Stadium Updates (All Clubs)

[Straightstory]

Interesting piece. I'm actually amazed that attendances here in the Premier Div are actually higher that the Scottish Championship. (It would also be great if we could break the 3,000 barrier for average attendances).

[EatYerGreens]

It would also be great if we could break the 3,000 barrier for average attendances.

That will presumably happen next season once UCD are replaced by Cork, Galway or Waterford.

We'd probably be above 3,000 already if the likes of Derry, Pats and Bohs didn't have stadia that were too small for certain games (are all games, in the case of Derry).

I'm not sure what O'Riordan's point is with that article tbh. If it's 'Club football is much less popular in Ireland than in England', then that's hardly breaking news. If it's that LOI crowds are low by any fair measure, then again - that's not news to anyone. It's also unfair to talk about clubs like Stockport County in non-league terms, as they're Football League clubs by every metric off the pitch (and in Stockport's case, now on it too). Same with Grimsby, Notts County, Halifax, Torquay, Yeovil, Southend etc.

[Kiki Balboa]

Neil O'Riordan is a Bohs fan, right? I think its pretty common of a feeling that when your team is doing bad, it bleds into the feeling that the League is doing bad.

Personally, I think it is absoultly pointless to compare our League to English football. It is the best league system in the world by a country mile, with well supported teams from the very top to the 5th tier. It is an unrealistic comparison really. Yeah, Irish football is not as well suported as English football, but even countries like Spain, Germany and France don't have their depth after the second and third tier. Germany only has 3 national tiers before it is split into regional leagues (56 teams), while England has 5 tiers (116 teams). Some of those German teams in their 3rd liga are very small (Victoria Berlin has the same size of crowd as Longford).

No other football league system stacks up to it. And, you get very little from comparing the two. If you want to be more realistic about where the league is, how normal/ abnormal are the issues are, and what is it potential, it best to compare it to other countries leagues outside of the exceptional English system.

[sbgawa]

O Riordan is bohs through and through.
If Rovers are winning the league it must be a crap league.
England has heading for 10-12 times the population of Ireland and Football is their National Sport.
Football comes a poor 3rd at best here behind GAA football , hurling and maybe Rugger.
Page fill required for the rag he writes for so bobs your uncle

[pineapple stu]

It's also unfair to talk about clubs like Stockport County in non-league terms, as they're Football League clubs by every metric off the pitch (and in Stockport's case, now on it too). Same with Grimsby, Notts County, Halifax, Torquay, Yeovil, Southend etc.
In fairnes,, you can't really take a third of the Conference and say they're not really non-league.

They really are. (Except Stockport obviously)

[EatYerGreens]

In fairnes,, you can't really take a third of the Conference and say they're not really non-league.

They really are. (Except Stockport obviously)

They're non-league on the pitch.

But off the pitch - in terms of stadia, attendances, history, revenues etc etc - they're essentially Football League clubs. Notts County's stadium - Meadow Lane - has a capacity of almost 20,000 and is not what anyone would sensibly describe as a non-league stadium. They'll be back in the Football League again in the next few years, with exactly everything off the pitch the same as it is now.

A bit like how UCD aren't really a Premier Division club off the pitch, and in a few months time won't be one on the pitch either :p

[pineapple stu]

They're non-league on the pitch.

But off the pitch - in terms of stadia, attendances, history, revenues etc etc - they're essentially Football League clubs. Notts County's stadium - Meadow Lane - has a capacity of almost 20,000 and is not what anyone would sensibly describe as a non-league stadium.
I think what you're ignoring though is that non-League in England is improving, and what was league standard maybe a dozen years ago is now creeping down to non-league.

So yes, these clubs - and you can add York, Oldham and Scunthorpe next season - are non-league. That is what non-League in England is like these days. And it kind of shows up how little work has been done on grounds here when you see places like York's ground and realise that not just is it a non-league ground, but they've spent the last couple of years in the Conference North.

[DCWA]

They're non-league on the pitch.

But off the pitch - in terms of stadia, attendances, history, revenues etc etc - they're essentially Football League clubs. Notts County's stadium - Meadow Lane - has a capacity of almost 20,000 and is not what anyone would sensibly describe as a non-league stadium. They'll be back in the Football League again in the next few years, with exactly everything off the pitch the same as it is now.

