Worst ground for visitors

[Pablo]

united Park in Drogheda. Its a crumbling heap. Wouldnt be passed safe in any other country.

[Kildare Lad]

I dont know what the ground was called, but one that Limerick played in in 2005, terrible. No seats or nothing and you had to walk through estates to get there.

[fbtn]

It's funny that in a poll about favourite away trips, Harps and Drogheda were up there near the top. They are also there for worst grounds.

What's the craic there? Is it our pubs closing hours :D

[WeAreRovers]

It's funny that in a poll about favourite away trips, Harps and Drogheda were up there near the top. They are also there for worst grounds.

What's the craic there? Is it our pubs closing hours :D

The pubs close in Ballybofey? That's news to me. :eek:

Back on topic, Oriel by a mile.

KOH

[SunderlandBohs]

Utd Park has been fallen apart for years any Drogs fan would tell you that. The stewards don't seem to be able to control big away support. Flancare Park. Nice ground but no is soulless.

[CharlesThompson]

I haven't been to all of the grounds yet. I have been to:
Dalymount (obviously)
Richmond
Tolka
Whitehall
Turners Cross
RSC
Kilkenny's ground
Mel's and the new Athlone Stadium
Ballybofey
United Park (or h2o Park)
Carlisle Grounds
Flancare
Showgrounds
Century Homes
Kildare County
Belfield

... and they all have their faults. Out of those my worst experiences of watching a game of football (not result orientated) would be in no particular order

United Park (which is a kip) notwithstanding it does help to generate a good atmosphere
RSC for reasons already stated
Ballybofey

I no longer go to the Camac side of the ground at Richmond due to my height and this is as much the problem I have with United Park, not helped by all of the obstructions in my way when trying to watch a match there.

Two not in use anymore;
Mel's Park (nuff said)
Whitehall

It is good to hear of new grounds in planning at the moment. Drogheda, Finn Harps, Athlone's new stadium, Kilkenny have done a good job there, Dalymount notwithstanding legal issues at the moment, Corks upgraded Turners Cross, Wexford would seem to have a decent setup under the circumstances, whenever Tallaght gets sorted out, Richmond Parks improvements. So things are looking up with plans at varying degrees of readiness to improve the matchday experience, this is probably a better angle to consider and add some balance to your article rather than only focusing on the poor facilities already on offer throughout the land.

[neutrino]

Im preparing an article and im just wondering what everyone's worst 3 stadium are for the visiting supporter. this could range from poor stewarding, to worst facilities, to most risk of trouble before/after game, ie most hostile atmosphere.

northern lads feel free to submit your views, but fot this artcile im really only interested in eL grounds

just wondering why your article cant be on the 3 best stadiums as opposed to 3 worst. everyone knows EL grounds arent the best so not sure why an article to point this out is needed. In fairness some/most clubs trying to improve their grounds, just takes time and more funding.

[L37Ultra]

Lack of atmosphere:
1 Belifleid
2. Wexford Youth Complex
3. RSC (well casue of the running track)

Kip.
1. Coleman Park
2. Jackman Park :D

[CharlesThompson]

Lack of atmosphere:
1 Belifleid

Is that not in Germany?

[Graemerz]

If youse ever travel up north you should see Limavady Showgrounds, and Donegal Celtic Park. Absolute shambles of stadia.

[KevB76]

One of my favourite things about Hogan Park was that it was so uninviting for the away fans :D

[OneRedArmy]

One of my favourite things about Hogan Park was that it was so uninviting for the away fans :DPike Rovers ground....

But very friendly club and people.

[KevB76]

I dont know what the ground was called, but one that Limerick played in in 2005, terrible. No seats or nothing and you had to walk through estates to get there.

yeah, thats the one (Hogan Park). Brilliant ! :D

I had to walk down there alone once when I couldnt find my brother after a Junior match - scary stuff ;)

[DaveyCakes]

Lets be honest,just about every ground is a kip.

I particularly dislike Richmond Park and Finn Park.

[KevB76]

Pike Rovers ground....

But very friendly club and people.


Hogan Park is Hill Celtics ground, Pike Rovers ground is a different one, Limerick FC played there in 04.

[OneRedArmy]

Hogan Park is Hill Celtics ground, Pike Rovers ground is a different one, Limerick FC played there in 04.
Yes, sorry, wasn't referring to Hogan. Was nominating Pike Rovers as the worst ground, although ground is a bit of a stretch. Pitch with a rail around it to be more accurate.

Reminded me of Abbeycarton.

