Croke Park or Celtic Park

[lopez]

Originally posted by Rebel Bhoy
In reality my thinking is that the biggest stumbling block to the use of Croke Park is the possibility of drawing the English. The match that would get the best attendance and procure the greatest revenue would have to be played at a ground with a lesser capacity.

Imagine if an Ireland v Scum game was played at Parkhead. Now that would be a nightmare.

Originally posted by Macy
Have you all been out of the country so long? Do you have misty eyed dreams of the old country having progressed?

There's more money, but the parochial and mickey mouse attitudes remain.....

Come and visit us here if you want to see a country in a shambles. Allegedly one of the richest seven in the world, you have a health service where people lie on trolleys for hours, sometimes days. And then there's public transport. The Underground, for which for my sins I sell my labour to, is an absolute mess. No shortage of money here though, just seems to magically end up in a few fat cats' pockets. I was always led to believe that corruption and fecklessness were an atribute of those greasy, lazy, Southern Europeans, but the Madrid Metro mangaged to build a km of railway for 5% of a km on the Underground's newest extension.

Still, Britain can 'arf fight a war.

[frano]

Hey Lopez and PP, I've read 5 pages of comments on a discussion based about irelands future matches. No offence lads, but is there any chance of keeping a bit of focus here. At the moment I couldn't give a toss about who supported who in 1922, or the state of the British Empire in 1801, my team needs a feckin stadium to play in. All deviations from that argument are of no use in achieving a solution to the main problems being faced.
Firstly, where to play short term?
Sercondly, where to play long term?

So come on lads, get a grip, or this string is going to end up looking like the minutes of an AGM of the FAI, and will be just as counter productive.

Once we find a common ground, why not let the press know what the majority of the foot.ie boys think.
I know a couple of people in the press in Ireland and the Irish press in England and would be more than willing to approach them with our opinion. But we've got to have one first!

[Paddy Ramone]

The simple fact is that Croke Park is the National Stadium of Ireland and that's where the Republic of Ireland soccer team should play and not in another country, no matter how strong the connections are with that country or with football clubs in that country. Any other arrangement would have to be temporary.

[lopez]

Originally posted by Paddy Ramone
The simple fact is that Croke Park is the National Stadium of Ireland and that's where the Republic of Ireland soccer team should play and not in another country, no matter how strong the connections are with that country or with football clubs in that country. Any other arrangement would have to be temporary.

Seconded.

Originally posted by frano
Hey Lopez and PP, I've read 5 pages of comments on a discussion based about irelands future matches. No offence lads, but is there any chance of keeping a bit of focus here.

This is an IRISH football site. We are far too opinionated and inteligent to just sit around patting each other on the back. We all like a bit of an argument. Your point is however taken.

[frano]

Paddy, are you talking about a permanent move there, or just while the old lady is having a face lift?

Personally I think sharing with the GAA on a permanent basis might be stretching it a bit. I also can't see the Abbottstown stadium getting the go-ahead. Three national stadia in Dublin? Not for many years lads.

So while my ideal might be to have our own stadium, I don't see it happening
Sharing permantley with the GAA would give us a great ground, but I don't see that happening either.
As for playing home games abroad, I would class that as totaly unacceptable.

So the compromise then.
We work out a short term deal with the GAA while the work is being carried out. Once work is completed we move back in with the egg chasers, who we do have a decent relationship with.

We could also put in place a long term plan to have our own stadium built, but I think once we settle back into the old bag, we'll be there as long as our arses point downwards!

[Paddy Ramone]

Originally posted by frano
Paddy, are you talking about a permanent move there, or just while the old lady is having a face lift?

Personally I think sharing with the GAA on a permanent basis might be stretching it a bit.
Sharing permantley with the GAA would give us a great ground, but I don't see that happening either.

Why not a permanent move there. It's about as likely to happen as the building of a new stadium.

[frano]

This is an IRISH football site. We are far too opinionated and inteligent to just sit around patting each other on the back. We all like a bit of an argument

Your right there Lopez, it is an Irish FOOTBALL site!

