the offing. All the others were tricky to get to. My number one choice if travelling from Wycombe would be Whitchurch Alport v Wythenshawe Town. However, that was scuppered by engineering works. Instead of taking 25 minutes to get from High Wycombe to Bicester, it would now take 90. 1874 Northwich v Stocksbridge Park Steels was another one I fancied but I bemoaned on Twitter the fact that fare was going to be £70 and that was without my transfer to London, However. Twitter can be great when people get their heads together. They recommended I take the slower LNWR service up to Hartford which was £27.55 return and seemed far better value.

When I am working, my mind is always on the next groundhop. I did briefly consider a visit to Whitchurch Alport, logistically, it was a lot easier. However, I'd be leaving and returning home late to get a good fare. The latter was especially off-putting as I'd be home at 12.30 and up at 4 for work. So after having Whitchurch planned for 24 hours, I went back to my original plan. Colin provided a useful suggestion for once and suggested going from Hemel Hempstead. This was a great shout as there was no difference to my departure time but I'd be getting back a couple of hours early. The fare was a lot cheaper than going from London too if you took into account getting to Euston. Talking of the fare (with Colin's Railacard), the difference between going to Hartford ( £31.70) and Northwich (£68.10) was staggering. There was barely any time difference and it is one of the many baffling things about the railway system. The only negative was that everything was a lot slower and less regular once you got to Crewe. I was also shocked to see there were no Wetherspoons in Crewe and had not been for six years.  Also, the train station seemed miles away from the town but I was glad to see the excellent Hops bar was still open, sadly my last visit was over a decade ago and the timings did not work out this time.

 I started doing my research on Thursday afternoon and was surprised to see that entry was £10. Perhaps a hangover from them playing at step 4, but it's the most I've paid at this level. The fact that it was a good game and the travel price took the sting out of the situation. I hoped to retain the positive impression that I had of the club when I saw them at Winsford United, really friendly fans and it felt like they were the club that Wycombe used to play back in our Conference days. I was glad that I was there to see them thump Wigan Robin Park 9-0 which remains their biggest ever win. I also remember the excellent Birtwistles pies and re-reading my blog, the entry was superb value at a fiver. I search out that Pina Colada song, despite only reaching 23 in the UK charts back in 1979, it's surprisingly familiar. Meanwhile, rather than read the messages that I sent him, Colin rings me and asks what they said, rather than just read them. I know he can read perfectly fine, so it's just stupidity and laziness. We firm up the arrangements for Saturday and add a visit to watch Windsor v Staines & Lammas so I can confirm that he understands and we can get the train tickets booked to save a last-minute rush. Friday was a long and tiring day at work and I am once more glad of Saturday off.

It was a pleasant evening out at Beaconsfield for Windsor v Staines Lammas. The opportunity was used to book our train tickets, with a Trainpal discount it worked out at £30 each. The game was also great, with Windsor beating Staines & Lammas 3-2. The away side brought a few and they were good company to chat to during the game. I had a couple of drinks once I got home and got to bed around midnight. My alarm woke me at 6.50 and I was pretty sleepy. As ever though, the thought of football woke me up and after a porridge pot, I left to meet Colin. He was there waiting for me and we drove to Hemel Hempstead station and parked up. We then went to the station and aiwted the ten minutes for our train. It was supposed to go to Milton Keynes but it terminated at Bletchley due to shortage of crew. Not a good start for LNWR on the first time I used the service.

The farce continued. I looked online to see that the Milton Keynes to Crewe leg of our journey had also been cancelled, one of many by what was turning out to be a cheap and nasty service. Luckily I'd left time to spare and we got chatting to a nice bloke who was trying to get to Worcester and equally frustrated by the service. The LNWR Twitter were pretty helpful, they were advisng that ticket acceptance was available on Avanti, the only issue was that we had gone past MK by the time the gent responded. Bletchley was a pretty awful place, so we had opted to get the train to Birmingham New Street, where fingers crossed, we'd be able to change for a service to Hartford. It looked like we would suffer an hours delay to our arrival time and the stress of it all resulted in me cracking open a can of cider. I felt slightly better after that but was constantly on Google Maps looking for a better route. One is not found, but I submit a claim for delay repay whilst Colin sleeps.

Eventually, we get to Birmingham New Street. With 50 minutes to kill due to the hourly service, we decamp to the London & Northwestern Wetherspoons at the station. The Strongbow and the breakfast muffin taste great and we chat to some Aston Villa fans heading to what I christen the 'Mark Draper Derby' against Leicester City. We arrive at our platform with time to spare and are soon on our way. Colin doesn't know how to submit a delay repay claim, despite being a regular rail user. I do it for him as we learn that Wycombe's game against Mansfield has been postponed with a week's notice. Not as bad as AFC Fylde v Southend United, postponed late morning due to yet more issues with the trains. We try to watch Blackpool v Wycombe online but are thwarted by by poor phone signal. We get to Hartford four minutes late. Transport connections are so woeful that we get an Uber to Wetherspoons which costs £3.50 each. Hopefully our delay repay should cover the cost. We get to Wetherspoons at 1:20, my 351st in the chain. Hot and spicy chicken is on offer so I get that along with a bottle of Aspalls and a side of Halloumi Fries. All is good as we watch the Wycombe game. Another pint of Stowford Press is ordered for £2.10. Wycombe draw 2-2 and we leave at 2.20. A pleasant town but the public transport is rubbish so it's another Uber to the ground at a fiver each. Then the tenner entry, another £12 on a drink and Merch before we settle down for the game.

1874 Northwich sat 2nd in the Midland Premier, having won all three of their games. Last time out they won 4-1 at local rivals Northwich Victoria. They also won 1-0 at Brocton and 2-1 against Lichfield City. The only blot on the landscape was 2-0 defeat at Wakefield in the FA Vase. To get this far, they won 2-1 at Stockport Town and 3-1 at Longridge Town. Their furthest progress has been the 3rd Qualifying Round. Stocksbridge Park Steels were 6th in the NPL D1 East, a tier above. They'd had a good start, in their last game they won 2-1 at Sheffield and they'd also won 2-1 at Bishop Auckland. They'd also drawn 1-1 against Cleethorpes Town and at Sherwood Colliery. Their only defeat had come with a 3-1 loss against Dunston last Saturday. To get this far they had beaten Prestwich Heys 2-1 before a notable 3-2 win at Bradford Park Avenue. Their best progress came in 2003 when they reached the 4th Qualifying Round but lost 6-0 at Shildon. Stocksbridge are well in top and they take the lead after 12 minutes with a deflected shot by Jack Haslam. Not long after Northwich equalised from the penalty spot with their first attack, scorer Scott McGowan. 1874 soaked up the pressure and on 42 minutes they went ahead through a quick break on 38 minutes through Liam Fitzpatrick. Stocksbridge started the second half well but didn't really threaten. Joel Jones made it 3-1 Northwich on 56 min, firing home from the edge of the area. Haslam grabs his second 20 minutes from time with a scrappy move to make it 3-2 and game on. There were no further goals but it had been an enjoyable afternoon at a super friendly club.

THE GROUND

TOWNFIELD is not the greatest ground for the level but it has bags if character. The two mainm covered areas are at one end of the pitch and offer a combination of seating and standing. Around two hundred people can be kept under cover. Northwich have a very decent club shop with a good range. The bar has two pumps of beer, plus cider in cans. Food is restricted to a BBQ that ran out of food before half time on my visit.There is a Co-Op nearby, plus a pub slightly further away. There's a decent amount of parking but the public transport is pretty woeful.