Stadium Updates (All Clubs)

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Originally Posted by brendy_éire

https://www.derryjournal.com/sport/f...tadium-3923579

Interesting article here. Taking along the FAI to a meeting with the council, and implying that the club may help with the costs of switching the pitch back to grass.

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Per Philip O'Doherty:
"However, in terms of European football there's a move away from it. Some of the European leagues have banned it totally. Premier League matches in Holland for example. Indeed, from 2025 Eredivisie clubs are obliged to play on natural grass."

Its not just the top divisons which have this requirement for grass. In England, all EFL teams also have to have it. Which meant that when eg Sutton Utd and Harrogate Town got promoted to Lge Two from the National League (5th tier), they had to rip out their plastic pitch at a cost of £500k+ (though substantial grants were available).

Meanwhile, Gary Hamilton, Glenavon manager, was talking about this recently. He said kids are now growing up (in NI, at any rate), who've hardly ever played on grass, even his own kids! And the Man Utd scout for NI mentioned that they are at a real disadvantage when they go across the water compared with the locals, who are used to grass (presumably in the Academies?).

Also, many kids can't afford to buy studded boots for grass pitches in addition to the trainers they use for plastic.

Sligo announce a planning application for extensive redevelopment of The Showgrounds:

https://www.sligorovers.com/planning...s-development/

Great to see that excellent Club planning an upgrade.
No hanging around waiting for Councils to bail them out.

Fair play to them. Really impressive plans. Let's hope it actually happens.

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Originally Posted by EalingGreen

Also, many kids can't afford to buy studded boots for grass pitches in addition to the trainers they use for plastic.

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This is surely not an issue, I play regularly on 3/4g plastic pitches and have never seen anyone wearing trainers. If they did in this country considering our weather they make as well wear two banana skins instead.

Plenty of football boots if not most are fit for dual purpose of grass and plastic.

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Originally Posted by oldfan

Great to see that excellent Club planning an upgrade.
No hanging around waiting for Councils to bail them out.

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When you see a positive development as a good excuse to say something negative...
They'll still need public funding.

It's a fantastic plan, the ground is in a great location with plenty of space. If it happens it'll be gorgeous with the backdrop. Hopefully the era of neglected football facilities is coming to an end. The public attitude does seem to have shifted a bit.

I think there is a better chance of Sligo's new plans coming to fruition than the long and drawn out plans of other clubs. ?

Give the fans a terrace you cowards

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Originally Posted by DCWA

This is surely not an issue, I play regularly on 3/4g plastic pitches and have never seen anyone wearing trainers. If they did in this country considering our weather they make as well wear two banana skins instead.

Plenty of football boots if not most are fit for dual purpose of grass and plastic.

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It's valid enough. Kids are all wearing small moulded studs or blades now. Those sort of boots are rubbish on soft grass pitches. I went in to buy myself a pair of 6 stud boots recently in Letterkenny and found it incredibly difficult to find any sort of variety in them. It's almost entirely all moulded studs and blades in shops.

More and more plastic pitches are popping up, and I'm in the camp that they should be banned for games, whatever about a training facility, they're not good for your body to play on.

Kerry FC have announced that more seats will be installed at Mounthawk Park very soon.

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Originally Posted by oldfan

Great to see that excellent Club planning an upgrade.
No hanging around waiting for Councils to bail them out.

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I'd love to see the expected costs involved. Bohs were to upgrade and rebuild with circa 10,000 capacity for €30 million and are now getting completely new stadium with capacity circa 7,800 for €40 million. Sligo hope to upgrade and rebuild capacity in excess of 6,800 for ???

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

It's valid enough. Kids are all wearing small moulded studs or blades now. Those sort of boots are rubbish on soft grass pitches. I went in to buy myself a pair of 6 stud boots recently in Letterkenny and found it incredibly difficult to find any sort of variety in them. It's almost entirely all moulded studs and blades in shops.

More and more plastic pitches are popping up, and I'm in the camp that they should be banned for games, whatever about a training facility, they're not good for your body to play on.

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Don’t buy that at all. Very easy to get plastic studded or “bladed” multi surface boots.

I agree on banning plastic pitches altogether apart from for recreational use.

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Originally Posted by Partizan

Kerry FC have announced that more seats will be installed at Mounthawk Park very soon.

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I might be wrong, but I believe it's just replacements for the existing seats.

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Originally Posted by DCWA

Don’t buy that at all. Very easy to get plastic studded or “bladed” multi surface boots.

I agree on banning plastic pitches altogether apart from for recreational use.

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Next time you're playing on a soft grass pitch, get back to me with how the multi-stud or blade boots work out for you.

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

Next time you're playing on a soft grass pitch, get back to me with how the multi-stud or blade boots work out for you.

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Well I play Saturday morning without any issue have had the same pair of adidas predator esque style plastic blades for about 2 years they cost me £45 in JD and do the job rightly for that and for 5s/7s/astro league during the week. I don’t think I have wore metal studs in probably 10 years actually.

I am nowhere near a good enough footballer to worry about my boots too much but what I would say is most of the boots I see these days are multi surface and can’t imagine any problem at all. Any parent who has their child running round in 3/4 different sets of boots for different surfaces is off their head it is not a reasonable criticism of youths playing on plastic pitches (there are no doubt others).

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

I might be wrong, but I believe it's just replacements for the existing seats.

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Yes - the initial capacity between seating and terrace will be 1,150, but very much with room for expansion later if there's sufficient local demand to do so.

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Originally Posted by DCWA

Well I play Saturday morning without any issue have had the same pair of adidas predator esque style plastic blades for about 2 years they cost me £45 in JD and do the job rightly for that and for 5s/7s/astro league during the week. I don’t think I have wore metal studs in probably 10 years actually.

I am nowhere near a good enough footballer to worry about my boots too much but what I would say is most of the boots I see these days are multi surface and can’t imagine any problem at all. Any parent who has their child running round in 3/4 different sets of boots for different surfaces is off their head it is not a reasonable criticism of youths playing on plastic pitches (there are no doubt others).

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I played against Letterkenny Rovers two weeks ago in Leckview park. There was hardly a player on the pitch able to stay on their feet wearing moulded studs or blades.

I use blades all year round without issue. I'm very slow now and take an age to turn so runners would probably do? I wear the astro runners on artificial surfaces. Agree with ye that those surfaces shouldn't be allowed

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Originally Posted by DCWA

Any parent who has their child running round in 3/4 different sets of boots for different surfaces is off their head it is not a reasonable criticism of youths playing on plastic pitches (there are no doubt others).

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My playing days are well behind me, so I'm only going by what Hamilton was saying and he was emphatic.

Perhaps he was referring to Academy-level youngsters, who need every advantage they can get if they're to have a chance of making it?

P.S. Shouldn't have said "trainers", meant blades.

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Originally Posted by Mr A

Give the fans a terrace you cowards

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I've been in Safe Standing in England i.e. capable of being converted back to seating for European games etc and it's excellent - best of both worlds, as it were.

Not sure why SRFC aren't putting in at least one SS area (if only for home fans?) to accommodate that, for assuming they aren't selling out every game, they could maybe persuade a few extra to attend if the SS area was a couple of Euro cheaper?

Anyhow, the plans certainly look very impressive and are putting a lot of other clubs to shame.