[Sam_Heggy]

worst ground ive been to is Jackman pk, but I could name best grounds easier,
Oriel pk is great for atmosphere (pity about a few scumbags and poor stewarding)
New Athlone stand looks the part and when the ground is complete, it will be a smashing ground.
I personally love Finn Park (obviously) so many good memories and when its full the atmosphere is second to none. The Derry and Celtic games will testify that.
Monaghan is a friendly and family orientated ground and the bar is always a plus. :D
I would prefer people stopped trying to find the bad in LOI and show off the good points. We need to attract people to games not give them reasons not to go.

[passerrby]

there are superiour complexs and there are superority complexs
all clubs doing great work to improve so need our suport

[stann]

The dinginess of the RSC is very disheartening.
As said above it's a bit of a graveyard and in that sense, helps the team.
I wouldn't be too enthusiastic about it if i was a WUFC fan though.
One-sided ground with a crap view far back from the pitch and a running track to add in.
It's a lot of things but wouldn't have said dingy, it's still looks quite fresh to me and in comparison to many other league grounds that's not an adjective I'd have used.
Grim is the word you were looking for, I think, 'cos it's certainly that!
It's an absolute atmosphere vacuum, but hopefully the new stand will help that out a bit. The running track will always make it a bit of a balls though. One set of toilets is also a disgrace, but it is fairly clean, very safe, and pretty generous to most teams this season!



Packie Holden shouting at the ballboys to slow down and waste time.

Am genuinely interested, exactly when do ye plan to let this go? :D

Worst three for me:
Flancare - Grim on an RSC scale, and cccccccold!
Showgrounds - Run down, just a bit smingy, sorry. Never had hassle with stewards though.
Belfield - Aaaghhh!

[Lim till i die]

In my experience the following grounds are dumps:

Tolka
Dalymount
Belfield
United Park
Carlisle Grounds
Richmond Park
The Brandywell
Turners Cross*
Flancare Park
The RSC
The Showgrounds
Oriel Park
Colmans Park
Station Road
Kingspan Century Breffni Whatever Park
Buckley Park
Wexford Soccer Complex
Ballybofey
Jackman Park
Whitehall (When being used)

* = pre-new Shed end

Only two I've left out (I think) are Athlones new one ( 1 pretty side, well done!!) and Terryland. Neither could be considered dumps but are severely lacking in the athmosphere department IMO.

Still ye see the point I'm making. LoI fans arguing over which grounds are worst........... :rolleyes:

[mypost]

Worst:

Kilkenny (literally the middle of a field) :eek:
Monaghan (dire)
Pats (awful view from most points, even the tv gantry)
bohs (obviously) :o
Waterford (you'd think the match was in Wexford, you're so far away from the pitch) :eek:

[hoopy]

Dorset Street

[Midgit]

From reading all that the magority feel this is the order:
1. Finn Park
2. RSC
3. Belfield

From my own experiences this is my view on the grounds taking into consideration atmosphere, facilities, view of the pitch, friendlyness of the club in general:
1. Belfield
2. Branywell (position of away support is an absolute disgrace)
3. RSC
4. Finn Park



By the way very interesting thread and would disagree with anyone saying its wrong to say anything in here. I think it is very constructive and shows other clubs the views of the supporters who travel to their ground and pay for the facilities they build. Clubs mentioned in this may get their act together if they see whats being said (and then again probably not:rolleyes:)

[The Man Himself]

worse grounds
united park
belfield
oriel pk (ugly stand and that plastic pitch)

best and most mod grounds
the rsc
athlone
terryland

best ground ever
milltown, what a stadium, i just loved games between the great waterford and rovers teams, always over 10,000 for those games.

[Flawless]

Why is it only Rovers fans (and 1 shels) complain about oriel?
I think its fairly modern and surely not one of the worst, though the Stewarding and Segregation leaves a lot to be desired!!,it wasnt the brightest idea to have the away area beside the bar!!

Anyway,back on topic, the worst ground has to be Finn Park, My first time there i thought i was going into a Farmyard with a big Barn!!,terrible facilities too!

Best ive been to would be Terryland,Tolka, and Turners Cross.

[monkey magic]

is it wrong to dislike your own ground? dont get me wrong, love the memories, but the flansiro truly is the coldest place on earth, and with a poor crowd,(commonplace nowdays) really soulless.i quite like the showgies, prob cos ive a lot of love for sligo in general(college) and have been there quite a bit, i actually like dalymount aswell, might be crumbling an all but i cant help havin a look round before a match and thinking of the history.. would have loved to have been round for milltown for that very reason also. rsc is quite simply not a football gound, heres hoping the new stand helps that.. tolka's a kip, love richmond, great wee ground.

[eelmonster]

best ground ever milltown, what a stadium, ...

