Originally Posted by
brendy_éire
Considering it'll all be seating, and thus mostly older people, there'll be virtually no singing from it.
We were getting over 2K at a fair amount of games last season, but I doubt we'll get anything like that next year. The lack of seating will exclude people, but the biggest issue will be the weather. With such a small covered area (220 people approximately), any bad weather and people just won't go. With a miserable day in April/October, you'll be lucky to get 500.
Stating the obvious, but the two Harps matches are going to be mental to organise. Officially Harps will get 200-odd tickets, of which 22 will be seated. Will they put the rest, minus season tickets, on general sale? There'll be some scramble for those.
Regarding travel time, I'd add a bit more time than suggested. Driving standards on that road (R238) are shocking, frequently there are tailbacks caused by drivers doing 20-30kmph under the limit (limit is mostly 80kmph). Traffic will take a while to filter through Buncrana too.
I'd say add 35 minutes extra each way from the A5/N2 direction, 25 from the A6, 10 from the N13. If we're playing Friday evening matches, traffic from A5/N2 would be handier using the Foyle Bridge, further north from the double-decked Craigavon Bridge they'd normally use. You'd avoid the city centre traffic that way.
Parking will be an issue too. It's small residential streets immediately around Maginn Park. There's some parking on the main street and the library has 100 or so spaces beside it. If the club were to politely ask Lidl if their car park can be used, it'd be handy, though I doubt they'd agree.
There'll have be a designated area for buses too, they wouldn't really fit outside the ground. Drop-off/pick-up points wouldn't be at the ground, but a few minutes walk away. The bus station, or behind the old fire station on the Cockhill Road maybe.
There's mention of subsidised buses being put on, though no real information on those yet. You'd presume away fans will be sorted on those too.
On the plus side though, Buncrana is lovely a town, great for a day out. The shore front is nice, Swan Park is a lovely walk, and there's a few coastal paths about too. Malin Head is only up the road from it, there's some great beaches and golf courses around, and a decent supply for pubs and restaurants. And if we were to play Sundays, you could have the Saturday night in Derry, without having to take a day off work.
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