Sealand Road

The Stadium, Sealand Road
The Main Stand, 1981
General information
Town or city	Chester
Country	England
Completed	1906
Demolished	1992–93 (closed 1990)
Client	Chester City F.C.

Sealand Road was the home stadium of Chester City Football Club (until 1983 known as Chester Football Club) from 1906 until 1990. Although officially known simply as The Stadium, it was more commonly referred to as Sealand Road. It was much-loved by supporters of Chester, who followed their team there for 84 years, and after its closure spent an hour making the journey across Cheshire to watch their team play games at Macclesfield Town's Moss Rose ground for two years before the completion of the Deva Stadium in 1992.

Chester moved to Sealand Road from Whipcord Lane in 1906, thanks to the help of local MP Alfred Mond. The first game was on 15 December 1906, when Chester beat Bangor City 4–0 in The Combination. Over the years The Stadium continued to take shape, with improved cover stands helping Chester win election to the Football League in 1931. The stadium was one of the first to have a public address system, with the matchday announcer regularly saying "Hello Spion Kop, Hello Albert". From 1990–2000, Chester had a fanzine called Hello Albert. Albert was believed to be a long-standing supporter.

Floodlights were installed in 1960, with the towering 126 ft (38 m) lights being used for the first time in a 2–2 Football League Cup draw with Leyton Orient in October 1960. They were officially opened later in the season with a prestigious friendly against Manchester United.

In 1979, the look of Sealand Road was significantly changed when a new grandstand was opened, replacing the previous small stand. Towering over the rest of the ground, the 2,874 capacity stand provided improved viewing facilities but was criticised for reducing atmosphere levels as it was detached from the rest of The Stadium. The paddock area in front was not open to spectators. In the final years, the other three sides were taken up with the open Kop End (away) and covered Sealand End (home) and Popular Side (half for home fans, half for away fans).

Chester suffered a major blow in August 1989, when it was announced the club had been refused a safety certificate for its away standing areas. This reduced the capacity of The Stadium to below 6,000.