Stadium Updates (All Clubs)

MK Harps has a decent ring to it. Its a tough one and divisive. If DkIT's project which was funded and supported by Louth's 2 LoI clubs, IRFU, Dept of Sport, LCC and GAA were just turning their heads before one of the local GAA TDs scuppered things due to the multi-use aspect of the project - but it would have involved compromise for all bar the GAA in terms of location as it was earmarked to build a campus off the M1 at Dunleer. It was to be CAT4 with upscaling room, the sports science department of DkIT with a media facility to be run by students in that area, and a significant part of the proposal was the reopening of Dunleer railway station. The population is heavily commuter based and is big enough to warrant a stop for commuter services. Car parking for the stadium would double as park and ride for commuters too which is badly needed when you see all the cars parked at off-ramps on the M1 Taking out the sentiment it was a well thought out plan in general with significant benefits to community and multiple organisations and no strings attached like 10000 housing units BS as part of it. In practical terms a minor inconvenience of 10-15 minutes travel.

Butttttt as Nigel has said even a short move out of a traditional home, irrespective of a state of the art facility, its hard to know how, in particular Dundalk and Drogheda fans would have embraced the move. Over time it would have been accepted. But in every sense it ticked boxes bar that sense of it not being 'home'. How would other feel, Rovers have most experience of this, Shels its pending, Limerick there are the different clubs that have been in Limerick, Cork too which would have involved fans transferring their support to another club. I can understand in a large county or significant moves but in Louth, 10-15k of a move, as the example above 20km - is it really time to quit if a clubs moves. Even just out of a spiritual home within the same town. People in Dundalk wouldnt want to move out of Oriel but was same was being said when the club moved out of the Athletic Grounds to Oriel and is long forgotten?

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

MK Harps has a decent ring to it. Its a tough one and divisive. If DkIT's project which was funded and supported by Louth's 2 LoI clubs, IRFU, Dept of Sport, LCC and GAA were just turning their heads before one of the local GAA TDs scuppered things due to the multi-use aspect of the project - but it would have involved compromise for all bar the GAA in terms of location as it was earmarked to build a campus off the M1 at Dunleer. It was to be CAT4 with upscaling room, the sports science department of DkIT with a media facility to be run by students in that area, and a significant part of the proposal was the reopening of Dunleer railway station. The population is heavily commuter based and is big enough to warrant a stop for commuter services. Car parking for the stadium would double as park and ride for commuters too which is badly needed when you see all the cars parked at off-ramps on the M1 Taking out the sentiment it was a well thought out plan in general with significant benefits to community and multiple organisations and no strings attached like 10000 housing units BS as part of it. In practical terms a minor inconvenience of 10-15 minutes travel.

Butttttt as Nigel has said even a short move out of a traditional home, irrespective of a state of the art facility, its hard to know how, in particular Dundalk and Drogheda fans would have embraced the move. Over time it would have been accepted. But in every sense it ticked boxes bar that sense of it not being 'home'. How would other feel, Rovers have most experience of this, Shels its pending, Limerick there are the different clubs that have been in Limerick, Cork too which would have involved fans transferring their support to another club. I can understand in a large county or significant moves but in Louth, 10-15k of a move, as the example above 20km - is it really time to quit if a clubs moves. Even just out of a spiritual home within the same town. People in Dundalk wouldnt want to move out of Oriel but was same was being said when the club moved out of the Athletic Grounds to Oriel and is long forgotten?

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Ah come off it now. Am I reading this wrong? Are you actually suggesting that Dundalk should move out of the town? To Dunleer? To groundshare with Drogheda...... In Dunleer .... That really has to be one of the most bizarre proposals I have read on any LOI site.

I always enjoy reading how lifelong fans of a club are going to throw in the towel if they have to drive 10 km on a motorway (so, around 6 minutes) to a new ground. It takes longer to walk from Belfield Park to the Bowl - granted, not a change I welcomed, but not one I remotely considered the end of my attachment to the club.

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Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa

Ah come off it now. Am I reading this wrong? Are you actually suggesting that Dundalk should move out of the town? To Dunleer? To groundshare with Drogheda...... In Dunleer .... That really has to be one of the most bizarre proposals I have read on any LOI site.

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I agree 100%. Whatever about moving to a new ground within the town, moving to Dunleer would be the death knell for both Dundalk and Drogheda.