I write this while patting myself on the back, and arguing with my brother on the phone. Multi-tasking, Yep, I'm that talented!

I still think it better to stick to the point though.

I heard rumours myself about the Rugby being played on the north side, is there any hard evidence on this. If so, if they have come to an initial agreement, wouldn't that leave the FAI out in the cold. Three organisations, one ground. I can't see that.

[Plastic Paddy]

Originally posted by frano
Hey Lopez and PP, I've read 5 pages of comments on a discussion based about irelands future matches. No offence lads, but is there any chance of keeping a bit of focus here. At the moment I couldn't give a toss about who supported who in 1922, or the state of the British Empire in 1801, my team needs a feckin stadium to play in. All deviations from that argument are of no use in achieving a solution to the main problems being faced.
Firstly, where to play short term?
Sercondly, where to play long term?

I hear your point Frano, but conversations on thread-based internet message boards often deviate far away from the original subject. What brings the likes of Lopez, you and I here together initially is our common support for our country's football team. It's only natural that conversations evolve into other areas of mutual interest. Sorry if you find this boring, but in truth you do have the option of not reading our posts. That said, I do appreciate that it's a pain in the árse when we do go off on one.

On the matter at hand, our team does indeed need a feckin stadium to play in. However, it's a fairly narrow subject and one on which most of us agree, even down to the detail. So the prospects for wide-ranging discourse on the matter are fairly limited, non?

Originally posted by frano
So the compromise then.
We work out a short term deal with the GAA while the work is being carried out. Once work is completed we move back in with the egg chasers, who we do have a decent relationship with.

We could also put in place a long term plan to have our own stadium built, but I think once we settle back into the old bag, we'll be there as long as our arses point downwards!

I agree with you entirely. And not for the sake of proving a point either!


PP

[MikeW]

Don't think playing in Croke Park should be seen as a permanent solution, it should only be a stop gap thing until a stadium is finally built for football and rugby to share (thats assuming the GAA ever see sense and open the place up in the first place).

As we all probably know Croke Park is less than ideal for non GAA games since the pitch is enormous, no floodlights, very restrictive planning permission meaning a limit on games, the biggest bunch of whinging neighbours anywhere in the country - and thats saying something ("No we don't want a new hotel in our neighbourhood, we'd much prefer it to remain a derelict site thank you very much" - didn't they know there was a stadium beside them when they moved in?) etc, etc.

You know what the government will/are doing though. They'll just announce consultants report after consultants report on the issue of a new stadium, and with each successive report the proposed stadium will become smaller and cheaper until eventually they'll end up with the most watered down, cheap-ass, barely functional and within FIFA guidelines piece of crap ever, i.e. they'll put two stands at either end of Lansdowne Road (where the terraces are now) and leave it at that for another generation to worry about. Call me cynical (its very hard not to be at times here in Ireland), but I'd be very surprised if this isn't what eventually happens.

[liam88]

Originally posted by Paddy Ramone
Union Jack is a combination of the English, Scottish and Irish flags and represents the suppression of the Irish people by the British.

Visit http://www.know-britain.com/general/union_jack.html -a site I found on the history of the Union Jack. It points out what the Scottish didn't/don't like about it and how they thought it should be as well as reporting,

"When the southern part of Ireland gained its independence in 1921 and became the Irish Free State no alteration was made to the Union Jack."

It also states,

"No mention has been made of the Welsh flag. The Welsh dragon was not incorporated into the Union Flag because Wales had already been united to England when the first version of the Union Flag was designed in 1606. It is, however, in common use"

I say it's high time that they remove St. Patricks cross and slap a dragon in the middle-please us and the Welsh

Or do you think that our cross on their flag shows that we still have influence over the UK? Well do we?

[lopez]

Originally posted by frano
Three national stadia in Dublin? Not for many years lads.

Definitely a no - no and quite immoral when you think that the public money splashed out on three stadiums that are used half a dozen times a year.

As I said before, the FAI don't need their own stadium as few FAs in Europe have their own. It is either owned by the government or in private (most often football clubs) hands.

