We've 6 years to get this right. We really must have a second venue somewhere outside Dublin built in time for this.
Wouldnt the venues all ready be nominated in the bidding process, or do people think we can start changing that round once the tournament has been secured? I think people will need to accept there will be no games or training venues outside the greater Dublin area.
It's a no-brainer from the English FA. They can farm out one group of 8 to Dublin and Glasgow, as there's no other cities in either country that can effect capacity - unless you were to include Murrayfield. Just looking at it there, the website says 10 stadiums (for a 24 team tourny), that could easily rise to 16 for a 32 team (thinking of WC 26).
English FA could in fairness to them include with the two London grounds, any of:
Newcastle, Sunderland, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Nottingham, Leicester, Milton Keynes, Bristol, Southampton
(Bold being nailed on, italics less likely).
to add to Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dublin.
Here they come! It’s the charge of the “Thanks” Brigade!
Galway seems the obvious option. Maybe somewhere around the end of the N6 It could serve as a new provincial HQ for Connacht GAA, and perhaps the odd big game for Connacht Rugby. Then there would be the odd concert and other one off events. A 35,000 enclosed all-seater stadium wouldn't be a complete white elephant
As for Belfast, I'm not sure Casement will be involved even if it's ready.
On paper it sounds obvious, but if NI were to qualify would they be based there for group stage games?
The north playing in the heart of Andytown would be a policing nightmare. Presumably they would want to play GSTQ before the game. I just don't see that being a runner. It's politically problematic to not involve them, but it's potentially even more problematic to include them, and I'm not sure how much difference 6 years would make to that!
The smart option might be to use this an an opportunity to dump the Casement Park project, and build a different, better stadium elsewhere in the city to serve for this tournament, and then as a provincial HQ for the GAA.
Last edited by backstothewall; 23/03/2022 at 9:56 AM.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
No chance of any of the provincial cities being involved in this in terms of hosting games unfortunately, it's just not going to happen. It will be Lansdowne, Croker and that will be it.
That's the outcome of decades of an unbalanced development approach in Ireland and it's not going to be fixed between now and 2028.
why could pairc ui chaoimh not be used?
Temporary seating could be installed on the terraces. Russia used temporary seating in at least one stadium in the 2018 WC
There will be no new stadiums built for this. We can't even get a rail line to Dublin airport built over several decades FFS.
The Cork option is the only realistic possibility, but even that would be a big job in a stadium whose primary tenants had to be publicly shamed to allow a charity football match to be played there. And I really don't want the GAA getting more public money they will then pretend they never received after the tournament is over.
No, I don't think so. The Aviva is there, so is Croke Park which already has a history of filthy Sasanach games. I'd love for things to be spread out, but not with white elephants we won't have a hope in filling a week after the Final.
As for the North, I don't think Casement will be a runner, but more for planning permission reasons than God Save The Queen (I mean, while it isn't the same, it's been sung in Croke Park without incident). And, again, nobody should be doing favours for the GAA when the GAA will happily act like they owe nothing to nobody afterwards.
Far more likely some manner of dispensation will be sought for Windsor Park, which UEFA was happy to see host the Super Cup recently. And if such a dispensation was granted, well, Thomond holds 20K+ and has held football internationals before...
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
Gonna get the Cork folk up in arms here. But it won't be used because it's crap.
We were putting temporary seating into the old Lansdowne Road 15 years ago, but that wouldn't have been acceptable for a major tournament even back then. If that was the only issue we might get away with it, but it isn't. Even if you put seats in people would still be completely exposed to the elements behind the goals. And it's the lack of facilities for corporate hospitality. It's the lack of media facilities.
It's big enough, but that's all it has going for it. The GAA have built something there that would have been perfect for hosting games in Italia '90.
It doesn't have to be one or the other
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
Thinking a bit more, I actually think Belfast might get it's act together for this.
There's a deal there to be done to build a 45,000-50,000 seater stadium that would have the GAA as owners/anchor tenants, but which can be reconfigured along the same lines as the Stade De France to host athletics events.
The GAA would get a new stadium that's actually big enough for their needs. NI Football and Ulster Rugby would get access to somewhere big enough for their biggest events. The unionist politicians wouldn't miss the possibility Belfast hosting the Commonwealth games somewhere down the road.
Bring Back Belfast Celtic F.C.
True it doesn't. But I don't see why any real need for another large football stadium in our small country given the state of current facilities.
If they did have money ringfenced for stadium works e.g. 200 million I'd then much rather it was given out to 30 LOI and other senior clubs as interest free loans / grants to upgrade their facilities which is desperately needed.
Yes I will admit to going off topic here
there has been far worse than PUC used at the euros before. i got drowned at the croatia game in Poznan even though it had a roof on all four sides.
the stand i was in was more like a meccano set than a properly constructed stand
no one will convince me that the temporary seating at both ends of Ekaterinburg Arena in Russia 2018 was any better than what we used to install in Lansdowne Road.
Last edited by jbyrne; 23/03/2022 at 11:36 AM.
Blowing money on stadia would be madness, while football here remains in a state of relying on buttons.
You simply cannot ignore a 75,000+ capacity ground sitting idle in Dublin while all of this is going on.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Author of Never Felt Better (History, Film Reviews).
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Bookmarks