Last Update:
July 26, 2024
This tidy-looking ground was opened in 1992 and made history as it was the first stadium to be built in line with the requirements outlined in the Taylor Report.
All four sides are covered and are roughly the same height, making the stadium look symmetrical. Each stand has perspex windshields to each side, whilst the corners of the ground are open. The stadium is a small, fairly simple affair with three sides being seated and the home end being a terrace.
The Main (East) Stand is slightly taller than the facing West Stand, having a few more rows of seating and some enclosed glassed viewing areas at the back of it. The home end is the only terraced area at the stadium and is called the Harry McNally Terrace after a former manager.
The stadium is completed with a set of four thin modern floodlight pylons. One interesting fact about the ground is that most of it (apart from the club offices and front car park) is in actually situated in Wales.
Away fans are normally housed in part of the West Stand on one side of the pitch. The facilities and view of the playing action are okay while the food on offer inside the ground includes pies, burgers and hot dogs.
Pubs near the Deva Stadium:
- Red Lion – A Mountford Ltd, 59 Northgate St, Chester CH1 2HQ
- Ye Olde Boot Inn – 9 Eastgate St, North, Chester CH1 1LQ
- The Golden Eagle – 18 Castle St, Chester CH1 2DS
The ground is located out of town on an industrial estate. Stay on the M56 until its end and then continue along the A494 towards Queensferry and North Wales. Take the A548 turn off towards Chester & Flint and at the roundabout take the first exit towards Chester (A548).
At the next roundabout again go left continuing along the A548 towards Chester. Head straight through the first set of traffic lights and after passing a Vauxhall and then a Renault garage on your left, turn right at the next lights (there is a Volvo & Jaguar delaership on the corner) into Sovereign Way.
Continue to the end of Sovereign Way and then turn right into Bumpers Lane and the entrance to the Club car park is just down on the right. If your team is bringing a large following then allow some more time for your journey as the roads around the stadium can quickly become jammed.
There is plenty of car parking available at the ground, however, if you use the club car park, it can be quite difficult to get away easily after the match.
Chester Railway Station is over two miles from the ground, so it is probably best to jump in a taxi.
Leave the station by the main exit opposite the Town Crier, and turn right into Station Road. Head between the Egerton Arms and the Railway Inn, and at the end of the street enter the underpass. In the underpass look for the first exit and then steps signed for Frodsham Street. Head towards the Oddfellows Arms but just before the bridge turn right into Gorse Stacks. When reaching the crossroads by the Bull & Stirrup go straight over into Canal Street and on under the dual carriageway ring road.
At the next junction turn left, past Telford’s Warehouse on the right hand side, and over the canal. The road then divides. Take the right hand option, South View Road. At the T-junction at the end of South View Road turn right. You are now in Sealand Road. Carry along Sealand Road for half a mile or so until you see Bumpers Lane on your left. Around half a mile down Bumpers Lane you’ll reach the stadium.
Remember if travelling by train then you can normally save on the cost of fares by booking in advance.
Visit the the trainline website to see how much you can save on the price of train tickets.
Click on the trainline logo below:
Chester FC ticket prices:
- Adults: £15
- Concessions: £10
- 16-21s: £5
- Under 16s: £2
Official Programme £2.50.
Wrexham and Tranmere Rovers.
For details of disabled facilities and club contact at the ground please visit the relevant page on the Level Playing Field website.
Record Attendance
For Chester FC:
5,009 v Northwich Victoria
Northern Premier League, 9th April 2002
For the stadium:
5,987 Chester City v Scarborough
Conference League, 17th April 2004
Average Attendances
2023-2024: 2,199 (National League North)
2022-2023: 2,287 (National League North)
2021-2022: 1,691 (National League North)
2020-2021: N/A (Covid)
2019-2020: 1,409 (National League North)
2018-2019: 1,839Â (National League North)
2017-2018: 1,827 (National League)
2016-2017: 2,031 (National League)
If you require hotel accommodation in Chester then first try a hotel booking service provided by Booking.com. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Just input the relevant dates and click on “Search” below or on the hotel of interest on the map to get more information. The map is centered on the football ground. However, you can drag the map around or click on +/- to reveal more hotels in the city centre or further afield.
Chester is a very historic town and has some great looking black and white timbered buildings in it’s centre. It is well worth getting there a bit earlier and having a wander around the centre, having a couple of drinks and some lunch before the game.
Official Web Site: www.chesterfc.com
If anything is incorrect or you have something to add, please e-mail me [email protected] and I’ll update the guide.
Ground Layout
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
Chester City v Tranmere Rovers
National League
Saturday 7th April 2018, 3pm
Ben Castle (Tranmere Rovers)
Chester v Gateshead
National League
Saturday 20th January 2018, 3pm
Callum Pattison (Gateshead fan)
Chester v Torquay United
National Conference League
Saturday 19th December 2015, 3pm
Maxwell Meadows (Ground hopper)
Why were you looking forward to visiting the Deva Stadium?