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Originally Posted by John83

I always enjoy reading how lifelong fans of a club are going to throw in the towel if they have to drive 10 km on a motorway (so, around 6 minutes) to a new ground. It takes longer to walk from Belfield Park to the Bowl - granted, not a change I welcomed, but not one I remotely considered the end of my attachment to the club.

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Dalymount is only 45min drive from Drogheda, why dont Drogheda United and Bohs groundshare?

Moving county to groundshare with another club 45 minutes away isn't remotely the same thing as moving 20 minutes away to the next town over in fairness.

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Originally Posted by John83

I always enjoy reading how lifelong fans of a club are going to throw in the towel if they have to drive 10 km on a motorway (so, around 6 minutes) to a new ground. It takes longer to walk from Belfield Park to the Bowl - granted, not a change I welcomed, but not one I remotely considered the end of my attachment to the club.

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What if said lifelong fan doesn't own a car ? Moving the likes of Dundalk or Drogheda out of their respective towns is a guaranteed club killer. Hard enough to get people in the gates when the grounds our in the town with surrounding pubs etc. It would completely ruin the match day experience regardless of the quality of stadium.

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Originally Posted by John83

I always enjoy reading how lifelong fans of a club are going to throw in the towel if they have to drive 10 km on a motorway (so, around 6 minutes) to a new ground. It takes longer to walk from Belfield Park to the Bowl - granted, not a change I welcomed, but not one I remotely considered the end of my attachment to the club.

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If UCD relocated to the DCU campus would you feel the same?

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Originally Posted by boynemunich

What if said lifelong fan doesn't own a car ? Moving the likes of Dundalk or Drogheda out of their respective towns is a guaranteed club killer. Hard enough to get people in the gates when the grounds our in the town with surrounding pubs etc. It would completely ruin the match day experience regardless of the quality of stadium.

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On this funnily enough, Drogheda could move to Trabzon in Turkey and we would get a lot more at matches than we do in Drogheda.

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Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa

Dalymount is only 45min drive from Drogheda, why dont Drogheda United and Bohs groundshare?

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Originally Posted by Yossarian

If UCD relocated to the DCU campus would you feel the same?

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Why don't we just move it to Cork? Anyone want to compare like with like? The move I was reacting to is like moving from Belfield to Rathfarnham in terms of travel time, which wouldn't matter a jot to me.

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Originally Posted by boynemunich

What if said lifelong fan doesn't own a car ? Moving the likes of Dundalk or Drogheda out of their respective towns is a guaranteed club killer. Hard enough to get people in the gates when the grounds our in the town with surrounding pubs etc. It would completely ruin the match day experience regardless of the quality of stadium.

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Ah, so you're not so much a fan of the club as of getting ****-faced in the vicinity of a stadium. No friends? Or are they all alcoholics too? I pity clubs in this country, when the only ambition is to attract a small fraction of the people within walking distance of the ground.

Moving a few miles in Dublin is a different situation. There's nowhere near the same cultural ties to a particular part of the city as there is with a country town. If Longford Town moved to..shudder...Granard or Edgeworthstown it wouldn't be the same club with the same history and tradition within the town of Longford.

Then you're always going to be small beans.

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Originally Posted by John83

Ah, so you're not so much a fan of the club as of getting ****-faced in the vicinity of a stadium. No friends? Or are they all alcoholics too? I pity clubs in this country, when the only ambition is to attract a small fraction of the people within walking distance of the ground.

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Some level of hysteria going on here :-D

In the grand scheme of things we always will be small beans, yes. Look at the population of Longford county. We're only still in the LOI due to various benefactors. But we'll have a crack at it while we're here.

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Originally Posted by John83

Why don't we just move it to Cork? Anyone want to compare like with like? The move I was reacting to is like moving from Belfield to Rathfarnham in terms of travel time, which wouldn't matter a jot to me

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Well moving from UCD to Rathfarnham is distance of about 3km in a city with far more transport options than most parts of the country, whereas Dundalk to Dunleer is about 20km, which would be the equivalent of UCD moving to Greystones, would that matter a jot to you?

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Originally Posted by Kiki Balboa

Ah come off it now. Am I reading this wrong? Are you actually suggesting that Dundalk should move out of the town? To Dunleer? To groundshare with Drogheda...... In Dunleer .... That really has to be one of the most bizarre proposals I have read on any LOI site.

