i have bein in the oval and linfields ground thats all.. hope to go to one or two new grounds over the next few weeks...
Following on from the thread on League of Ireland grounds
I've seen at least one game at
Ballymena, Bangor, Cliftonville, Coleraine, Crusaders, Dungannon, Glenavon, Glentoran, Institute, Linfield, Lisburn Distillery and Newry
(all the top division)
also
Ards (Castlereagh Park now gone), Ballinamallard, Portadown, Loughgall, Coagh, Donegal Celtic, Larne, Limavady, Armagh and Ballyclare.
I need to visit Banbridge, Glebe/Ballymoney, Carrick Rangers, Tobermore, Dergview and Killymoon to complete the top 2 divisions.
i have bein in the oval and linfields ground thats all.. hope to go to one or two new grounds over the next few weeks...
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
I have been to Ballymena and Newry for League games and to Lurgan for the U21 NI vs. Germany last year.
Was going to embark on a wee groundhopping trip to Armagh today. Would be my first time driving to NI. Without wanting to go into politics can anyone let me know if it is ok these days to leave a car with Irish regs for a couple of hours?
Armagh is definitely fine unless there is a women's hockey match on. You'll probably crash with the distraction.Holm park is in a nice area of the city.
Absolutely no problem anywhere else really. Done it for Setanta games and plenty of Irish league games.
If being ultra cautious you might want to avoid Cliftonville and Donegal Celtic away games at Glenavon, Crusaders and Glentoran.
Thanks for the advice.
I take it that going to a womens hockey match is well worth while? Must remember that![]()
Armagh is my local town and you will have no problem at holm park. 2 clubs in the championship are currently using Holm park as their 'Home ground' as Ballinamallard from Fermanagh are playing there till their ground is developed. If you want to see a better Co Armagh side drive 6 miles out the road to Loughgall.
was talkin about ballinamallard the other day with a friend and was thinkin of goin to a match there.. didnt realise that they had temporily moved out .. thanks for lettin me know.. many more clubs in co armagh that play in the northern ireland league??
Gary Cronin is he the right man to manage Longford Town?
Re Ballinamallard, Are they moving to a new ground or is back to the same one? Must be at least 15 years since I was there.
It was a tough choice at Armagh. There was a hockey match in progress. I wouldn't normally watch too much hockey but there was some talent on display.I did watch the football in the end which lacked talent of any description.
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I need to get to more grounds I've Only been to Suffolk Road, the oval, windsor, Seaview and Mourneview and of course Solitude the home of Irish football
oh and in the South I've been to Terryland Park.
For anybody who fancies a chance to do some Irish league groundhopping and also see an Ireland away game.
The FAI schools team play Northern Ireland in Ballymoney on Friday March
20th at 7pm. I'm assuming it will be in the Riada Stadium shared by Ballymoney United and Glebe Rangers. Ballymoney is quite a distance and probably an hour on from Belfast.
This is one of my 6 grounds to see in the championship so Limerick fixture permitting this is one I might attend.
I've been to Windsor, Oval, Stangmore (Dungannon), Riverside (Institute) and the Limavady Showgrounds.
The daft copy-cat notion of making St Stephen's Day fixtures 'derbies' means that there was only one IPL game west of the Bann this year, and as I'd already been to Dungannon and the game was likely to be a dirge I didn't bother. A bit daft to have only one game in half the north, just to enable supposed derbies.
I would've gone had Inst or Coleraine been at home.
Calm down ya big drama queen.
There's two points here. Firstly, that there was only 1 Premier match in over half of the geographic area of the north, which makes it hard for many casual/infrequent/curious supporters to catch a game on what is a traditional day for football in NI. I'd happily have gone to a game and put a bit of money into the league, if it didn't mean driving to the other side of the north.
Secondly - derbies was in inverted comas because a large number of them are very contrived. Blues-Glens and the North Belfast derby : fine. But Institute v Dungannon ?Coleraine v Ballymena ? Newry v Glenavon ?? I appreciate that with Limavady and Ports in a different division it makes some local derbies difficult to secure, but to then try and do the next best is a bit unnecessary.
What a daft post indeed....
Have a few on that list to get to myself. Been to all the top division ones. Not been to Coagh, Glebe/Ballymoney, Dergview or Killymoon.
For Eircom I have been to Drogheda, Bohs, Longford, Sligo, Derry City, Shamrock Rovers (old Milltown ground) and Athlone (although it may have been an old ground, St Mels Park I think it was called).
Colerane-vs-Ballymena has been a derby game for years and both sets of supporters have fostered an intense rivalry. Glenavon and Newry both hail from mid-Ulster.
I'm not so sure we should rip up the traditional football calender just to placate the odd curio from west of the Bann.
That would be "daft".
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The only Irish club to win a European trophy.
Only because Coleraine had no proper rivals since City were forced out.
Newry is in mid Ulster ?!?!You need to take a lie down before you go out and buy yoursel' a map, yumphla. I suppose you're gonna tell us next that Dundalk is too...
Too right. God forbid the Irish league might do something that would attract new or curious supporters. Especially in a league with such a severe geographical imbalance already. Down with that sort of thing...
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