Stobart Stadium, Halton
Widnes Rugby League Football Club had a number of grounds before settling at Lowerhouse Lane in 1895. The death of the club's secretary, Tom Naughton in 1932, led to the ground being renamed Naughton Park as a gesture of the team's appreciation.
Naughton Park became one of the best known Rugby League grounds in the country due to the success of the 'Chemics'.
It was agreed that Halton Council in partnership with the Widnes would build a new stadium on the existing site. This stadium would provide a multi-purpose complex including a social club, conference facilities, recreational facilities and catering/function facilities and would be the new home venue for Widnes RLFC. The stadium was officially opened on 2 November 1997 following the completion of phase 1 of a multi-million pound redevelopment of the old Naughton Park site.
On 29 January 1999 Halton Borough Council took over responsibility for the entire stadium, both financially and managerially. This was necessary as the joint venture companies arrangements were not performing as expected.
The stadium reached completion with the opening of the East Stand in September 2005. The Stobart Stadium is an all-seater stadium which has a capacity of 13,500. It has also had the honour to have staged national finals and international fixtures.
This additional stand not only increased the capacity of the stadium, it also provided a table tennis centre of excellence to regional standard, a health and fitness facility, a créche and a state-of-the-art injury clinic.
The Halton Stadium was renamed to the 'Stobart Stadium Halton' at the Fans Forum on 6 December 2007. In February 2008 it was given a 'facelift' by Chairman Steve O'Connor during the season, in preparation for the Superleague Licenses. The North Stand seats were changed to spell out "VIKINGS", West Stand seats are sponsored by STOBART and East Stand seats are sponsored by Halton Borough Council as part of the stadium sponsorship deal. The South Stand seats were left out until a sponsorship arrangement could be arranged.
Read more about this topic: Widnes F.C.