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IT is on the cards that the Weaver Stadium,
home of Nantwich Town FC, could be chosen as a training base for a team
taking part in the 2018 World Cup.
If Manchester is successful in
a bid to host the football competition in nine years time, the Dabbers'
facilities could be made available to an international team.
A News Release sent to me by
Michael Chatwin, the club's Business Manager, said:
"The
stadium has been identified as a possible training camp to host one of
the 32 competing national teams if the 2018 World Cup is held in
England.
“It’s a
great honour for a club like Nantwich Town to be chosen. To think that
we could have the world’s best footballers from the likes of Brazil,
Argentina or Germany based at the Weaver Stadium is fantastic. A lot of
people have put a lot of time into developing the facilities and we can
all be proud that Nantwich has been selected as a training base.”
The News Release goes on:
"Nantwich
Town is one of four clubs that Manchester is putting forward as part of
its bid to stage World Cup games in the city. Roger McLaughlin at the
Northwest Regional Development Agency has been instrumental in pulling
together the training camps for Manchester’s application as a Host
City.
" ' The facilities
at Nantwich Town are very impressive,' he said. ' The pitch, the stadium
and the location is likely to be of great interest to one of the
participating countries if the World Cup comes to England.'
"Manchester
is one of 16 English cities applying to host World Cup games and will
learn in December whether it will go forward as part of England’s bid to
bring the World Cup back to these shores for the first time since 1966.
"Manchester
is bidding to stage matches at the City of Manchester Stadium and Old
Trafford, but each of the cities also has to identify a small number of
training camps. As an attractive market town, Nantwich benefits from
hotels such as Rookery Hall, with Crewe Hall and Carden Park being close
at hand. Cities such as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Stoke are
all within easy travelling distance.
"The
£4 million Weaver Stadium, built in 2007, has been accredited by the
Premier League and currently hosts reserve matches for Stoke City.
“ 'It’s
exciting to think that World Cup stars could be training on our pitch,'
said Neville Clarke, who has served on the club committee for 50 years.
' World Cup winner Roger Hunt played on our old ground at Jackson Avenue
as a youngster with Stockton Heath but it would be amazing to have some
of the best footballers in the world training at our new stadium.'
"Nantwich
Town Councillor Arthur Moran, who also serves on Cheshire East Council,
commented: 'This is terrific news and would really put Nantwich on the
map. The football club has worked hard to build up its facilities for
the local community and if we did host one of the competing countries at
Nantwich in 2018 it would be a further boost to the local economy.' ”
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