A bit like how UCD aren't really a Premier Division club off the pitch, and in a few months time won't be one on the pitch either :p

Relevant to this I notice today that Higgins has turned down an approach from Notts County in relation to their currently available manager role.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/derry-city-manager-ruaidhri-higgins-turns-down-talks-with-notts-county-41709127.html

[EatYerGreens]

Relevant to this I notice today that Higgins has turned down an approach from Notts County in relation to their currently available manager role.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/derry-city-manager-ruaidhri-higgins-turns-down-talks-with-notts-county-41709127.html

He's only interested in moving to non-league clubs :p

[D24Saint]

Relevant to this I notice today that Higgins has turned down an approach from Notts County in relation to their currently available manager role.

https://m.independent.ie/sport/soccer/league-of-ireland/derry-city-manager-ruaidhri-higgins-turns-down-talks-with-notts-county-41709127.html

I was at an away game in 19 at meadow lane. It’s unreal ground for a non league club. The club clearly has a lot of potential but if I was Higgins I wouldn’t get involved. An experienced manager at that level is the man for Notts County. The national league is an dog fight and a nightmare to get out of.

[sbgawa]

I was at an away game in 19 at meadow lane. It’s unreal ground for a non league club. The club clearly has a lot of potential but if I was Higgins I wouldn’t get involved. An experienced manager at that level is the man for Notts County. The national league is an dog fight and a nightmare to get out of.

While i would acknowledge Stus point that National league clubs are by definition non league no matter how good their facilities are.................. Notts county are the embodiment of a NON non league club. They were in the Premier league the year Leeds won it so they aren't exactly Accrington Stanley.

[pineapple stu]

I think you can take one club as an outlier and say they don't really belong at a certain level.

But not a third of the league. The Conference puts the LoI to shame, by and large.

(1992 is a long way ago btw, sbgawa! You wouldn't find much to compare to now)

[sbgawa]

I think you can take one club as an outlier and say they don't really belong at a certain level.

But not a third of the league. The Conference puts the LoI to shame, by and large.

(1992 is a long way ago btw, sbgawa! You wouldn't find much to compare to now)

Doesn't seem that long ago to me Stu. It's OK for you young student types :)

[EatYerGreens]

The Conference puts the LoI to shame, by and large.

Except it doesn't, as the the two aren't comparable really.

Yoiu may as well claim that Elon Musk puts everyone's Dad to shame.

[John83]

Except it doesn't, as the the two aren't comparable really.

Yoiu may as well claim that Elon Musk puts everyone's Dad to shame.
Richer, more talented, and owns nicer digs? I'm not seeing the problem with this comparison. If we only compare the LoI to leagues with less money and poorer infrastructure, then the league probably does okay in that comparison. Only okay, mind you.

[Shinkicker]

To get bigger crowds we need bigger capacity stadiums with better facilities. This would mean updating the big four in Dublin with Cork, Derry and possibly Dundalk thrown in. All to capacity of 8k-10k Everyone else will always be provincial and will never attract more than 3k-4k even if they were to go on a successful run or have domestic success for a sustained period. Our standard of football is at a very good level, throw in the atmosphere of a full stadium it will attract the crowds. Its wrong to compare LOI to the national league as there are fallen giants there with large capacity venues who are there due to overpaying players who didn't bring success and then crowds dwindled, income was smaller and they couldn't afford to pay bad players. Hence they are in the NL and struggling to get out of it.

[pineapple stu]

Doesn't seem that long ago to me Stu. It's OK for you young student types :)
Ah it's ok - I remember it too (and Luton and Oldham and Swindon and nice bouncy plastic pitches!)


Except it doesn't, as the the two aren't comparable really.
Your Musk comparison makes no sense.

The two leagues have roughly similar crowds and roughly comparable attendances. The leagues should be comparable. The article, though, shows the financial differences. Facilties-wise too, the Conference streets ahead. The LoI Prem doesn't have a single four-sided ground for example. It does have Dalymount (half of which is condemned), Tolka (a different stand is shut each time you visit), Oriel (a club that was close to CL qualification in a ground that can barely host a European game), Finn Park (state of the art in around 1890), United Park (there's probably diseases as yet unknown to science to be discovered there), the Bowl (one passable stand, but that's it - and even then capacity-wise, that stand really belongs behind a goal, not alongside the touchline)

A comparison between the two is good to see where we lag behind and what we need to do as a league to improve. And getting away from that uncomfortable comparison by saying "Ah it's not fair to compare us with the Conference" is silly. I doubt the comparison with Salford/Harrogate/Forest Green - you know, the real non-league clubs - is much better

[Nesta99]

Ah it's ok - I remember it too (and Luton and Oldham and Swindon and nice bouncy plastic pitches!)


