Mounthawk Park

So with 500 or 600 at Turners Cross at the weekend focus turns to Bray at home. I'd expect a sell out for the first few home games similar to last year. And if we have improved results this year rather than attendance numbers petering out, the Kerry crowd will come out in their droves.

The problem here is the capacity is too low. I'd like to see a plan to develop the ground. Extend the existing main stand all the way around the ground in a full rectangle.

Obviously will need grants/fundraising etc but could be done in stages. Basically I'd like to see a plan/architect pics and the first stage of extending the main stand the full length of the pitch, proceed immediately.

I'd say you are very restricted in what you can do with the ground outside extending thr stand side. Open to correction but I dont think the kdl own the land behind the goals furthest from the stand. The two terraces are very limited for space ad well. Then you have the problem of planning, with lack of entry points this could cause issues.
Best case scenario would be another 500 seater stand which I think for the immediate future would be plenty.

I would assume in time it would be better to move up to the back pitch, probably more room to manoeuvre up there in terms of stands etc. either way there must be some form of thought about the future with it etc.

Mind you, regardless of results, most clubs tend to see drop-offs during the summer months, owing to holidays, weather, etc. As you say, though, that away support in Turners' Cross offers real grounds for optimism, and if we can turn Mounthawk Park into a real fortress, then 600 should be the absolute baseline, with 800-1000 the regular target to aim for. Of course, when Cork fans tend to travel in numbers, you'd expect both of those games at least to be guaranteed full houses.

But if capacity of MP is confined to 1.2k then that's only 120 away fans allowed in. Extend the stand all the way down and you will have an average attendance of over 1,000.

The width of the stand isn't huge you'd easily fit it around 3 sides. And you'd squeeze it in the far end too even if you had to nick bit of space from pitch or the other end.

I think the ownership situation needs to be clarified first, not a lot from club since BA departure other than business as usual. I would be curious on how sponsorship from local business has gone this season? Looking at website we were looking to add back of shirt and shorts sponsors, but other than shirt sleeve sponsor there are no other additions to date. That does not bode well, but I think the lack of clarity around ownership and future sustainability might be playing a big part in this???

It's not rocket science. There is a fairly large list of sponsors/partners on the website. There is even a price list you can download. I would say doing well as regards sponsorship revenue.

I'd price the stand extension. Apply for planning and then go fund raising grant seeking in time for 2025 season.

They are last years sponsors still on the website I believe, but not sure. Only thing that is certain is no take up yet on back of shirt or shorts sponsors which you would think should have more demand than other sponsorship packages listed given the exposure (albeit only on playing jersey’s and not any sold commercially).

Any new stand needs proper covering too and the not the current form where there are lots of obstructed views, which is a bit off putting for a lot of people. A 1,200 or so stand with no obstructed views would be a huge step forward for any club in its first few years especially considering the poor state of facilities in some of the more established clubs (Dundalk, Finn Harps, Bray etc..)

Will be interesting to see what the official gate is on Friday - the stand is effectively sold out as of today, but of course, you can't gauge off the website how packed or otherwise the terraces will be.

Anyone have any idea what the 360k funding is going towards?

€440k if you include KDL allocation which the statement said would be going into MP also.

The most obvious area that needs to be prioritised is the entrance/exit. It's effectively one small door. You wouldn't get any planning to do anything else unless that H&S hazard isn't addressed.

Then I'd look to see how the rest can be used to increase the capacity as cost efficiently as possible. 3 or 4 steps of terrace style concrete along the North Touchline/Terrace would could bring capacity up to c2,000. So if you can get a few sell outs each season it would eventually pay for itself.

I don’t think there is a lot you can do on north terrace side - the press box is literally 2 steps back from the sideline barrier so adding in terracing on either side of it might not make sense as view would be obstructed on one half of the pitch. If it’s only that you can’t maybe see the corner flag down the other side you might get away with it but I suspect it would be a lot more than just that.

Agree on entrance, badly needed.

The FAI website states it’s for replacing 3G pitch - I thought upgrades were done to the pitch as Part of initial investment 2 years ago though??

Going by the clubs press release I suspect it will be subtle changes across player and spectator facilities - a lot of incremental improvements perhaps, rather than any major upgrade (I.e. like extension to stand etc.)

Yea thought pitch was upgraded a few years ago as well. Entrance definitely a priority. Unfortunately if the pitch needs relaying not much, if anything, will be left for spectator improvements.

Just from experience around the rest of the grounds in the league;

Presumably a separate entrance/exit for away crowds will need to be put in place at some stage.

Pitch will absolutely need done. It's horrendous.

The main home entrance through a tight little door will need to be altered. It's a serious hazard and an accident waiting to happen.

Media facilities might need a touch of an upgrade too, a few seats with benches out in the stand, possibly up the back of the wheelchair section.

I'd imagine spectator facilities or extra stands or steps of concrete will be well down the list of priorities.

Long term, another stand out the opposite side of the dugouts would be ideal though, and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Personally would love to see them astros banned. Watching rubber pellets fly around the place and an unpredictable bounce ruin the game. The last time there was grass in the kdl though the pitch was very poor because of the amount of teams using it so its a problem for the club.

There's 2 pitches though so could have one the main one grass and keepnit for the senior team. Underage use the Astro.

The reality on the west coast with the weather so wet a grass pitch is neither reliable or economical. From what I have seen the quality of grass pitches in the first division is poor also. The objective should be to improve the quality of astros - they always look better on the continent for some reason, whether that is better maintenance or just better upfront investment in higher quality pitches. There are 5 astros in LOI today, would not surprise if that was at least 8 in the next 5 years..

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zico

The reality on the west coast with the weather so wet a grass pitch is neither reliable or economical. From what I have seen the quality of grass pitches in the first division is poor also. The objective should be to improve the quality of astros - they always look better on the continent for some reason, whether that is better maintenance or just better upfront investment in higher quality pitches. There are 5 astros in LOI today, would not surprise if that was at least 8 in the next 5 years..

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There's no excuse for a well kept sand based pitch on the west coast of Ireland. The pitch in Finn Harps new stadium will be sand based. My own local club plays on a sand based pitch and is perfectly playable right through the winter months and one of the best pitches in Donegal, serves two mens teams and a full underage rank.

They're definitely the way forward, and cheaper to install than an astro pitch. Problem with them is they need to grow from scratch and take about 14-18 months.

The GAA grass pitches are immaculate so don't buy that

The grass on most Gaa pitches is at least 6” longer - more grass obviously absorbs more water. Fitzgeralds stadium had more sand than Banna beach had this year!!! Not a realistic comparison.