Apart from Thomond and the RDS, are there any other suitable neutral stadiums that could be used?
I would agree with you that it is better to have the final in a sold out venue but it wont matter as all finals from 2010 will be held in the new lansdowne (Aviva) as it is part of the sales pitch for the presumably totally under sold FAI Vantage Club seats.
Click here and go into drop down for any of the packages and clear as day is FAI Ford Cup final.
BTW Capacity is 50,000 not 60,000 iirc.
Apart from Thomond and the RDS, are there any other suitable neutral stadiums that could be used?
When is the first match at the new Lansdowne likely to be?
Depends, if it's only the second or third game there, you could still have a few thousand people who turn up just to have a gander at the stadium. It would b great for the two clubs involved anyway.
i'm sure the first final will be fine, as you say curiosity and all should bring in an extra few thousand (not 20 or 30 thousand extra though).
on-going though lansdowns/aviva is far too big for the cup final and the crowd will be lost in it. we will have an annual farce where only one stand is opened and that will prob only be sparsely populated.
I'd say if two well-supported clubs like Cork and Shams made the final they'd bring 25000+ between them, and maybe 7 or 8000 curious people would show up, although that's a complete guess.
That's probably a best-case scenario, and the stadium is still only half-full. If we get a Bray-Longford final there'd probably be under 10000 there.
Now I think about it harder it doesn't seem to make as much sense.
Still, it's a case of "damned if you do, damned if you don't", because it would probably be as damaging to have a final in a half-full stadium as it would to distance the image of the LOI from the fantastic facility at Lansdowne Road. The last thing we need is a further separation in the view of the public between the LOI and, for want of a better phrase "top class" football.
So will there be a temporary stand for the upcoming friendly matches?
You've got no fans.
The SFAI are the governing body for grassroots football in Ireland, not the FAI. Its success or the lack of is all down to them.
Any more news about the 2nd stand at Tallaght? Will it be up for the friendly games?
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