some photos of the opening day on the AVIVAStadium's twitpic account: http://twitpic.com/photos/AVIVAStadium
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some photos of the opening day on the AVIVAStadium's twitpic account: http://twitpic.com/photos/AVIVAStadium
Irish Times article on stadium - http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...reaking47.html
+ new pics showing completed interior;
http://www.webeireann.com/archiseek/...ne_final_1.jpg
http://www.webeireann.com/archiseek/...ne_final_2.jpg
Wow cool. Good thing it got built already or who knows what would have happened huh?
So is it only going to be used for football?
Rugby too. Like the old Lansdowne.
I understand that they could only accommodate a single tier in the north stand due to a row of private properties directly behind that end, but looking at photos from above, I can't fail but notice the large space of what appears to be unused land to the east side of the stadium between it and the river (Dodder?).
http://www.stadiumdb.com/images/stad...va-stadium.jpg
I'm just wondering why they didn't try and fit a stadium with three tiers all the way round by utilising that space. Could they not have placed the two respective ends adjacent to the river and the DART line? I can only assume the dimensions wouldn't have permitted that either.
Not that I'm complaining, mind; just interested. I'm very impressed with how it's turned out as it is.
It's co-owned by the IRFU, so they'll use it for rugby as well. The first sporting event to take place in the stadium will be a combined provinces game between Leinster/Ulster and Munster/Connacht on the 31st of July.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Part of the deal for the building of the new stadium, was that Lansdowne Rugby club had to have their pitch retained on site.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
The space that you refer to, is to be the club's pitch.
OK thanks for the info. So Rugby is played at Croke park and here basically?Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
Rugby and football being played at Croke Park was temporary arrangement, to provide a 'home' for both sports whilst Lansdowne Road was being redeveloped.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Now that it is, that arrangement is over.
But Rugby will be played at Aviva fly.
Things go back to the way they were before Lansdowne closed for development, all Rugby and Soccer internationals will be played at the Aviva and while Croke park now remains open to the possiblity of games there will be no internationals there for the immediate futureQuote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Hmm... This new stadium is the old Lansdowne Road. Is that where the confusion is? :confused: "Aviva" is just the name they've put on it due to an insurance company of that name sponsoring the project, or, at least, purchasing the naming rights anyway.Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Ah, I see. Cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Fly
I got a hold of one of the "goodie bags" from Friday.
Quality wee documentary about the ground in it.
Lansdowne was originally a Rugby venue, it wasn't untill the 80's(I think) that the Irish football team began using it as the venue for home games,Quote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Just a little bit earlier than that. Ireland did play a few football games there in the 1930s but it only became the regular ground for bigger competitive games in 1971.Quote:
Originally Posted by Neish
Capacity restrictions in Dalymount was the main reason for the initial move but some big games (e.g. Russia in 74 and Holland in 1983) were still held in Phibsborough. I think the chaos at the Italy game in Dalymount in 1985 really killed off any realistic hopes of any big games there afterwards though a few friendlies were played there in the following few years. I think Morocco just after Italia 90 was the last senior International game to be played there.
I'm not trying to be annoying but what do they do with Croke Park then if both Rugby and Footy are played at Aviva?
This damn...whats it called Disapora? I was born here and now I am out of the loop. Its bloody sad.
I watched a thing called "Dublin Slang" on youtube the other day where some chick tells us non Irish Irish about slang terms. So I am down with the lingo at least.
A "Kip" is a nap.
http://www.memedepot.com/uploads/0/2...if_serious.jpgQuote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Assuming you're genuinely out of the loop, the Gaelic Athletic Association own Croke Park and were temporarily renting it out to the IRFU for rugby games and to the FAI for football whilst Lansdowne Road was being redeveloped. Otherwise, Croke Park is mainly used for gaelic football and hurling. Have you heard of a search engine called Google? :PQuote:
Originally Posted by Crosby87
Don't know if this has been posted yet, but UEFA call the stadium the "Dublin Arena". I assume this will be the name used at next years Europa League final for sponsorship reasons (ie Aviva isn't a sponsor of the Europa League)
http://www.uefa.com/memberassociatio...d=1488379.html
Anyone know when the stadium tours start ?
Nice supplement in the Times today on the new stadium. Very much looking forward to going back to a top class stadium. I really dont like the Havelock square end though, really takes from the stadium imo. That element is not a great piece of design imo. Whats the story with this country and 3/4 finished stadia.
its actually a very good piece of design given the site constraints. 3,000 seats (all that was ever possible at that end before) and a fully enclosed stadium. i think its a great jobQuote:
Originally Posted by elroy
Okay ...just back it up a little for me.
Now -what's a stadium?
:-)
Does anyone have a download of "On Hallowed Ground" which was shown on RTE last week? This snippet from today's Irish Times makes it sound interesting:
JASON McATEER admitted he doesn’t like change, that he’s infinitely happier when things stay just as they always were. Like Lansdowne Road.
“It was a kip, but it was home,” he said wistfully, as he was driven towards Ballsbridge for his first glimpse of the new stadium. His eyes widened, his jaw plummeted. “It looks like, eh, a greenhouse.”
http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/on_hallowed_ground.html
For those in Ireland the programme seems to be available on the RTE Player but not for those of us outside the country. Any link to a download would be greatly appreciated.
For anyone interested, this is where you can get it on the RTÉ Player for the meantime: http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1072801
I wonder would it work through a proxy server for those outside Ireland...
