NORTHWICH Victoria's new Victoria Stadium is gradually beginning to take shape.

The purpose built facility, off Wincham Business Park, has undergone a wide variety of preparation work over the past few months but now it is starting to look like a football stadium.

Last week work began on steelwork erection at the ground and the foundations are already in place for the rebuilding of the Dane Bank Stand which was removed, piece by piece, from its former site at the Drill Field.

Parallel to the dismantling of the Dane Bank was the removal of tonnes and tonnes of concrete and rubble from the Drill Field which was crushed and transported to Victoria Stadium to be used as a sub base for the car park and other construction areas.

This has not only saved the club money but has ensured that even more of the old Drill Field will live on at Vics' new home.

At the site of the new ground, thousands of tonnes of material have been moved and the area transformed to such an extent that the full potential of the area can now be seen as can the specific sites allocated for the new Wilson Connolly Stand, training pitch and of course the main pitch itself.

With much of the preliminary work now completed, thoughts are turning to the playing surface and the club have announced that Holmes Chapel-based SF Hodgkinson and Son will be responsible for the construction of the pitch.

Hodgkinsons are recognised as one of Europe's leading growers of amenity and sports turf and have combined their knowledge with other major companies in Europe in order to be able to provide a total service for all sports pitch requirements.

Recent projects include Ajax's Amsterdam Arena, The Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Manchester United's Old Trafford, Twickenham and David Beckham's new home, The Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.

The appointment represents an interesting challenge for Ian Hodgkinson whose first sports pitch job, some 30 years ago, was at the Drill Field.

So he was delighted that Hodgkinsons were selected from the four companies who submitted tenders to provide their expertise in the development of the prestigious new Victoria Stadium.

With the site now taking shape the club are aware that many fans will want to see the progress for themselves but have asked for everyone to respect the fact that the Victoria Stadium is a working building site.

A spokesman for the club said: "Understandably there is a growing interest in progress but it must be understood that the site is a construction area and as such access is restricted to authorised personnel only.

"Please note that all visitors must report to the site office and additionally must not enter any work areas unaccompanied.

"Your co-operation in this matter will be much appreciated.

"The stadium construction site will be a hardhat area, suitable protective footwear must be worn and in certain circumstances ear and eye protection will be required.

"Children are not allowed on the site beyond the site office."

Work is expected to finish by March 2004 in time for an FA inspection in April with the first match taking place just weeks later.

The first competitive match to be played at the Victoria Stadium is likely to be Vics' first league match of the 2004/2005 season.