TT No.89: Andrew Gallon - Tues 16th October 2007; Nantwich T v Stocksbridge PS; Unibond Challenge Cup 2; Res: 5-1; Att: 306; Admission: £7; Programme (40pp): £2; FGIF Match Rating: 3*

News of a club in an attractive place relocating is always welcome because it provides a compelling excuse for a revisit. Nantwich Town played their last game at Jackson Avenue, their home of 123 years, in April and kicked off this season at the £4m Weaver Stadium. The former was a pleasing venue close to the town centre; the latter, symbolically separated from the community by the River Weaver, is a monument to all that is bland and unimaginative. Thankfully, the architectural gems of Nantwich (slogan: A Hidden Treasure) remain untouched by the dead hand of progress, making it a destination worthy of an early arrival.   The wealth of historic buildings in Nantwich owes everything to the Great Fire of 1583, which destroyed much of the town after raging for 20 days. The timber framing method was used in the reconstruction work and had the blessing of Queen Elizabeth I, who, mindful of the town's importance as a salt supplier, donated £1,000 to help cover costs. There are too many fine buildings to list. Suffice to say, a three-mile walking tour (free booklet available from the TIC in the Civic Hall) is the best way to see them all. If this sounds too energetic, restrict yourself to those on High Street and the breathtaking Churche's Mansion on Hospital Street. Also of note is the parish church of St Mary's, often described as the Cathedral of South Cheshire. One of the finest medieval churches in the country, it is built in a curious weathered pink stone and features a rare lierne vault stone roof and an unusual octagonal tower. Nantwich is both posh and privileged, certainly compared to down-at-heel neighbour Crewe, with swanky shops to match. It's a miniature version of Chester, without the howling packs of camera-toting tourists. How many boxes has that ticked?   For the football grounds enthusiast, no trip to Nantwich would be complete without discovering what has become of Jackson Avenue. I can report, on the day of my visit, bulldozers were busy levelling the site for a development of "stunning" (yeah, right) Barratt one and two-bedroomed apartments and three and four-bedroomed houses. These will bear the name Keepers Chase in what I hope is a nod in the direction of the chaps between the posts with the comedy gloves on. All the stands have been demolished but sections of the pitch remain and the boundary walls are still intact.   The Weaver Stadium is over at Kingsley Fields, once used as an industrial area by the Romans, who clearly didn't fancy the site either. It's on the opposite side of town, and is  different in every way to the slightly rustic, and ever so rusty, charm of Jackson Avenue. Swing right adjacent to an estate of new builds (the sort estate agents nowadays like to call townhouses) and across a bridge over a weed-choked beck and you're into the spacious car park. It's all shiny tarmac and malnourished fringes awaiting the attention of a landscaper. The back of the main stand rises tall above the parking spaces and is as colourless and lacking in character as a modern open prison. How a few bright signs in the club's green and white colours would lift things! The lower section is of fawn-coloured brick; the upper gun-grey metal. Four doors, with nice use of the club's logo on the glazing, lead to a souvenir shop, reception, the dressing rooms and the hospitality areas, which include a bar and a spacious function room with all the individuality and appeal of a home furnished entirely by IKEA. As is commonplace these days, one gets the feeling the seating tier for spectators has been added almost as an afterthought. It's a sad indictment on the game today that Nantwich will pocket more money from hosting wedding receptions and birthday parties than they ever will through the turnstiles. A cantilevered cover juts out over seven rows of green and white plastic tip-up seats. There's a design going on here but I couldn't make out what it was. The players' tunnel is in the centre, with large dugouts fashioned from perspex over green metal frames to either side. Red and blue seats, laid out alternately, add a splash of colour. Prepare to be underwhelmed by the rest.   The two turnstile blocks, either side of the main stand, are of the same fawn brick used elsewhere. The right-hand one leads past the Dabbers Diner to a tarmac path running round the ground which, a 60-yard cantilever cover over five steps of terracing on the far side apart, is open to the elements. For this fixture, it pelted down almost continuously. The spaces between the hardstanding and the concrete panel perimeter fence (it's wood, for some reason, on the main stand side) are filled with a purple hued aggregate.. The floodlights are masts, four per side, with two lamps on each. Because we're out of town, there's nothing to see beyond the confines of the stadium, save for the odd tree, hedge and, behind the terrace cover, a third generation G3 synthetic pitch complete with lights and a high mesh fence. Must be the prison's exercise yard. A community asset, for sure, and one no doubt appreciated by Sir Trevor Brooking, FA director of football development and chief offender of using the words 'I mean' in every sentence he utters, when he officially opened the whole complex the previous week.   Whatever I and other fleeting visitors may see as the Weaver Stadium's shortcomings, the Dabbers fans seem to like it. Jackson Avenue, they told me, was life expired; its social club a tumbledown wreck and parking a nightmare. And it is, I guess, a home fit for heroes because Town have impressed on the pitch in recent seasons under head coach Steve Davis, the former Crewe, Burnley and Barnsley defender, who has become the most successful manager in the club's history. An FA Vase triumph in 2006 was followed last season by winning promotion to the new UniBond League Division One South thanks to a fourth-place finish in the First Division of the North West Counties League. Ahead of this cup tie with Stocksbridge, the Dabbers (the ancient name for the Nantwich-born, derived from dabbing brine beds with larch poles in the process of producing salt by evaporation) had won nine and drawn one of their last 12 games, so picking up the division's Team of the Month award for September. Two pre-match scares with which to contend. Firstly, there was trouble with the stadium lighting which was flashing like a Belisha beacon when I arrived and, secondly, the programmes didn't make it to the ground until five minutes before kick-off after an anguished phone call to the printers. Better late than never!   Nantwich, the 20 minutes before half-time aside, had few problems dealing with a Stocksbridge team made up entirely of blunt instruments. Danny Griggs, the game's outstanding player, lit up a dreary night with some dazzling footwork on the left wing and his cross to the back post in the third minute allowed Ashley Carter to cut the ball back for Andy Bott to prod past Andrew Jefferey from close range. Steels contributed nothing until the 26th minute, when they grabbed a shock equaliser and prompted dark mutterings from the elderly couple next to me. An unmarked Brett Lovell met Alvin Riley's inswinging corner for a regulation downward header from inside the six-yard box.   But Steels were flattering to deceive. The second half belonged to Nantwich, who went 2-1 up in the 56th minute when Griggs, picking up an overhit Carter cross on the left angle of the box, crashed a sumptuous shot across Jefferey and into the top corner. The visitors were guilty of not playing to the whistle for the third. With Slovakian home striker Pavol Suhaj down injured, a break in play was anticipated by the Steels defence, who then watched in horror as Bott skipped through and lifted the ball over the advancing Jefferey for Ashley Carter (65) to tap into an unguarded net. Protest futile. The Dabbers rubbed salt (as you'd expect) into the wound by adding two more goals in stoppage time. Glyn Blackhurst nodded in a Griggs cross to the back post and fellow sub Andy Kinsey then slid the ball home after Bott had drawn Jefferey and squared unselfishly. Rather flattering, the final margin, but Nantwich were much the better team.   I won't say a hop to the Weaver Stadium comes highly recommended because I'd be telling porkies of Melton Mowbray proportions but a wander round Nantwich most certainly does. If you like your travel destinations as much as your football, you will not be disappointed.

contributed on 17/10/07