Did the Havelock Sq end only ever fit 3,000 bucket seats? I thought it looked like more? Still, I'm happy with the design of the stadium, and having the small away fan contingent at the Havelock end is at least one little reminder of the old place which I adored. Pity they couldn't find room for the Wanderers clubhouse somewhere though!Quote:
Originally Posted by jbyrne
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/...?ts=1274111375
All that money and no feckin' goalposts! Typical Irish...:D
what is it with us and our reluctance to have a (fullycompleted)4 sided stadium in ireland......looks good in fairness. in that pic you would almost think the small stand is on the side of the pitch not behind the goal.
time lapse video of the stadium's construction
Do all of the sides spell out AVIVA or does any side spell out Ireland?
I don't think it's exactly fair to describe it as a "reluctance". It's simply indicative of the reality, or quagmire even, that is urban planning. I'm sure if it was possible to have three tiers all the way round, there would be three tiers all the way round. There's little that can be done about a row of private properties tightly located behind one end. You can't exactly expect the state to intervene and turf people out of their homes in the "national interest" or whatever. As fantastic it is to have it, it is only a football stadium, after all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Duggie
Still, as it is, I think it's quite charming in its uniqueness. Without sounding like I'm trying to engage in some romantic personification of a sports stadium, I think the design adds a certain amount of character of which, say, the Emirates Stadium in London could never boast. It also tells its own story about the locality, I suppose. It's the same for Croke Park, although I don't think Croke Park is quite as graceful.
There were 22,000 permanent seats and the capacity for qualifiers was about 35,000. That leaves 13,000 bucket seats between the East, South and North terraces. The North one was the smallest of the three so 3,000 sounds about right.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jicked
You must be joking. Don't you know this is the FAI/Aviva's shining beacon first and foremost? Irish sport merely finds itself being dragged along as a passenger. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by MuckaTucka
It's a fair point you make, however the story behind the three sides of Croke Park has a lot more history than the three sides of the Aviva owing to not having enough money to buy people's property.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
Is it a uniquely Irish thing the way there are only three sides? That can be looked at as a positive or a negative depending on how you feel about the country I suppose.
It's a lovely design though, I'm glad they didn't try to be conservative.
Wasn't joking but wasn't hopeful that it did. It's a sad state of affairs really.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne would be spinning in his grave.
It'll be an historic symbol for years to come of this generation's desperate transition from Celtic Tiger prosperity into post-boom recession and hardship. Or something. :PQuote:
Originally Posted by MuckaTucka
It's certainly uncommon, but not strictly unique, I suppose. I recall during Euro 2004 in Portugal, there were one or two stadiums that had two or three tiers on three sides and just a solitary tier at one end behind the goals. In fact, wasn't there one utterly bizarre stadium that had no stand at all behind one of its goals, but rather some sort of alien rocky landscape?Quote:
Is it a uniquely Irish thing the way there are only three sides? That can be looked at as a positive or a negative depending on how you feel about the country I suppose.
It's a lovely design though, I'm glad they didn't try to be conservative.
I would like to think (ungrateful so and sos that we are that we are not happy with what does look a fantastic stadium for the most part) that in a few years the possibility of extending/redeveloping that end may be considered. Perhaps a time when the debt balance isnt as high as it currently is.
Nonetheless if it were a perfectly round, all in proportion, 50k seater stadia im sure we would still have compliants.
I was being slightly ironic in my reply, but you're entirely right not to be joking. Having "Aviva" plastered all over the stadium isn't something of which I'm particularly fond either. It is sad that artefacts of our historical and cultural experience - which my idealist senses expect should be for everyone to share - can be sold off to the highest bidder nowadays in order to make a quick buck.Quote:
Originally Posted by MuckaTucka
Just on other peculiarly-designed stadia, this is the Portuguese one I was talking about:
http://www001.upp.so-net.ne.jp/takebou/img_0215.jpg
It's the Estádio Municipal de Braga. I thought it had three stands around the pitch and a rocky backdrop behind one end for some reason, but it appears that it only has two stands along pitch-side with rocky terrain enclosing the ground at both ends behind the goals.
The other one I'd been thinking of was Porto's Estádio do Dragão:
http://www.football-pictures.net/dat..._Drago_Jpg.jpg
However, it appears that it is also symmetrical to the extent that both ends behind the goals are just one tier in height.
Exactly. I actually presumed that the stadium would have some link to Ireland in it apart from the green seats. Naming rights needn't extend to not having even Ireland printed on the seats.Quote:
Originally Posted by DannyInvincible
It's really something you take for granted until the FAI continue to take liberties and finally make people sit up and take note. It just keeps getting better, Manchester United, Bohs having to move games, Limerick not allowed to play Barca.
By the way, that Braga stadium looks fantastic.
Some other odd designs I've encountered...
'La Bombonera', where Boca Juniors play their home games:
http://files.nireblog.com/blogs3/man...ombonera_1.jpg
The Autostade in Montréal (now demolished):
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2001/...0120677d_o.png
Norrporten Arena in Sundsvall, Sweden:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ortenArena.jpg
It's quite small, though, with a capacity of only 8,000.
Also, check out the Mmabatho Stadium in Mafikeng, South Africa. It's a textbook example of how a stadium probably ought not to look.
So, I think it's safe to assume, we have quite a conventional stadium for ourselves by relative standards, ha.