Stadium Updates (All Clubs)

If Derry were given permission and were willing to spend the premium they could roll out pregrown grass turf, it would bed in over the close season esecially a mild winter and definitely if appropriate artificial lighting is used. Surprisingly not as expensive as youd think but cost is relative of course. The ground works are done for the artificial surface so no digging out everything first. Top UK clubs can have multiple pitches laid in a season and down time is minimal. I cant remember which ground but one relaid pitch was a disaster, the sod lifting in chunks, because the roots didnt take properly due to the stadium casting a shadow or blocking sunlight...could have been Wembley, seeeee fancy stadia bring their own problems.

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

I think it's also about how much money the council makes by renting out the pitch, as well as how much it would cost them to replace it. Would O'Doherty want the pitch changed that badly that he'd cover the lost annual income from grass as well?

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A Derry fan might clarify but if I remember right, when they upgraded the ground and changed the main pitch to astro they also upgraded the other Brandywell pitch to grass too.
If ODoherty changed the main pitch back to grass is there a chance the other brandywel pitch might need to be changed to astro too, in order to sustain the Council revenues in the future.

Yes, I believe that was the plan.

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

If Derry were given permission and were willing to spend the premium they could roll out pregrown grass turf, it would bed in over the close season esecially a mild winter and definitely if appropriate artificial lighting is used. Surprisingly not as expensive as youd think but cost is relative of course. The ground works are done for the artificial surface so no digging out everything first. Top UK clubs can have multiple pitches laid in a season and down time is minimal. I cant remember which ground but one relaid pitch was a disaster, the sod lifting in chunks, because the roots didnt take properly due to the stadium casting a shadow or blocking sunlight...could have been Wembley, seeeee fancy stadia bring their own problems.

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Isn't your man Philip O'Doherty a billionaire? Would be loose change for him to install a grass pitch AND an astro one, like they have at Spurs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9kDe1eOn64

(Video is 2 mins 29 secs long, but is NFL copyright, so you have to click on it to open their link)

OK, if you're a fellow stadium nerd, and can stand that irritating little squirt Richard Hammond for 8 minutes, there's a better video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsQZnyCH37M

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

Any change over of grass would take longer than just the off season. You'd expect Derry would have to play half a season at Maginn again to be able to put a grass surface down in the Brandywell again.

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Maginn, like Finn Park, should not be near the Premier Division and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Maginn, like Finn Park, should not be near the Premier Division and I mean that in the nicest way possible.

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Anyone know what the latest is with Harps' new stadium?

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

Anyone know what the latest is with Harps' new stadium?

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A good question! Very little information in the last while but from what I can gather it’s waiting on the government releasing funds,others with better information can correct me if I’m wrong though……

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Originally Posted by Nesta99

If Derry were given permission and were willing to spend the premium they could roll out pregrown grass turf, it would bed in over the close season esecially a mild winter and definitely if appropriate artificial lighting is used. Surprisingly not as expensive as youd think but cost is relative of course. The ground works are done for the artificial surface so no digging out everything first. Top UK clubs can have multiple pitches laid in a season and down time is minimal. I cant remember which ground but one relaid pitch was a disaster, the sod lifting in chunks, because the roots didnt take properly due to the stadium casting a shadow or blocking sunlight...could have been Wembley, seeeee fancy stadia bring their own problems.

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It would be a very different bed underneath the artificial pitch. It would also need to be changed, even for any prerolled turf. Still takes time to bed in, and the latest you'd want to be installing any turf pitch would be September, even with any sort of mild winter and heat lamps, you'd need the right ground conditions for it to take hold.

At other clubs, premier league or other big stadia, they already have the undersoil treatment in place for a quick turnaround. I'm not sure, with all the will in the world, that POD or Derry council are willing to fork out for under soil heating and all the added extra luxuries that come with those stadia.

If they were able to relay the pitch in September, there's a chance of having it ready for March again, but there's a lot of ground work to take place in between it all.

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Originally Posted by joey B

A good question! Very little information in the last while but from what I can gather it’s waiting on the government releasing funds,others with better information can correct me if I’m wrong though……

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Pretty much this, as far as I'm aware. It's really frustrating, as realistically the pitch needs to be started in the new stadium in the next month or two or we're going to lose another year.

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

I think it's also about how much money the council makes by renting out the pitch, as well as how much it would cost them to replace it. Would O'Doherty want the pitch changed that badly that he'd cover the lost annual income from grass as well?

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The pitch will have to be relaid at some point regardless. A plastic one can be done in a week or so. If the council wants a plastic one and the club wants a grass one, it would make sense to swap the Brandywell pitches over. Maybe O'Doherty may cover the extra costs associated with that?

No idea about timelines for putting grass back into the stadium pitch if the turf is pre-grown off-site, but it'd be at least six months to grow from scratch.

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Originally Posted by EalingGreen

Isn't your man Philip O'Doherty a billionaire? Would be loose change for him to install a grass pitch AND an astro one, like they have at Spurs:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9kDe1eOn64

(Video is 2 mins 29 secs long, but is NFL copyright, so you have to click on it to open their link)

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Yeah correct POD sold his business recently!

Whisper it quietly until you see a builder on site.

https://donegalnews.com/2023/06/sign...s-new-stadium/

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

Whisper it quietly until you see a builder on site.

https://donegalnews.com/2023/06/sign...s-new-stadium/

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Has anyone been on site recently to check if the existing concrete stand structure is still usable? Looking at the photo in that article, the top of the rebar steel frame within the concrete has been left exposed for years now. That exposed steel will have been expanding and contracting constantly due to the variable Donegal weather, with the risk being that water will have been able to get into the concrete below and around it as a result. That carries the risk of concrete cancer setting in and destroying the structure from the inside.

I'm sure they're on the case for this, but a structural surveyor would need to check it out before it's deemed fit for use/completion.

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

Has anyone been on site recently to check if the existing concrete stand structure is still usable? Looking at the photo in that article, the top of the rebar steel frame within the concrete has been left exposed for years now. That exposed steel will have been expanding and contracting constantly due to the variable Donegal weather, with the risk being that water will have been able to get into the concrete below and around it as a result. That carries the risk of concrete cancer setting in and destroying the structure from the inside.

I'm sure they're on the case for this, but a structural surveyor would need to check it out before it's deemed fit for use/completion.

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Last I heard it was all passed.

When does the new stand at Tallaght open? Have they confirmed what game will be the first to use it?

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Originally Posted by EatYerGreens

When does the new stand at Tallaght open? Have they confirmed what game will be the first to use it?

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September. Delayed a few months, but just in time for the group stages. :cool:

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Originally Posted by nigel-harps1954

Last I heard it was all passed.

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Passed by you mean! :confused:

I see on the front page of the Tallaght Echo this week that the North Stand will be delayed "some weeks" due to supply chain issues. It did look like there was an awful lot still to do the last time I was passing. While the overall structure looks very complete the internal structures looked a good way off.

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Originally Posted by passinginterest

I see on the front page of the Tallaght Echo this week that the North Stand will be delayed "some weeks" due to supply chain issues. It did look like there was an awful lot still to do the last time I was passing. While the overall structure looks very complete the internal structures looked a good way off.

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Would have been a miracle if an Irish project was completed on time tbf