What is different is the difference between the lack of suitable stadiums (stadia?) in either government or private hands available to the FAI and suitable arenas in Ireland unavailable to them.

Originally posted by MikeW
As we all probably know Croke Park is less than ideal for non GAA games since the pitch is enormous, no floodlights, very restrictive planning permission meaning a limit on games, the biggest bunch of whinging neighbours anywhere in the country - and thats saying something ("No we don't want a new hotel in our neighbourhood, we'd much prefer it to remain a derelict site thank you very much" - didn't they know there was a stadium beside them when they moved in?) etc, etc.

F**k the neighbours and stick in some floodlights. Moving to Croke Park is no different than all those multi-sport athletics arenas we play abroad in. So it's not the purpose built football stadium. When two Dublin teams can fill such a stadium every week then that's the time for a purpose built stadium. Until then, it must be Croke Park.

[Duncan Gardner]

If you can't agree with the GAA and Lansdowne's out of action temporarily, then it has to be Tolka or Dalymount.

Riga's main stadium holds 9,000, yet they've qualified for the finals...

If I may drift off-topic, someone mentioned a majority of marriages in the west of Scotland being mixed. Though not an expert I think local authorities there no longer record or analyse this data for census purposes. In other words, that Scots generally no longer care what foot their sister in law's brother in law kicks with, even if he does support Rangers

[Plastic Paddy]

Originally posted by davros
9000 may be sufficient for a'micky-mouse'country like the Puppet State who only exist due to a load of planters & their old friend,Gerry Mandered.............................but Ireland/Erin does aspire to be a Real country(Wales get 73000+ for qualifiers & we all know the last Finals they were in,was before must of were born!),though we can match the Br*ts for incompetence & inertia....hence No new national stadium..& the muppets @ FAI,eventually going'cap-in-hand' to the GAA to borrow Croker......

Undoubtedly,on current trends,it'll take 20 yrs.(IF L.U.A.S.i s anything to go by!,to re-develop Lansdowne,which is PATHETIC,given our record in the building trade,the world over!If this is probably the case(& only 1/2 joking!),we'll have to play @ Parkhead,who incidentally ARE WILLING TO HOST IRELAND GAMES!Thus more logical,as readily accessible as OT;do you really want to share this with R.M.K et al?!Anfield is less of a prob.,but where would we play the Tans?!

The PC brigade can wring their hands,but we only have the FAI & Successive Irish governments to blame....in this context,FF,FG,PD's et al are as lax as their prod.equivalents in the osc!

Have you been drinking by any chance Davros?

[frano]

9000 capacity, that would mean I'd only get into half the games. The away ones! Tickets would be as rare as rocking horse sh@te. Making the touts the country's highest earners on the day.
Surely we'd get more than 9000 in a partly closed Lansdowne if they scheduled the work right.

[Paddy Ramone]

Originally posted by Duncan Gardner
If you can't agree with the GAA and Lansdowne's out of action temporarily, then it has to be Tolka or Dalymount.

Riga's main stadium holds 9,000, yet they've qualified for the finals...

If I may drift off-topic, someone mentioned a majority of marriages in the west of Scotland being mixed. Though not an expert I think local authorities there no longer record or analyse this data for census purposes. In other words, that Scots generally no longer care what foot their sister in law's brother in law kicks with, even if he does support Rangers

Well at least Tolka and Dalymount are in Ireland not like Celtic Park. Parkhead despite what some people who need geography lessons believe is in fact in Scotland.

If Ireland were to play in Scotland, there could be just as strong an argument to play at Easter Road, home of Hibernian. Hibs, the first Irish football club ever were founded on the centenary of the Irish patriot Daniel O'Connells birth in 1875. Also Edinburgh is a much more attractive city than Glasgow.

About mixed marriages in Scotland. The leader of the Scottish National Party John Swiney recently married a Catholic woman in a Catholic church. I think that discredits the "Soon No Pope" allegations. Actually SNP was alleged to stand for "Sorry, No Papists". This dates back to the 1930's and nothing to do with the modern SNP.

[lopez]

Originally posted by davros
hence No new national stadium..& the muppets @ FAI,eventually going'cap-in-hand' to the GAA to borrow Croker......

Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, The Tans, Switzerland, Russia, Sweden, Portugal, Turkey, all of the former 'communist block'. In fact all of Europe - with the exception of France, Denmark, Belgium and Greece - no Football Association has their own stadium. And I doubt if any of the ones that do, own the freehold (or part freehold) of it.

I, like everyone, love to knock the morons at Merrion Mansions, but let's be fair, they don't exactly have the same level playing field as the rest of Europe, even if, and this is where credit is due, they have a better playing record (how many times have Sweden won the UEFA U17 or U19 Championship?). The millions that they have wasted, waste and will waste on the holy grails of a national stadium when there is heavily state subsidised one already, could be better spent not only on improving the playing standards of young Irish footballers, but on providing support (eg: further education) when the dream move across the water goes tits up.

If you want to have a pop, have a go at UEFA. They know the score. They lay down the laws without any consideration of events locally, like we have a bunch of bigots in charge of a stadium suitable to host a Chanpions League final. Yeah they don't waste any time letting some God forsaken country host the finals of the World Youth Championship (not the UAE) where there is hardly any roads or decent hotels let alone a decent stadium and a civil war about to kick off any minute, but turn round and tell the FAI plastic seats are unsafe. W***ers!

[Beavis]

Croker short term and get Eircom park back on the road for the future.

[frano]

With regard to security issues playing home games in Celtic Park. I think that might be a huge reason as to why no decision has been made. Not because of the Celtic park issue, more the security.
If Ireland draw say Holland or Italy in the qualifiers, you can bet your arse they won't be playing at Anfield. Or an even worse combination Ireland - Turkey. There'd be feckin murder, with the English hooligans causing it.

If on the other hand we get Malta, Greece and Andorra (my prefered combination), they might well stage the games at Anfield, as logistically it would be the most sensible alternative to playing at home.

I still think that playing home games anywhere but on Irish soil is totaly unacceptable.........but then it's not up to me.

I do think that fridays draw could make a profound difference on where we play. As I believe the FAI will not go to the GAA unless they have no choice. A case of pride before a fall if you ask me.

[lopez]

Originally posted by frano
If Ireland draw say Holland or Italy in the qualifiers, you can bet your arse they won't be playing at Anfield. Or an even worse combination Ireland - Turkey. There'd be feckin murder, with the English hooligans causing it.

The only problem is IF we get the scum. Remember all those stories at Euro 88 or Italia 90 about the tans following us if they got knocked out and we carried on. Load of ******. Why? Cos we are number one on the tan hatelist hombre, not f*cking Turkey. But then as you don't 'give a toss about who supported who in 1922, or the state of the British Empire in 1801' you wouldn't know about that.

Originally posted by frano
I do think that fridays draw could make a profound difference on where we play. As I believe the FAI will not go to the GAA unless they have no choice. A case of pride before a fall if you ask me.

Well if we play as crap as we did in Basel and play teams marginally worse than Canada (23K attendance), we won't need to worry about the bucket seats at Lansdowne Road let alone Croke Park or Parkhead.

[Paddy Ramone]

Originally posted by davros
Here's to the boys of the Shankhill repeating the early '90's & supporting?us,so ****ed off were they with the Grantham Witch(Hurry Up & Die,M.H.T?!)

Otherwise,Mickey mouse games wherever,big games @ Croke,Parkheed or ..........Goodison...they are a Cafflick club...!

It would be great to see the protestant boys up North supporting us. But they have chip on their shoulder over the Lennon incident and the fact that more and more Catholics from Norn Iron are declaring for the republic. They have a persecution complex, they think everyone is against them.

Hear talk of a Wexford motion in the GAA where they are going to make the "cunning and devious" move of leasing Croker for five sporting events a year to the government opening it to soccer and rugby. It would be great if it happens.

Yeah Goodison, home of that good Catholic boy Wayne Rooney would be great. Rooney is a "plastic" with Tipperary roots but declared for England. It's not too far from Ireland. There's also Old Trafford, home of another Catholic club! Bertie would love that!