If only, though is suspect you were commenting tongue in cheek. More like concrete slabs covered in sandpaper and sprayed green, I probably still have the scars with skin grafts needed after every game. Maybe why i'm soft on todays artificial pitches as by comparison they are great!

So thats 2 LoI managers turning big moves to the UK, its like theres a new trend happening. At least Notts County are sleeping giant type club with bags of potential but still a poison chalice.

[sbgawa]

With Nottingham Forest being promoted to the Premier League they are back where they were in 1992 the same year Notts County were in the Prem.
The grounds are as the crow flies probably 500 yards apart but even when they were in the same division Forest were always the bigger team.
Must be galling if you are a county fan though seeing Forest back in the Premier league while you are looking forward to trips to Ballyfaraway.

[wonder88]

The RSC is a good facility, so 'build it and they will come' does not always hold for Irish soccer/sport. Having said that I still think some of the Dublin clubs plus Derry need to be a bit more ambitious re capacity.

[Glen Of Aherlow]

The RSC is a good facility, so 'build it and they will come' does not always hold for Irish soccer/sport. Having said that I still think some of the Dublin clubs plus Derry need to be a bit more ambitious re capacity.

Yeah but the RSC is an Athletics stadium with two sides and a running track round it , so while it's definitely better than a lot in the League of Ireland it's still not a proper football stadium with a good atmosphere

[nigel-harps1954]

While RSC is a great facility, it's a brutal football stadium.

[nr637]

While RSC is a great facility, it's a brutal football stadium.

I could think of a lot of LOI grounds that fall into that category!

Oriel Park & United Park to start with, not much has changed with them over the last 25 years, other than an odd lick of paint!

[Nesta99]

With Nottingham Forest being promoted to the Premier League they are back where they were in 1992 the same year Notts County were in the Prem.
The grounds are as the crow flies probably 500 yards apart but even when they were in the same division Forest were always the bigger team.
Must be galling if you are a county fan though seeing Forest back in the Premier league while you are looking forward to trips to Ballyfaraway.

A couple of European Cups probably stung the odd County fan too!

There has actually been a lot more done to Oriel Park than a few licks of paint, albeit that was needed too for a while. Its not a defense of the place but that trying to maintain an aging facility to any half decent standard is a sinkhole for money and at some point it makes damn all sense to do much more than just enough until a redevelopment is done, either in entirety or phased with sections of a ground done as part of an overall plan. Even the quick fix of covering an area and what that might entail with planning/fire officer et al and the can of worms that it could open maybe costs more than ye'd be ok with in the short and possibly medium term. Over the 25yrs (more like 12 or 13 yrs tbh) period mentioned there has been €3mil ? worth of work done on Oriel Park at a quick guesstimate. Sure a single bulb that suited the old floodlights were costing a fortune - I think it was €15k or so to replace just the blown bulbs on one pylon head alone circa 2013....and we hadnt got near puddles never mind an away section. A lot of small and not so small stuff has added up and not being part of some sort of facilities development plan, will mostly be dug up if or when redevelopment does happen.

[Mr A]

I could think of a lot of LOI grounds that fall into that category!

Oriel Park & United Park to start with, not much has changed with them over the last 25 years, other than an odd lick of paint!

United Park is the opposite IMO, a terrible facility but a great football stadium.

[wonder88]

No obstacle blocking your view at the RSC which is a big plus, and a good grass pitch. It has a Euro/Continental feel to the place which I like. I been lucky with the weather when I was there, so a windy/rainy night in winter may change my opinion, but for now I like the place.

[trevy]

I'd much rather the RSC even with the athletics track than most of the grounds in the league. Some of them haven't changed in decades and a few have got worse with age!

[Kiki Balboa]

United Park is the opposite IMO, a terrible facility but a great football stadium.

