Riverside would be OK, I think, with 1,540 seats. Maginn Park wouldn't be. Celtic Park (if it passes Congress) would be fine too.
Failing that, we'll be heading to Sligo.
As for season tickets, they're not on sale yet. They can't do so until they sort a ground, which hopefully will be done before Christmas.
54 Crew-Finn Harps FC Supporters Club
Following Harps Home & Away
https://www.facebook.com/54CrewFHFC
Category 3 has a requirement for 4,500 seats - If the Riverside has only 1,450 seats as you mentioned, this would leave it just below the 1,500 required for category 2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_stadium_categories
https://www.donegalnow.com/sport/cou...utm_medium=web
Donegal county council getting behind Harps attempts to see stadium progress.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
At this stage I'd hold out more hope for seeing Detox released than Finn Harp being delivered.
Sure Tallaght laid dormant for many a year before SDCC rescued the ground, the same can happen for Harps
Surely Rovers supporters would know the frustration Harps feel
We are the SR the SRFC.......
Part time Finn Harps too :)
Of course we do, but I don't see Donegal CC deciding to built a municipal facility the way SDCC did. If we were relying on a private developer like Harps are we'd still be waiting too.
Martin McGuiness said this morning that funding for Phase 2 of the Brandywell is "100% guaranteed", with an announcement to be made in the new year. "You're talking about millions", which sounds promising.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-norther...158441?SThisFB
Hopefully this goes ahead within the same time frame as the stage one plan.
Bulldozers already in and working in the Brandywell today.
So if you think Bohs are big read this. http://www.astronomy.ie/perpespective.html
Standing space, parking and seating will be massive issues.
There's 450 seats from the Lone Moor side available to put in Maginn, but, depending on who you chat to, only 220 are going to be used. Not enough for our own supporters, never mind anyone else's. And what happens when, as it undoubtably will be, it's lashing down and you get everyone trying to get under the roof? Besides that, the capacity of Maginn Park is around 2,500, which is very small. What allocation does a club have to give away fans, 10%? Harps would get 22 seating tickets, 228 standing.
The more I think about it, the more I believe Maginn Park just isn't suitable. But we seem to be stuck with it. Maybe. There's a complete lack of information (maybe because no deal is sorted yet), but it's going to decimate season ticket sales. I'd guess we have more than 220 ST holders who phyiscally won't be able to stand for two hours, so straight away you've people unable to attend matches for an entire season. Would they even bother coming back in 2018?
Riverside is the most logical option here. So naturally it'll be ignored.
For reference, the covered area is this:
Couple of more general views of the place:
You'll never squeeze 2,500 into Maginn. That would be absolute carnage.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
Why is Institute's ground not an option? Cultural background of the area, relationship with the club, IFA, what have you?
"If you don't work harder I'll pull you off at halftime,"
“Crikey, at Manchester City all we get is an orange and a cup of tea,"
The reasons given not for using for the last half dozen games of last season (when we thought work was starting in August) was that we couldn't get Friday nights. Apparently the FAI wouldn't let us change to Saturdays midway through the season. That wouldn't be an issue next year.
Various excuses such as the FAI not having jurisdiction and being in a unionist area have been also mentioned.
The jurisdiction thing is a non-issue, the FAI would have as much or as little jurisdiction as they do over the Brandywell.
The area is mainly middle class unionist, alongside an arterial road with no housing on the city-bound side of it. Some people, and I'll generalise by saying it seems to be the older generation, think it has the potential to attract trouble. I really don't buy that. The area is really well suited for matches, with decent car park, a main road free of housing into town. It can be very easily policed, as it is for bigger Institute matches.
There aren't any bars particularly handy to it either, so it'd be straight in and out for most people. If anything, it'd make a safer venue than the Brandywell.
Relations between the clubs are great, with many fans supporting both. The ground is owned the YMCA though, not that that should be an issue either.
IMO, it's the blindingly obvious choice over Maginn Park, in a town of 7,000 people 23km away.
Other issue with Institute is that people will just stand on top of the hill and watch the game from outside the ground.
Institute pitch would require serious upkeep though while both seasons are running. Maginn Park has a superb playing surface and nobody else plays club football there.
https://kesslereffect.bandcamp.com/album/kepler - New music. It's not that bad.
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