Council commits to Vics talks (From Northwich Guardian)

My rates are for more important things than a badly run football club. Councillors should concentrate on the disgraceful state of our town centre and we need a theatre/cinema more than we need two football clubs for it may have slipped the council's notice, there is another team in the town that is well run and in no need of baling out with rate payers money, that team is of course Witton Albion. My club have been the butt of Vics jokes for many years but whilst they spent money the didn't have we have remained solvent. So please, no more talk of council help, they have made their bed, let them lie in it.
WHS.

How many times do Northwich Vics and Witton Albion have to move to new grounds. Both have sold their previous grounds to developers in the fairly recent past, and had new grounds built. Now we're at it again. Vics have for all intents and purposes gone bust or are not financially viable, and they have lost their ground. So the local council wants to help them fins another place to build a new ground. Witton may end up moving as a developer has put plans forward for housing on the site of their ground. Neither club is making sufficient money to be viable. They have at best a small amount of support which could be counted in hundreds. Neither ground is on a bus route and is difficult to get to without a car or a lengthy walk. Maybe this is part of the reason for poor crowds. It has been suggested in the past that one or other of them has looked at building a ground at Moss farm, which is adjacent to a housing estate. The council has had several meetings about this and will not let the public know what is going on. The council and Brio Leisure who run Moss Farm are holding consultation meetings, about what to do with the site wnen the swimming baths and gym and squash courts move to the new 11 million pound Lifestyle centre, to be located on the site of the Memorial Hall.. One of the main reasons for the move was accessability to the public, as it was felt Moss Farm was not on a bus route and it was difficult to access without a car. Again at these meetings Brio Leisure nor the council would discuss whether it was a possibility that one or other of the football clubs would re-locate there.If the council thinks the leisure centre is not accessable enough, then the same applies to the football clubs. If both Milan clubs can share a ground, why can't Vics and Witton? Any suggestion from the council that a new ground be built at Moss Farm would cause uproar with the local residents of Winnington, The Pippins and Firdale Park. They already have to put up with problems of parking at the primary school and medical centre, as well as numerous football and rugby tournaments and car boots sales. Enough is enough. In this economic climate the council cannot afford to spend any money from rate payers on either football club. If they are foolish enough to propose such a scheme the residents will be up in arms and it will be vigourously opposed. Any councillor stupid enough to back it would certainly run the risk of losing his/her seat when the next election comes up.

I agree with all you say but the ground share, we have a ground, they don't and they don't have any cash either so what will they be bringing to the party? As for the developers, they can have our ground only if the shareholders and our board agree.
WHS.

In response to WHS. Vics would bring a regular stream of income for their use of the pitch and facilities. Surely Witton cannot turn this income down. They may well be living within their means, but they can only just be surviving. The extra money could be used to improve the ground or improve the team. Its a win win situation for Witton. As far as I can see its only stupid outdated rivalry by a few hundred supporters of both clubs, that are stopping this happening. Everyone including both football clubs are suffering from the economic downturn. Its time for everyone involved to wake and get a grip on the situation. There's a very real chance that this town could end up with no football clubs in a few years time.As for the developer only getting the Witton club after a vote by the shareholders, that maybe so, but money talks and usually wins out in the end. If that was to happen and a new ground was built for Witton, then Vics have a stand and seating from the currents ground that could be used.There are plenty of brownfield sites in Northwich where a new ground could be erected and many of these would be on bus routes.