Croke park opened to play soccer

**4tothefloor** · 17/04/2005, 1:50 PM

Originally Posted by D2 Red

You wouldn't dare throw a shopping trolly in a river in limerick,sure you can get a euro back on that,Cheap c**nts.Btw what foreign nationals are in limerick not even the al-quieda are that stupid also that fued thats there sure thats only a little misunderstanding nothing to do with drugs or in turn then junkies,lets be honest somebody down there is buying them.

Great arguement there

I won't even bother picking holes in it, there's so many......

**gspain** · 18/04/2005, 8:08 AM

Originally Posted by iceman

Lets remember , Croke Park has no floodlights , and UEFA insist that the last round of group matches all be played at the same time , for obvious reasons , so in that situation we may still have to travel to Cardiff for that fixture.

AFAIK the wiring was put in place during construction in Croke Park for future floodlighting but there were objections from the nearby residents to evening matches so the lighting was scrapped.

November 89 - we played Malta on a wednesday afternoon no lights. Spain had to play Hungary on a wednesday afternoon in Seville.

Word is though the GAA will get the government to pay for the lights.

**pete** · 18/04/2005, 9:07 AM

Apparently Lansdowne costs �500k to rent for internationals which would need 12,500 attendance to break even before all other costs are invloved for bucket seats, security etc...

If GAA going to charge �2m would mean need 40,000 seats @ �50 to break even.

The FAI wisely won't commit itself to using Croke Park as they need to have good bargaining position.

**observer** · 18/04/2005, 11:13 AM

Do the math Pete. Landsdowne Road 35,000 @ �50 = �1,750,000, less �500,000 fee = �1,250,000.
Croke park 70,000 �50 = �3,500,000, less �2,000,000 = �1,500,000.
An increased take of �250,000 + 35,000 extra happy supporters.
It is only natural that the negative spins will start coming from the banks of the Lee where good old Frank and Con Murphy's power mad bigotry stopped the GAA clubs having a democratic say. Now its the turn of those who sold Flower Lodge to criticise any attempts at co-operation between sporting
codes. I sincerely hope that the Dinny Allens and Dave Barry's join with the Jimmy Barry Murphy's to lead a movement to oust the GAA bigots from power. Hopefully there are not to many Pete's on this side to bother worrying about.

**monutdfc** · 18/04/2005, 12:13 PM

I heard on the radio this morning that the FAI pay the IRFU 200k per game in Lansdowne.

Anyway, the Dublin Chamber of Commerce/Licensed Vintners Association should pay the rent, they're the ones that will gain the most out of games not going abroad.

From rte.ie:

The Dublin economy stood to lose over �90m during 2006-2008 if Ireland's soccer and rugby home internationals were switched to overseas stadia, according to Dublin Chamber research.

'Economic impact studies have shown that large sports events generate significant revenues for the local and national economy. In the case of large international sporting fixtures, revenues in excess of �10m per event from out-of-state visitors are typical. This sustains more than 300 jobs a year per event,' says Gina Quin, Dublin Chamber of Commerce's CEO.

**Comic Book Guy** · 19/04/2005, 7:54 PM

I know this is a bit late to be saying this, but did anyone see the RTE news on Sunday evening, the reporter did a vox pop on the crowd at a hurling match getting the opinions of those there, most were in favour of it,but one individual said he would not have them near the car park of Croke Park.
All well and good you might say, but what was he wearing? Why it was a Celtic hat

It was the second such piece of hypocrisy I witnessed on the issue, Saturday evening at work a known GAA fan on hearing the news said it was the worst day of his life!!
Fair enough I thought, I guess he's entitled to his view, except when he was driving home I noticed a sticker on the back of his car that said, '' Follow me and Leeds United''

I wonder what a foreigner would make of it all?

**Kerry Blue** · 20/04/2005, 4:15 AM

Originally Posted by sligoman

Any news on when we'll actually start playing there? (Rugby and Soccer)

Seems like it will be quite some time yet. Probably in 2007 for the qualifiers for Euro 2008. There hasn't been an application for planning permission for the redevelopment of Lansdowne yet, so you're looking at at least two years before any work would begin and the ground closing.