Glenmanure Park? You're having a laugh, it was a dump. But at least you had a ground of your own in those glorious, halcyon days.

[Dodge]

Why is it only Rovers fans (and 1 shels) complain about oriel?

And Pats fans. Maybe the yokels only annoy us Dubs

[eelmonster]

the yokels ...

Dublin is the most provincial, parochial shidhole in the whole of western europe.

[Paddyfield]

One of my favourite things about Hogan Park was that it was so uninviting for the away fans :D

...and as luck would have it, it was pretty uninviting for home fans too,



My least favourite away ground is Richmond Park because Pat Dolan had built up this magical image in my head that it is The Stadium Of Light - Home Of The Supersaints. When I got there, I realised that they had the same floodlights as everywhere else and ironically, the lights were not working in the toilet. Also there were less seats than Terryland and the chips were muck. What a dissapointment.

My favourite away ground is Turners Cross. A proper football stadium, good match programme, vocal & colourful fans, and a decent bag of chips. A wonderful football experience even though Galway United never get three points there.

[Philly]

Out of interest, what do people think of Station Road?

[Paddyfield]

Out of interest, what do people think of Station Road?

Quaint.
Better than I expected to be honest but very small. That was 2004 so perhaps there have been a few changes since. I like that I could park in the ground.

[The Man Himself]

Glenmanure Park? You're having a laugh, it was a dump. But at least you had a ground of your own in those glorious, halcyon days.

im not a rovers fan:rolleyes:

[The Man Himself]

Out of interest, what do people think of Station Road?

flippen trains are a pain in the arse:eek:
the ground is a bit of a dump aswell

[Peadar]

im not a rovers fan:rolleyes:

Given your outrageous comment about the RSC being a modern facility, it's safe to conclude that you're a blah munching, sheep worrier.

[BohsPartisan]

Forgot to mention the Santry Siro.

[The Man Himself]

Given your outrageous comment about the RSC being a modern facility, it's safe to conclude that you're a blah munching, sheep worrier.

nothing wrong with it, free rent and lifetime tenancy for waterford united new stand starting within the next few weeks,
built by waterford city council for the people of waterford and the futures looking very bright, (best stadium in the country next year)

unlike that ****hole of a thing you lot are renting from the munster senior league,:eek:
remember now, dont miss any of your rent payments or you might be evicted:D

[half_full]

RSC is the sweetest deal going, and when the new stand is up it will give it a lot more of an inclosed feeling

[Dr.Nightdub]

RSC: Santry without the planes overhead. The fact that the pitch (which should be the most important thing in any ground) is shocking just puts it beyond any sort of acceptability.

Flancare: football's answer to Wuthering Heights, windy, rainy, in the middle of nowhere and far, far away from civilisation. Still can't get used to there being no street lights outside, that just feels wrong

Belfield: bleak. Taking the end walls off the stand improved it enormously. Says it all that partial dismantling creates an improvement. Wish they'd hurry up and finish the job.

Monaghan: surreal. Only in it once, kept expecting Julie Andrews and the von Trapp family to come over the horizon singing "The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music". Grazing cattle have NO place within eyesight of a football ground.

Carlisle Grounds: bitter in winter and, perversely, far too twee, family-day-out-ish when it's sunny. Absolutely hate the new stand (a) cos it's like watching a game from inside a greenhouse and (b) no smoking policy. FFS, it's OUTDOORS.

Brandywell: actually don't mind the view from the away section, don't see what people are complaining about. Pity they had to pull down the old covered terrace, it always felt like a football ground with the singing home fans over there, hate this nonsense of everyone being on the same side.

Dalymount: love the shed, absolutely hate hate hate the Connaught St side, kills all atmosphere when we're put there, which is particularly idiotic when they (Bohs PA staff) keep calling it "Dublin's friendliest derby". Which in itself is another negative against the place.

Turners Cross: used to be my favourite ground when the away section was in the main stand. That other bonsai stand is terrible though, even standing at the back of it, you're too low down to have any sort of decent view. New shed looks the biz.

United Park: my favourite away ground for the last couple of years. Away terrace is the best in the League, bar maybe Terryland.

Tolka: grand when it's full, but it's never full. I remember 9000 there for a Shels-Pats cup replay about six years ago, but without a crowd of even half that, it's just too big and echoey. Always thought the "toilets" were simply a reflection of Ollie's sewer-rat mentality.

Showgrounds: main stand looks well but away side always feels like it's about to sink out of sight. Entrance always reminds me of Flancare, just with the potholes, shellholes and archaelogical explorations inside the perimeter wall. Gets major forgiveness though on account of Sligo being the best away trip for an overnighter.