United Park is by far one of my favourtie stadiums to visit, as both a home and away fan. Always a cracking atmosphere, the roof is pretty low, and the pitch is very tight to the stands. Great location in the center(ish) of the Town too. The hospital overlooks it, so when visiting the Grandfather, you have something to look at. For the home fans, Oriel Park is not bad either. The Shed and the Main stand are really not bad places to watch football. Good sightlines, the Shed is right on the pitch, and also hold a pretty good atmosphere.

Problem with both is that they are so so aesthetically unpleasing. Both are probably the ugliest grounds in any top-division in Europe. Droghedas main stand looks horrific and is the major problem with the ground (while the big poles are annoying too). Again though, I think they both lasted so long , because at least for me, they arent bad places to watch a game of Football (if you are home Dundalk fan). You rarely hear too much Dundalk fans complain about Oriel, because the experience of going to the Shed or Main stand just isnt that bad (the two sections both sides of the main stands are terrible though).

Another unpopular opinion I have, I think stadiums with Racing tracks are some of the nicest I have ever been too. Adore the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and Dukla Pragues stadium. And While I am on the subject of personal perference, Tallaght stadium is really fantastic, but I would still prefer (only as a fan) to have unique stadiums and not just copy the design. The Aviva, Wembely and the Emerites in London all just feel too similar to me, have no character and are ugly and too corporate feeling.

[sidewayspasser]

Another unpopular opinion I have, I think stadiums with Racing tracks are some of the nicest I have ever been too. Adore the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and Dukla Pragues stadium.
Stadiums with running tracks can be nice, no question about that. But the obvious disadvantage is that you're further away from the pitch, so it is harder to create a proper atmosphere. Take the Olympic Stadium in Berlin that you mentioned: For years, Hertha Berlin has been working on plans to build a proper football stadium next to the Olympic Stadium because they feel a proper football stadium would create a better atmosphere. They can't convert the Olympic Stadium into a football stadium as it is a protected structure and it's also regularly used for international athletics events.

[Kiki Balboa]

Stadiums with running tracks can be nice, no question about that. But the obvious disadvantage is that you're further away from the pitch, so it is harder to create a proper atmosphere. Take the Olympic Stadium in Berlin that you mentioned: For years, Hertha Berlin has been working on plans to build a proper football stadium next to the Olympic Stadium because they feel a proper football stadium would create a better atmosphere. They can't convert the Olympic Stadium into a football stadium as it is a protected structure and it's also regularly used for international athletics events.

Thats not true. The atmosphere inside the stadium for Hertha is not the issue at all, and the stadium has a good reputation for atmosphere in Germany.

It is rents that are the issue, Hertha is the anchor tenent for decades, but pays multiple millions a year for the Olympic Stadium. The problem is they rarely fill it. There last okish season was 18/19 and they had an average attendence of 49,000 (higher than Chelsea and Liverpool that year), but that still means there was on average 26,000 unsold tickets. So they pay top dollar for a stadium they cannot get full use of, hence, they are looking to own their own 'football' specific stadium.... (But it might all be a ploy for rental deal to be lowered for the club).

[Nesta99]

For me it doesnt matter how nice or modern a ground is as I really dislike sitting at games, the older and more rustic the better as they tend to have good old fashioned standing terraces. Id love to see a game at Dortmund, its still token stuff in England but hopefully standing sections will be made bigger. By the time we get all seater LoI grounds we will have come full circle and end up pulling out sections of seats in compliance with UEFA!

[EatYerGreens]

The two leagues have roughly similar crowds and roughly comparable attendances. The leagues should be comparable.

Saying that the appropriate metric for comparing leagues is attendances is putting the cart before the horse. Attendances are an outcome. What is surely more relevant is the various inputs that influence attendances in the first place e.g. population of country, size of catchment area for clubs, prevalence of other sports, relative wealth of nations etc etc. There will no doubt be a tier in Germany that has the same attendances as the LOI, for example, but that wouldn't make the two a meaningful comparison. On a similar note, the Irish League has much smaller attendances than the LOI, so by your yard stick they're not a valid comparison with the LOI. When in reality they are for lots of obvious reasons (proximity and cultural similarities being the main ones).

The places to meaningfully compare Irish football to are similar-sized nations of similar wealth, ideally where football has other sports competing against them (though not essential). Comparing us to what goes on in one of the biggest countries in Europe where football is by-far the number one game is pointless if we're being totally honest - no matter the tier involved.

