Deva Stadium: Chester Football Club

When the Romans invaded the United Kingdom, they named the area that would later become known as Chester as ‘Deva Victrix’. It is from the city’s links to the Roman era that Chester Football Club’s home ground, the Deva Stadium, gets its name. It was built on the Sealand Road Industrial Estate in 1992 and straddles the England and Wales border, which caused problems for the club in the January of 2022 when the English government allowed crowds to attend football matches during the Covid-19 pandemic but the Welsh government did not. As a result, the club was threatened with legal action by North Wales Police and the Flintshire County Council.

Chester Football Club is the successor to Chester City FC, with the latter having been liquidated in 2010. Chester was founded almost immediately, taking on the name that Chester City had had when that club had first been formed in 1885, with the ‘City’ not being added until 1983. The club’s history is therefore simultaneously relatively new and yet also tied inextricably with the past of a different club, both of which mean a lot to the city of Chester. The club’s very existence is owed to City Fans United, which was formed in the October of 2009 when it became clear that Chester City was going through immense financial difficulty.

Stats

Deva Stadium Photos

Deva Stadium View from the Stands
From Chester FC

Deva Stadium External View
Steve Daniels / The Deva Stadium in Chester

Deva Stadium, Old Vaughan Stand
Ingy The Wingy from Lancashire, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Deva Stadium Seating Plan and Where to Sit

There are three sides of seating available at the Deva Stadium, with one side that is a terraced section. The largest area is known as the Gary Talbot Stand, which goes alongside the Harry McNally Terrace as being for the home supporters. The West Stand is also mostly for home supporters with just a small section open to away fans, whilst the South Stand is used exclusively by away supporters. The South Stand was converted from being a terraced area to a fully seated section in 2007.

Chester F.C Ticket Prices

How much you will pay for Chester Football Club tickets will depend entirely on how old you are and where in the ground you wish to be located on a match day. There is one price for those happy to be located in the Harry McNally Terrace to the North of the ground, whilst those in the Main Stand to the East or the Swettenham Chemists Community Stand to the West will pay slightly more. Here is how the prices worked for the 2023-2024 season in order to give you some sense of what to expect:

It is £1 cheaper if you buy your tickets online in advance of the match, with Under-12s dropping to being free if they’re attending with a full paying adult.

How To Get Chester F.C Tickets

Whether it a match ticket, a match day package or a Chester season ticket that you’re looking to get your hands on, the best place to look is on the club’s website. Not only is the site easy to navigate and aimed at making your life as simple as possible, you will also get the tickets for £1 cheaper than if you were to but them at the turnstiles on a match day.

Where to Buy

• Ticket Compare

Getting To Deva Stadium

Train – Anyone looking to get to a Chester game by train will be heading to Chester Railway Station. You do need to bear in mind, though, that this is two and a half miles away from the ground itself, so you either need to be able to make it that distance or else get some form of transport to take you from the station to the football ground.

Bus – Those that are hoping to get the bus out to the stadium will be able to get the No. 10A from the City Centre Bus Exchange, which takes you past Bumpers Lane. It is then a short walk along Bumpers Lane itself to reach the football ground.

Car – If you’re driving to a Chester march, you’ll want to get the M56 and follow signs for North Wales and Queensferry on the A494. Remain on the A-road until you see signs for Flint/Chester courtesy of the A548, at which point you’ll take the exit and follow those signs. After you pass the Vauxhall dealership, which should be on your left, turn right onto Sovereign Way, which will be on the right at the next set of traffic lights. From there, you should see the stadium on your right.

By Air – The closest airport to Chester is Liverpool John Lennon, which is good news is at means that you have an excuse to avoid the seventh circle of hell that is Manchester Airport. The former is around ten miles away, whilst the latter is closer to 30 miles from Chester. In the end, though, where you’re flying from is likely to be the deciding factor of where you’ll need to fly to.

Taxi – If you’re getting the train into Chester then you might well want to get a taxi from the station out to the ground. You shouldn’t have to pay more than £10 for the privilege, depending on what the traffic is like.

Parking Near Deva Stadium

The good news for those of you that are driving is that there is a large car park on-site. At the time of writing, there is a small charge of £3 to be able to park your car there.

• See Available Parking Near Deva Stadium

Useful Resources

• Parking - Just Park

Pubs and Bars Near Deva Stadium

About Chester F.C

The original Chester Football Club was created in 1885 and joined the Football League in time for the 1931-1932 season, changing its name to Chester City FC in 1983. Having remained in the Football League for most of its existence, the club was relegated to the Conference in 2000, which was the start of financial difficulties. Chester City returned to the Football League in 2004, but another relegation out of it five years later saw the club hit more financial problems, being hit with a 25-point deduction ahead of the 2009-2010 season. The Inland Revenue overturned a proposed CVA, with Chester City being wound-up on the tenth of March 2010.

City Fans United had been set up in 2009 when the extent of Chester City’s financial issues became clear. Preparations were put in place to launch a phoenix club, which gained the support of Cheshire West and Chester Council. The Football Association initially suggested that the club should play in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division, but a successful petition resulted in the new club beginning life in the Northern Premier League Division One North, which was the eighth tier of English football. From there, the club has steadily looked to get back where the side that it was formed out of used to be: in the Football League.

Deva Stadium History

In the March of 1990, a new owner took over at Chester City and put plans in place for the club to leave its home ground and instead play at a new stadium on nearby Bumpers Lane. Construction of the new venue began in the January of 1992, with Chester City playing their games at Moss Rose Stadium in Macclesfield whilst the building work was underway. The new ground opened in the August, just in time to be used for the 1992-1993 campaign. When it opened, it was the first stadium that fulfilled the requirement of the Taylor Report, which had been launched in the wake of the Hillsborough Disaster in which 97 supporters lost their lives.

The ground has enjoyed numerous different sponsored names over the years, such as when it was known as the Saunders Honda Stadium between 2004 and 2007. When Chester City was dissolved with large debts in 2010, the stadium was left without an official tenant. A few months later, however, Chester and Cheshire West Council awarded the lease of the ground to Chester Football Club, the phoenix side that had sprung up as Chester City FC’s replacement. Having had a capacity of 6,000, it was reduced to 4,500 when the South Stand was converted from being a terrace to an all-seater section in 2007.