New centre for women and girls football

A multi-million pound plan to develop a world-class centre for women and girls’ football, complete with luxury hotel and spa, have been revealed.

Cheshire County FA is joining forces with Cheshire West and Chester Council and ION Developments to work on the £70m scheme which will be built on a 60-acre site in Northwich.

The new site will become a leading centre for women and girls football with a WSL 1 club in talks to become a partner on what will become a “best in class” football environment.

The ambitious plans include a 150 room luxury hotel with conference and events facilities, two FIFA quality Grassmaster Hybrid pitches and a 1000-seat stadium.

One of the pitches will be used for private training for visiting national teams or international teams using the site in preparation for domestic or European competition.

Cheshire FA plan to have four high quality and innovative education spaces designed to create and develop the coaches and referees of the future and, by using the latest technology for player and game analysis, the centre will be well-placed to be a leading institution for football education.

Cheshire FA business and operations manager Stuart Manifould said: “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.”

Steve Parry, managing director of Ion Development, said: “We are greatly 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.”