[pineapple stu]

Nonsense. Comparing us to similar-sized clubs in England should force us to realise just how far behind we are in many regards, in particular in facilities, but also off-pitch income, salaries, etc.

This idea of "Ah yeah, but they're not really non-league sides" even though they are just tries to avoid an uncomfortable comparison.

Yet you'll still have some posters who reckon that LoI is around L1 level, despite all evidence to the contrary.

You can still enjoy them LoI in spite of all that. But we need to be aware of where we fall behind similar leagues so we know where we need to improve

[EatYerGreens]

Nonsense. Comparing us to similar-sized clubs in England should force us to realise just how far behind we are in many regards, in particular in facilities, but also off-pitch income, salaries, etc.

Except as you yourself have admitted, the Conference is not similar-sized clubs to the LOI. It's about half made up of former league clubs with excellent attendances for that level, and the other half primarily comprises of clubs who actually get smaller attendances than most of our Premier Division clubs do - as you can see here : Vanarama National League | Average Attendances | Home Matches | Football Web Pages (https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/national-league/attendances) . The least-supported team in the Conference Prem, for example (Dover) probably has crowds a bit smaller than even UCD get. Whereas the best supported (Wrexham) averaged over 8,500 a game. It's patently not a comparable league to our's in terms of attendances. And even less so for other key variables/inputs such as population, presence of other sports etc.


This idea of "Ah yeah, but they're not really non-league sides" even though they are just tries to avoid an uncomfortable comparison.

That point is made in relation to their size. So you're basically contradicting your own point here that comparing LOI and conference is comparing clubs with similar attendances (and thereby somehow like-for-like). Patently it is not. There is more than one variable involved in football.


You can still enjoy them LoI in spite of all that. But we need to be aware of where we fall behind similar leagues so we know where we need to improve

You seem obsessed with the idea that all that is needed to make leagues similar for comparitive purposes is attendances. When that has no actual reflection upon standard of play, which is what 99.9% of people are talking about when they look to compare leagues.

[pineapple stu]

Except as you yourself have admitted, the Conference is not similar-sized clubs to the LOI.
Actually it's the league that closest compares to the LoI in terms of attendances. Both leagues have big teams and small teams. Average crowd in National League is around 1200 for example, and South is lower again (around 1000), so that's smaller than the LoI (2000+).


You seem obsessed with the idea that all that is needed to make leagues similar for comparitive purposes is attendances.
Not sure how you draw that conclusion given my original contribution to this thread was simply to disagree with your analysis of Neil O'Riordan's article, when you said that the comparison was unhelpful because seven Conference clubs you named weren't really non-league. They are - in every respect. So again, I'll argue the comparison is quite an interesting one to see how far we lag behind a similar sized and (which you're ignoring) standard league in other areas such as, in particular, facilities.

[EatYerGreens]

Actually it's the league that closest compares to the LoI in terms of attendances. Both leagues have big teams and small teams. Average crowd in National League is around 1200 for example, and South is lower again (around 1000), so that's smaller than the LoI (2000+).

As that link I provided in my last post shows, the average attendance in the National league/Conference Prem in 2021-22 was actually c.3,000. Which is aboiut 50% higher than the LOI, and therefore undermines your notion of them being comparable leagues purely on the basis of crowds.

But again - what is your obsession with attendances being the only metric that makes leagues arguably comparable ? The majority of countries in Europe will have a tier with attendances that would be roughly comparable to the LOIs. But that doesn't therefore magically make those tiers comparable in terms of playing standard, facilities, population etc. It's baffling how you seem unable to accept this. Attendances are not the only metric to compare football leagues with. Especially as they don't reflect playing standard, which is what 99+% of people are actually talking about when they look to compare leagues.

[pineapple stu]

I said it's the league closest to the LoI in terms of attendances, which it is (marginally) - the LoI average is about double the National League North/South for example.

But again, I'm not obsessed with crowds or saying that it's the only thing comparable. It's the English league closest to the LoI in terms of standard too. I've linked this chart (https://twitter.com/AndyForrester1/status/1445750730086703121) before to back that up, and the only competitive game between the two leagues (not a huge sample, granted) ended in a draw.

So an article contrasting the two leagues and showing where we have room for improvement is quite reasonable, in my view.

[Neish]

Was walking past the site of new Harps stadium this morning, there was a digger and truck working there

[Martinho II]

Was walking past the site of new Harps stadium this morning, there was a digger and truck working there

Great news would love to see this happen harps new ground!

