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Thread: Problems with Oriel Park....

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    Problems with Oriel Park....

    [size=1]From the Irish Times[/size]

    [size=3]FAI Cup tie in doubt as turf war looms in Dundalk[/size]

    The Football Association of Ireland appear to have walked themselves into yet another difficult situation, on this occasion apparently taking their eye off the ball in relation to the forthcoming Dundalk versus Drogheda United FAI Cup third-round tie, which is due to be televised live by TG4
    The match is scheduled to take place on a revamped Oriel Park in Dundalk this Friday. As of yesterday, however, the game had not received approval from football's governing body. Nor had the pitch received the green light from Fifa, who have yet to inspect the newly installed artificial surface. And, furthermore, extensive reconstruction and renovation works at the ground are still far from being complete.

    At a press conference in Oriel Park yesterday Dundalk launched the new surface. The final touches to the pitch, which is the first of its kind in the National League, were being applied as the press conference was in progress.

    However, Dundalk FC chief executive Seán Connolly expressed confidence the new surface - while not at its optimum - would be "perfectly playable".

    He went on to state he didn't anticipate any difficulties with the FAI passing the pitch as playable, or with Fifa - who are due in Dundalk today to view the pitch.

    "It is known that it takes three months for these type of pitches to settle in," said David Fry of Pride Sports and Leisure yesterday, who installed the pitch.

    "Once the pitch is tested by Fifa tomorrow and the certificate is handed out then the pitch can be played on. In four to six months' time there won't be any sign of the rubber crumb which is so prominent at the moment."

    However, the question is - will the FAI and ultimately Fifa give Friday's FAI Cup tie the thumbs up?

    The difficulty for Dundalk FC and the FAI in particular, who have responsibility for the staging of the local derby, is that the match is only four days away. At present the pitch is in a very poor state, a mixture of sand and crumb rubber right through the surface making it highly unstable underfoot.

    Drogheda United players were out training on the surface for an hour yesterday and manager Paul Doolin refused to comment about the state of the pitch afterwards.

    The Drogheda players were not available for comment either, but it was clear that the club from the south of the county were far from impressed with what they had experienced.

    A short time later an official spokesperson for Drogheda United stated that "following the attendance of our management team and players at Oriel Park this morning, we have been in contact with the FAI to express our grave concerns around the staging of Friday night's cup tie at Oriel Park".

    Asked if the club would refuse to play on the new pitch, the spokesperson said, "We will be keeping the situation closely under review over the next 24 to 48 hours and will take whatever steps are necessary to safeguard our players."

    Questions must now be asked of the FAI. How was this unsatisfactory situation allowed to develop and why was an earlier date not set for all work to be completed satisfactorily?

    To a layman looking at the pitch and surroundings yesterday afternoon there seemed no way a match could be played at Oriel Park this Friday night.




    © The Irish Times

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    International Prospect Peadar's Avatar
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    Drogheda United manager Paul Doolin has insisted his side will refuse to play Dundalk at Oriel Park this Friday claiming that the new artificial pitch Dundalk have installed is dangerous.
    Taken from BreakingNews.ie
    Have Boot Disk, will travel

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peadar
    Taken from BreakingNews.ie
    I hope FIFA pass it fit to play...

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    First Team Cosmo's Avatar
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    Nobody will know til later today where its on.

    Definitely not in monaghan anyway - so its united park or boriel.

    Oh the joys of being able to charge them for the use of united park on friday
    DAN CONNOR HATES CITY, HE HATES LANGERS

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    Seasoned Pro thejollyrodger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thejollyrodger
    I think it captures his inner essence!

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    International Prospect Peadar's Avatar
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    From these pictures, it doesn't look too bad.
    Have Boot Disk, will travel

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    Godless Commie Scum
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    Is that paul doolin or the bloke from the "C'mon West Ham" coke ad from a few years ago?
    If you attack me with stupidity, I'll be forced to defend myself with sarcasm.

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    First Team Jerry The Saint's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thejollyrodger
    It doesn't do him any justice because it's cropped off at the top and bottom.

    Here's the full picture: http://wso.williams.edu/~rfoxwell/st.../OldAnakin.jpg

    SIGNATURESCOPE

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    He just looks bad in every picture! Ever see the one of him on eleven-a-side?? He looks like a someone plotting to rob your house, not how his team are going to marginally win a game they dominate.

    Anyway, the pitch doesn't look so bad in this pic. The stand looks good too.
    Extratime.ie

    Yo te quiero, mi querida. Sin tus besos, yo soy nada.

    Abri o portão de ouro, da maquina do tempo.

    Mi mamá me hizo guapo, listo y antimadridista.

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    Seasoned Pro thejollyrodger's Avatar
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    Dundalk's pitch battle reaches final countdown
    http://www.unison.ie/irish_independe...issue_id=12906

    WHEN you have been waiting all season to see your team play a home game, a few more hours shouldn't matter too much but the frustration was clearly etched on faces at Oriel Park yesterday.

    Dundalk's FAI Carlsberg Cup tie against arch-rivals Drogheda United on Friday night in front of a live TV audience was hanging in the balance and dozens turned up to watch the drama unfold.

    On the newly-laid artificial surface a team of FIFA experts were carrying out the start of two-day tests to determine whether the game should get the go-ahead and end Dundalk's six-month Oriel exile.

    Irrespective of whether or not the green light is given, Dundalk's gamble of becoming the first Eircom League club to install an artificial pitch seems set to pay-off.

