The club examined all options for the pitch at Oriel Park. It is the club’s preferred option to install a new natural turf pitch. However, having examined this option with stadium and pitch developers, we believe it is not the right time for the club to return to grass. As well as our first team, we have several underage and ladies’ teams whose match and training requirements need to be catered for. A new grass pitch will form part of a wider development plan that includes overall stadium improvements as our new Limonta surface can be relocated in the future.
The installation of the new pitch is the first part of a long-term strategy to improve the facilities at Oriel Park for players, staff and both Dundalk and visiting supporters. The club are undertaking a major review into the long-term future of Oriel Park. Given that our that long-standing legal issues have only recently being resolved, this process is still in its early stages.
Looks like it's just a stop-gap solution for a few seasons until they can buy/build new pitches for the underage/ladies team, whereby they can then move the artificial turf to their training ground and finally install natural grass in Oriel. Seems to make sense.
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