[Nesta99]

Was walking past the site of new Harps stadium this morning, there was a digger and truck working there

Project must be a bit behind schedule to be working on a bank holiday!

[nr637]

Was walking past the site of new Harps stadium this morning, there was a digger and truck working there

Lets hope they weren't taking materials away for another job?

[joey B]

Lets hope they weren't taking materials away for another job?

Yeah probably for the new stadium in Letterkenny!

[Shinkicker]

Probably just a farmer taking soil to level or raise a field to stop the cattle getting foot rot. One digger and one lorry I wouldn't be getting to excited!!

[Nesta99]

Lets hope they weren't taking materials away for another job?

Half joking full in earnest or just full in earnest? - trust in the developer or whomever has access to the site mustnt be great! If farmers can waltz in to the building site and remove filling for their own use as they please, well im not sure if this is a serious comment either but if it is then what the hell is going on. The revised plan is for a 2024 opening, with half of 2022 gone it will be some going to finally get thing done in 18 months unless opening doesnt mean finished. I know I have rattled on about this, I think mainly because there is or was the tendency to point the finger at the Dept of Sport not allocating more and more funding, maybe though they have done their job by protecting funding when the project wasnt progressing as stated. Politicians were got involved, guarantees given then backed out of, but the oinion was that that this is due to some bias and neglect of the North West, when the problem may be in Donegal and not Dublin. In the vacuum of meaningful and credible information suspicion will thrive. Its not as if there isnt precedence with Tallaght Stadium and the headache that was until SDCC showed some foresight.

[nr637]

I see they’ve started work on the 4th stand in Tallaght,can we just let SDCC look after all the grounds in the country!!

Is the new 4th north stand going to be similar to the south stand opposite?

[Buller]

Is the new 4th north stand going to be similar to the south stand opposite?

It'll be a few rows taller with a slightly different design with offices and shop units beneath.

[passinginterest]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-31004924.html

There’s a couple of artist impressions in article above. Looks a bit steeper and looks like it will run into the back wall so it’s accessible similar to the way the West stand is.

I was only moaning about the lack of bike stands the other day so glad to see they’re going to be included in the development too.

[Nesta99]

SDCC were first out of the blocks to see the potential of such a facility, its actually sad that it is a unique vision. Other local authorities are unlikely to be able to position themselves, even with similar facilities, to get the same return beyond the anchor tenant with RoI underage sides, Womens senior team and some other sports established there, never mind music festivals. Its also been done on a phased basis, as needed, so no massive outlay in one lump. Regionally based councils and in Dublin too will struggle to oust SDCC as the go to facility and get some payback for their outlay. Maybe regional facilities if up to scratch could get some rotation of international games but tbh, no team that is settled in Tallaght, like the womans senior side, would want to move out of a ground that they have built up a familiarity and success in for competitive games. For all the years of difficulty it is a super example of what can be done when there is the will even if it was landed in the lap of SDCC as a derelict site that needed sorting, showing some positive thinking rather than demolishing or being bullied by other organisations that coveted the site. It is a bit mad that this one final stand will cost almost as much as the whole Stranrolar build so it must have some whistles and bells included and that would make sense if needed for Cat 4 designation. The breakdown on what has been allocated by SPGs and is SDCC funded would be interesting to know and maybe indicates that projects of this size should be funneled through local authorities or some other govt agency than clubs going it totally alone - as much as a layer of protection to prevent chunks of money being spent and nothing to show. I know quangos have a chequered history in Ireland but maybe an off-shoot of Sport Ireland dedicated to delivering sporting capital infrastructure nationwide is the way to go, in cooperation with clubs, as it could be cheaper in the long run and actually deliver an end product.

[kksaints]

https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/soccer/arid-31004924.html

There’s a couple of artist impressions in article above. Looks a bit steeper and looks like it will run into the back wall so it’s accessible similar to the way the West stand is.

I was only moaning about the lack of bike stands the other day so glad to see they’re going to be included in the development too.

Judging by those imager There will still be room to increase the capacity of Tallaght once the new stand is built by filling in the corners between the stands in the somewhat unlikely case that a capacity of 10,000 proves inadequate.

[Nesta99]

Even if they didnt add seats it'd be good to have the ground closed in at the corners but thats nit picking.