    The €500,000 surface which Dundalk now possess is the first of its kind in the world. It conforms to FIFA's exacting two-star standard, the highest possible rating for a hi-tech surface, and it won't be long before it is winning plaudits from those who really matter - the players and the spectators.

    Visually, it looks like a grass surface and walking on it one is amazed by the resemblance to a well-manicured and closely cropped surface.

    As the testers went about their work yesterday afternoon a group of schoolchildren were playing into one of the goals and it was obvious that the bounce of the ball is true thanks, say the experts, to the 70mm of in-fill.

    The one problem clearly evident was the spray of rubber dust every time the ball bounced or was kicked but Dundalk officials say this will disappear once the pitch has bedded in properly.

    Dundalk fans who wandered up the Carrick Road out of curiosity yesterday admitted they were impressed at the quality of the surface. They believe the days of trudging to Monaghan and Drogheda to watch their team are over.

    "I was a sceptic," admitted one, "but I've changed my mind completely. It's absolutely fantastic and nobody can have excuses for not being able to play on it."

    Even Dundalk's legendary groundsman Mickey Fox, now in his 80th year, is amazed at the quality of the surface and he should know as this is the fourth different pitch he has seen at Oriel Park since he joined the ground staff in 1942. "I was watching Drogheda train here on Monday and it was a joy to watch the ball zipping across the surface," he says.

    Quality grass surfaces like those at the top Premier Division grounds like Tolka Park and Turner's Cross can cost up to €65,000 each year to maintain while Dundalk reckon that they will slash their bill from €40,000 to just €1,500 per annum.

    That's a sum that will cause many club chairman to ***** up their ears.

    While Dunfermline had to rip up their plastic surface over the summer after the SPL clubs voted to outlaw it, their pitch did prove that artificial turf is actually safer than grass.

    Of the six injuries Dunfermline had last season, which forced players out of the game for a month or more, four came away from home while UEFA's own figures show that show 3.2 muscular and ligament injuries per 1000 playing hours on artificial surfaces compared with 7.6 on grass.

    O'Kane admits that Dundalk's pioneering trail has been tough. They've been through the mill after their funding fell through and they had problems getting the necessary paperwork in order to draw down a Government grant of €1m.

    They had to sell their training pitch, Hiney Park, but moving the new pitch towards the main stand has created enough room to build a new training ground on the other side of the ground. They are also building new terracing and a clubhouse complete with new dressing room.

    Dundalk hope that new surface will generate up to €2,000 per week in rental revenue and already two junior league games are booked this week.

    "The town is buzzing. Everybody is getting ready to come back to Oriel Park and we'll have 5,000 here on Friday for the Drogheda game if it goes ahead," says Dundalk chairman Tony O'Kane.

    As evening fell, the two FIFA experts continued to work their way around the pitch probing, prodding and analysing the new surface while all the time the numbers watching grew - in anticipation of a bright new dawn for Dundalk FC.
    I think the pitch will get the nod from FIFA. It should save dundalk a few quid over the coming years

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    International Prospect Peadar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by thejollyrodger
    I think the pitch will get the nod from FIFA.
    I think we should all get them if it does.
    Wouldn't make much difference to hoofers like Shels but teams who like to play ball would really benefit.
    Have Boot Disk, will travel

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    Could that be another justification for a move back to Winter league?
    "I don’t want to tempt fate, but Thierry Henry is not having one of his best nights." - RTE co-commentator Jim Beglin, minutes before TH struck the stunning winner.

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    Reserves Krstic's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fosterdollar
    Could that be another justification for a move back to Winter league?
    NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!

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    Seasoned Pro Pablo's Avatar
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    i hate Dundalk. 1991 and all that. i still have nightmares. ;(

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    International Prospect Peadar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fosterdollar
    Could that be another justification for a move back to Winter league?
    I hope not.
    Our fitness levels in Europe have to be the big plus.
    We need to prove that this is true.
    Hopefully City can add weight to that argument tomorrow night.
    Have Boot Disk, will travel

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    I agree with your point. I meant that if the pitch is successful in Dundalk and others follow suit then the pro-winter fans will use that as another reason to re-open the winter league (or lack of opposition to it on the basis of flooded pitches, etc.). Tied to all the other reasons that have been thrown around before it could send the balance of favour to the winter set-up.

    EDIT: probably should mention that we have had good runs in europe before despite being out of season
    "I don’t want to tempt fate, but Thierry Henry is not having one of his best nights." - RTE co-commentator Jim Beglin, minutes before TH struck the stunning winner.

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    Quote Originally Posted by fosterdollar
    EDIT: probably should mention that we have had good runs in europe before despite being out of season
    We've had the stats up here and this is already the most successful decade for Irish football in Europe, despite the fact that we're only half way through it and the fact that Longford have represented us on a number of occassions.
    Have Boot Disk, will travel

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peadar
    We've had the stats up here and this is already the most successful decade for Irish football in Europe, despite the fact that we're only half way through it and the fact that Longford have represented us on a number of occassions.
    Exactly, and if you'll allow me to play devil's advocate, what have Longford achieved in Europe as a result of summer football?

    I'm not saying the success in Europe has improved but it could be argued that the standard was improving over the years anyway as european experienec increased.
    "I don’t want to tempt fate, but Thierry Henry is not having one of his best nights." - RTE co-commentator Jim Beglin, minutes before TH struck the stunning winner.

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    Formerly: eamo eamoss's Avatar
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    The pitch has passed F.I.F.A testing.


    Bring on Friday!!!!
    Children in the dark cause accidents.
    Accidents in the dark cause children.

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