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Yes and no! I've posed a question on a proposal that wasnt far off becoming reality and had respective clubs' support. It all makes sense in terms of the plan in principle - BUUUUUTTT it doesnt take in to consideration the attachment that fans have to a home or the relevance of having a club at the core of its community. Is sentiment enough of a reason to not support a move to an expected level of spectator facility? Im genuinely interested in opinions. Cat 5 stadium, state of the art, 15 minutes from current base and not going to cost the 10s of millions of Euro to the clubs. So playing Arsenal and the like at (close to) 'home'.

If Peak 6 decided to move out of Oriel to a greenfield site outside the town but within easy access and serviced by public transport etc, spent 20mil on the job, Dundalk fans would quit? Likewise for Drogheda (or any fans in such a situation). Whether I personally would have agreed or disagreed with such a plan is not important. I have the upmost respect for how SRFC fans faced these issues, annual moves, and settled outside their spiritual home and area - pragmatic probably as a least worst solution but a move to Tallaght hasnt killed the club or its history!

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

Yes and no! I've posed a question on a proposal that wasnt far off becoming reality and had respective clubs' support. It all makes sense in terms of the plan in principle - BUUUUUTTT it doesnt take in to consideration the attachment that fans have to a home or the relevance of having a club at the core of its community. Is sentiment enough of a reason to not support a move to an expected level of spectator facility? Im genuinely interested in opinions. Cat 5 stadium, state of the art, 15 minutes from current base and not going to cost the 10s of millions of Euro to the clubs. So playing Arsenal and the like at (close to) 'home'.

If Peak 6 decided to move out of Oriel to a greenfield site outside the town but within easy access and serviced by public transport etc, spent 20mil on the job, Dundalk fans would quit? Likewise for Drogheda (or any fans in such a situation). Whether I personally would have agreed or disagreed with such a plan is not important. I have the upmost respect for how SRFC fans faced these issues, annual moves, and settled outside their spiritual home and area - pragmatic probably as a least worst solution but a move to Tallaght hasnt killed the club or its history!

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But there is a difference with a stadium on the outskirts of the town (just like Droghedas proposed stadium), and relocating the club to another town.

(Just as an FYI to those on the outside, Louth is as divided county as it gets between north and south. So much so, that it being the smallest county, has two separate schoolboy leagues)

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Originally Posted by boynemunich

What if said lifelong fan doesn't own a car ? Moving the likes of Dundalk or Drogheda out of their respective towns is a guaranteed club killer. Hard enough to get people in the gates when the grounds our in the town with surrounding pubs etc. It would completely ruin the match day experience regardless of the quality of stadium.

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What if a lifelong fan no longer has the mobility to safely attend games in a restricted access stadium? The various plans for Drogheda all involved a move, certainly away from any surrounding pubs, if anything getting to these proposed places would have been easier access to significant sections of Drogheda's fan base - no half hour waiting in traffic from north or south through the town to get to an already congested vicinity of United Park. No mucky shoes from having to cross the pitch to leave. Its hardly as if people have been flocking to games in United Park in their thousands causing some 'if it aint broke dont fix it' thinking.

Devils advocate!

Rovers fans accepted Tallaght and have made the best of it but it was a generation after the exodus from Miltown and that move led to a fan boycott and many never came back.
25 years wondering around homeless meant Tallaght when it came was always going to be accepted as what was the alternative ...keep on moving around.
With property prices in south county dublin it was never going to be an option to relocate back into the area.
Again in hindsight with the young growing population in Tallaght the long run is probably better for rovers in tallaght but the club also so nearly went out of existance so moving is fraught in every way......

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Originally Posted by John83

Ah, so you're not so much a fan of the club as of getting ****-faced in the vicinity of a stadium. No friends? Or are they all alcoholics too? I pity clubs in this country, when the only ambition is to attract a small fraction of the people within walking distance of the ground.

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Haha jeheez, was just pointing out a positive of having a stadium in a urban area. God forbid any other businesses benefit from the club. You must be a big GAA fan ?

Anyways for anyone suggesting Drogheda and/or Dundalk should up sticks to Dunleer or any other club should do the equivalent there's a certain club in Milton Keynes I think yous would take a liking to.