What was the first English football stadium to fulfil the safety recommendations from the Taylor Report, which was commissioned after the Bradford Fire of 1985 and after the Hillsborough disaster of 1989?
Surprisingly, it was the Deva Stadium on the outskirts of Chester. Today, it is home to the exceptionally young football club, Chester. Deva is the old Roman name for the city. Alternatives suggested for the stadium included ‘Bumperland’.
Note the England/Wales border
Averaging 2500 at home and presently top of Conference North, having only been formed as recently as 2010, English club Chester FC play at the Deva Stadium, which is mostly in Wales.
Built and opened twenty years ago, the Deva Stadium (also known as the Exacta Stadium for sponsorship purposes) replaced Sealand Road, the ground of Chester City FC, a club dissolved in 2010. Sealand Road’s stand roof was transported to Port Vale’s ground, and used to cover the away enclosure.
Sealand Road, then and…..then as well.
Most football grounds in the UK have their main stand positioned to the south and/or west of the pitch, but the Deva located the main stand to the north. This is so the entrance to the ground, and the club offices were on the English side of the border, while the pitch itself is in Flintshire, Wales. Thus Chester City, and now the phoenix club Chester FC, remain an English football side.
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