Terryland: lovely ground, looking forward to seeing the new stand in the flesh and seeing whether Galway away other than on Good Friday can rival Sligo.

Oriel: always expect some additional part of it will have been knocked down the next time.

Finn Park: only in it the once but doesn't the big stand just have a concrete slope instead of a terrace? Utterly ridiculous.

Station Road: Baldonnel with a bar. Coldest place on earth for pre-season friendlies.

Kilkenny: most wonderful little mudbanks I've ever stood on, nothing but fond memories of the place.

Richmond: stand is ridiculous, can't understand how anyone over 4'6" can sit in any sort of comfort. Floodlights are among the most view-ruining in the League, hoolie fence killed the Shed for loads of people. Mind you, the Shed has the most satisfying acoustics of any ground for drumming, from thorough trial and error I know the third step up gives the optimum amplification except I can't be bothered with the crap view any more. Love the fact that it's in down a bowl though, makes it completely unique or more accurately, creates a more unique opportunity for when it's developed. Plus it's home.

[Olander]

All of limericks grounds are dirty kips, only upside to going to them was we usually got the 3 points, honourable mention to saint mels aswell.

[dundalksarge]

Hogan park for me .

[oriel]

just wondering why your article cant be on the 3 best stadiums as opposed to 3 worst. everyone knows EL grounds arent the best so not sure why an article to point this out is needed. In fairness some/most clubs trying to improve their grounds, just takes time and more funding.

No no, you misunderstand me. What I`m trying to research is a list of items that the average fan finds totally unacceptable in terms of any visiting ground. By starting with the worst, I will have a clearer list of things that need to be improved. For e.g, what are the core things expected when an away fan attends a match, proper toilets, good stewarding, food/drink, safety, cover etc.

For a start I`m well aware that my own club need to make massive improvements for the away fan, especially and more urgently if we go up next season.

[SunderlandBohs]

Does anyone remember when Rovers played at the RDS? Now that was the worst ground for any fans! You were miles from the pitch. Morton Stadium was the same. But no matter what angle you were looking from, that 6-4 victory was still excellent to watch:D.

[The Man Himself]

RSC is the sweetest deal going, and when the new stand is up it will give it a lot more of an inclosed feeling

its true, waterford united have the best deal in the country,
rent free for life, best floodlights by far, new stand starting soon,
over 15 million to be spent on the whole complex over the next 2 years.

we going to have the best stadium in the country next yesr.:eek:

[Dodge]

its true, waterford united have the best deal in the country

:eek::eek:

:rolleyes:

[bellavistaman]

No no, you misunderstand me. What I`m trying to research is a list of items that the average fan finds totally unacceptable in terms of any visiting ground. By starting with the worst, I will have a clearer list of things that need to be improved. For e.g, what are the core things expected when an away fan attends a match, proper toilets, good stewarding, food/drink, safety, cover etc.

For a start I`m well aware that my own club need to make massive improvements for the away fan, especially and more urgently if we go up next season.

no rush there buddy, yere safe for another year.:p;)

[Neish]

Finn Park: only in it the once but doesn't the big stand just have a concrete slope instead of a terrace? Utterly ridiculous.

There has been terrace on 3 sides of ths ground for the past 3 o so seasons, River end is closed off, also got new temp seating area, which IMO makes the shed side worse, but we needed them as the old seating area wasn't the greatest. Also have new toilets in the away end.

[NY Hoop]

Glenmanure Park? You're having a laugh, it was a dump. But at least you had a ground of your own in those glorious, halcyon days.

Obviously you were never there to post that.

RDS had the best view in the lague at that time from the Anglesea stand.

Anyway rathbane wins hands down. No cover, seats or any facilities whatsoever and coupled with being in probably the most dangerous place in the country too didnt help.

Why anyone would find fault with Drogheda's ground is mystifying. Covered seats and terracing and a bar you can watch the match from is something a lot of clubs dont have.

If Flancare covered the seats behind the goal as you pay in and filled in the craters in the car park it could be one of the best in the league.

Best grounds now are Cork and Galway no question. Richmond is a great LOI ground.

KOH

[sligoman]

Galway's isn't that great, although with the new stand I'm sure it's much better, haven't seen it yet though.

[eelmonster]

Obviously you were never there to post that.

I was indeed. It was of its time, certainly no better than Tolka, Oriel or Dalymount of the same era. Was also at the '87 cup final (3-0 :( ) and witnessed a last ditch half-time protest at the closure of Miltown, sad times for the club on the back of four successive league titles. The sooner Rovers get settled in Tallaght the better.