Football fan built £5,000 6-seater stand in his garden to watch local team

A football fan has spent £5,000 to build a six-seater stand in his back garden so he and his grandsons can watch their favourite football team.

Ian Nutter, 65, decided to build the terrace after he found three of his eight grandsons leaning over his wooden back garden fence trying to catch their local team, Barnoldswick Town, in action.

The grandad, from Barnoldswick, Lancashire, built the platform just metres from the pitch.

Ian, who owns an architectural metalwork company and has worked with the likes of Manchester United, then spent six weeks putting together the seating area.

Ian didn’t set out to build the box, but the idea kept growing from a wooden platform to involving structural engineers.

‘It was put together by my four apprentices, and I just oversaw everything,’ he said.

‘The stand has a steel structure which has been set into concrete – there is a little staircase into it. It has a wooden floor and wooden panelled sides similar to what you find on a shed.

‘The seats are originals from Burnley FC’s Cricket Field Stand at Turf Moor. Then the roof is made from aluminium and it has toughened glass at the front to stop wide shots from hitting you.’

Before building the seating area in November 2023, he asked Barnoldswick Town Chairman Nigel Hill for permission – and he agreed.

On a typical matchday, Ian says he’ll make himself a flask of tea or a couple of pork pies to drink and nibble on whilst watching the game.

‘This isn’t something I’ve just thrown together, it’s a proper structure,’ he added.

‘Even if it is chucking it down with rain you can watch the game in comfort. It’s a great thing to have.

‘If there is a football match going on at the bottom of my garden, even if it is rainy and windy, and my wife is inside watching The Great British Bake Off, you’ll know where I’d rather be.’

Ian says his grandsons love it, regularly coming over with their friends to watch the matches.

He has also told how he gets stick from away fans who see him, who chant ‘rich b****** sat in his stand’ – but Ian just waves back.

‘It doesn’t bother me, it’s just football at the end of the day,’ he laughed.

Ian’s company, Metalcraft Engineering, have experience building in football stadiums fit architectural metalwork within the stands like corporate bar areas.

They previously worked on Manchester United’s Old Trafford and Everton FC’s new football stadium, Hill Dickinson.

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