Having visited the old Sealand Road ground many years ago, a visit to the 'new' ground was long overdue.
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
It was very easy to find the Deva Stadium. We came in from the west (A548). The ground is located just at the back of a business park. The lights are just visible from the main road. We went to the Sealand Road Park and Ride car park. It is about 15 minutes walk from the ground on clear, open and well-lit footpaths. Prior to the game, for £2 per adult, we took the bus into the city centre to look around. The ride was about 15 minutes each way.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
We went into Chester city centre to have a look around. It was well worth it despite the Christmas shoppers as a big part of it is pedestrianized. Chester is noted for a couple of real pubs but in view of the later long drive home decided to skip this. I will definitely visit the city again.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the Deva Stadium?
The Deva Stadium is of a uniform structure and fairly basic in its layout. The term I have coined for this type of ground is 'breezeblock'. However, credit to the home fans as they had festooned the place with various flags indicating their support. We were behind an Irish Tricolour that had the club crest in the centre panel. We went in the home end which was terraced. A welcome change from the ubiquitous seating in most League grounds. The view was excellent. It was a filthy wet day but the cover did its job. The away fans were seated at the end of stand opposite the Main Stand. To their credit, despite being drubbed in the game, they kept up a good degree of support and seemed to enjoy themselves.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
Chester started the game with a bang. They were 1-0 up after a couple of minutes when their forward ran onto a through-ball, out paced the central defenders and curled it passed the keeper. A couple of minutes later the same move saw Chester hit the post. The Gulls rallied but my impression was they struggled upfront. Shortly before half-time they were hit by two further goals. A great one-two on the edge of the area after excellent approach work saw a wonderful curled shot inside the far post. Subsequently a free kick, again on the edge of the area, was rifled into the top corner. My feeling is that the Gulls young keeper had little chance with any of these goals due to the skill with which they were dispatched. In the second half Gulls came back into it with a lucky goal that seemed more a cross than a shot. It's scorer stood in mock shock after it went in. Chester fought back a regained their 3 goal cushion before fluffing a chance to make it five. Gulls keeper made a fine save from a late penalty. Given the comfortable win the atmosphere amongst the home fans was buoyant. The team showed what they could do. They also clearly shared their elation with the fans by coming to stand behind the goal in mutual applause at the end of the game. Refreshments were provided by kiosks under the end of the stands. My potato, cheese & onion pie was good and hot being served by friendly staff. Stewarding at the ground appeared to me to be relaxed and effective.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
The club car park appeared full for this game. My suspicion is that it would have taken sometime to clear the area. Some people had parked in adjacent roads in the business park. As we were at the park and ride it was just a case of walking back to the vehicle and then making a quick get-a-way. Although we were due to travel south-east we initially drove west before going around Chester on an outer main road. The centre of the city appeared congested so was best avoided.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
Despite the foul weather, and an appalling stench that enveloped us mid-way through the second half, it was a good visit. Although the ground is not particularly interesting the fans attempts to personalise it were effective. The game was excellent and the city of Chester also worth a visit too.
Overall my evaluation of the day was 8 out of 10.
Chester City v FC Halifax Town
National League
Saturday 5th October 2015, 3pm
Michael Cromack (FC Halifax Town)
Chester v Bristol Rovers
Conference Premier
Saturday, November 22nd 2014, 3pm
William Powell (Bristol Rovers fan)
I was looking forward to visiting the stadium because it was one that I had never visited. We were driving to this match, leaving Bristol at around 10:30am. The journey to Chester went smoothly and we did not get stuck in any traffic on the way up making the drive quite pleasant. It took around three hours, arriving at the stadium at 1.30pm. We parked up in the industrial estate near to the ground, only around five minutes walk from the turnstiles.
On arriving at the turnstiles, we discovered that they didn't open until 2pm, So we stood around and waited. By two o'clock there was a bit of a queue at the turnstiles but, credit to the staff, as soon as it opened, the queue moved quickly.
My first impressions of the ground were that it was very neat and tidy.As we had got in early we were able to fully appreciate it, as it filled up. In my opinion the ground is a perfect fit for Chester, the crowd of almost three thousand appeared to leave little empty room. The atmosphere was excellent with around 500 away fans contributing greatly. Chesters home fans are a very passionate group and a credit to their football club, creating noise throughout an entertaining game which finished 2-2. Rovers took the lead early in the second half and doubled it shortly afterwards but Chester clawed their way back into the game and were level ten minutes later. The game was very open and a great advert for the league.
Getting away from the ground after the match had finished, was fairly quick, taking around ten minutes to get back onto the main road. All of the fans walked along the road through the industrial estate and lots of them had parked there so there was a slight queue. Chester has been one of my favourite days out in the conference, the ground is easily of football league standard and the fans were excellent. Unfortunately, after being 2-0 up, the final result felt like a defeat!