You are really pulling along bow on this EMG! JLO has Derry connections , but somehow decided to wear a Bohs Jersey when Bohs played Derry in the cup final in the RDS.
I remember that he also mistakenly , and inaccurately, said something positive about Rovers at one of our gigs, cue good natured derision from the crowd.
Presumably, no sane rational person has a problem with" celebrities" name checking a League of Ireland club in a positive way.?
Anyway despite the lack of consanguinity, which Eat Your Greens apparently requires for his authentic supporter test, the practical link is there between Bohs and JLO for over ten years. As to before? We forgive him his past trespasses
Its been suggested on here before, but with the current rise of support of Bohs, and the possible delay in ground redevelopment, is there any way they could look at re-opening the Phibs end of the ground?
That would be a perfect spot for away fans, as you have to walk past the closed turnstiles anyway for that area if you enter via shopping centre end. It would also free up the DK stand for home fans, as there is an entrance for the Jodi behind that area, it might work, especially as the Phibs end has been cleaned up last week by volunteers.
Good to hear the new DFC CEO talk about the possibility of making use of the huge space behind the town goal in oriel park on a podcast last week. If they could only build something there, roof both sides of the stand in an L shape (so not to obstruct the stand view), that would almost be enough to get things over the line for the next few years. The shed side needs to be knocked down, using the YDC as a backfill is just waiting to be utilized, but that's probably a longer project.
Oriel Park has a long list of issues as everyone knows, even a plan to get something sorted out would be good to see and would keep fans happy. It might be all talk but the more P6 and their man (CEO) talk about it (he has also used prog notes this season to talk about it) the hope is, it can happen.
Maybe all talk, more action needed, we'll see.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), first Irish club to win points in a group stage in Europe (2016).
Who owns Dalymount now ? DCC ? The FAI ?
Whoever it is, I can't see why they'd be bothered spending a penny on it in its current form. What would be in it for them if they did ?
If it's council owned, then a strategy could be to go via supportive councillors and suggest to the council that if that end gets opened Bohs would then do a revenue-share on the extra ticket sales it resulted in. Manchester City Council have a vaguely similar deal with Man City on their stadium, for example. That would create a financial justification and benefit for the council to spend public money on an ageing structure which everyone knows is due to be demolished shortly. Otherwise, there wouldnlt be a strong case to spend a penny on it. If it made Bohs extra money, they should be prepared to share some of that in-return.
the Shopping Centre end has been 'blessed' with multiple owners (often at the same time ) but bottom line is the council (DCC) is very unlikely to renovate any part of Dalymount prior to the move to Tolka Park and the best we can hope is to maintain what is left to a decent level.The BFC Board have opened the Des Kelly Stand for all games so far (usually only opened about 3/4 times a season previously) but I cant see much scope to open any other parts of the ground, Connaught Street side (opposite Jodi) would cost tens of thousands to open safely (ie get a safety certificate), apparently structural work needed and barriers are all corroded. The Shopping Centre end itself hasn't been an option for over a decade so even with ownership aside it would cost a lot to open.
As LOI numbers appear to be tailing off a bit thee is also a concern that any expanded capacity may not be needed !
Any dundalk lads know the latest around the two grass training pitches at oriel? Last I head the local school owned at least one of them but the club were renting them, that still the case?
Yes, this is still available, owned by the nearby Dlk Grammar school, and full arrangment in place for use. DFC train daily here for away games, and on the oriel pitch for home games. They also have full access to the grass pitches from the YDC behind the shed, where the new changing rooms are / gym / video room etc.
I understand the rent / arrangement is very modest and no threat of this being pulled, as DFC offer the pitch / oriel training facilities back to the school in the arrangement.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), first Irish club to win points in a group stage in Europe (2016).
Aye yeah still the same. A pity as at the time the land went for 60k but the owner of the club at the time was up the creek financially with the crash so the local grammar school bought it. The club sold Hiney Park for a million back in 2005 to clear debts but have the use of it again from the school, that's down the hill behind the bottom floodlight of the below picture.
Always going around in circles with redevelopment ideas for Oriel but bar the new CEO saying next on the list is roofing the open terraces in some way before anything else happens not much news at all bar vague talk of plans. No idea how they'll do that without replacing the roof on the main stand, which would cost serious money, as as restricted as the views are through the side panels, if they roof the away end and 5 min terrace the view would be worse again.
As can see below there's space there behind the Carrick Road end (that backs onto the other pitches) to put in something and also at the town end. They tarmacced that a bit and covered the infamous pot hole over the winter. The grass bank there was left as is and is used as a vantage point for many for games but if they were going to do something there they probably would have got rid of that and put in concrete for future foundations.
It's a shame they no longer own the pitches as it'd be a great training complex if they did, great to have access but ownership or at least a lease is just that extra bit of security.
Wonder who owns the rest of the land around there, if the school own it all or what the story is because from vague memories of satellite images there's a lot of unused land there around the two pitches.
Apparently the problem with the Carrick road end is it needs to be kept clear not only for YDC access but also emergency pitch access in the corner away fans are kept. Something with a permanent back of the stand and retractable seating at the front would be a potential solution.
If dundalk had the main stand going the length of the pitch, covered the whole shed and put something at the town end it'd improve the ground immensely.
DFC could easily build a curved roof (L Shape) on both sides of the stand which would do the job and would not obstruct the view of the main stand.
The new CEO regularly gives updates on the need to make improvements, compared to the previous CEO when nothing was mentioned, he also suggested this winter could be a period when changes are finally put in place.
No one expects miracles, or overnight builds, but these two upgrades both sides of the stand would be a start, then build a new stand behind the town goal (look at the space from the photo above), that would improve the place no end.
Any long term project could follow after that.
#DundalkFC - First Irish club to win an away game in Europe (1963), first Irish club to win points in a group stage in Europe (2016).
Wishful thinking won't improve the Oriel Park facilities
I think that the current CEO Mark Devlin has said pretty much the same stuff as his predecessor, albeit with somewhat more articulation and eloquence. But there is absolutely nothing that I have heard from him that indicates that anything of significance is in the pipeline in the immediate future.
His most comprehensive interview was on Between the Stripes podcast and anyone who wants to decipher the reality through positive optimistic soundbites, can listen again to the podcast linked in the attached article
https://www.betweenthestripes.ie/blo...oriel-upgradesSpeaking on S3EP16 of Between the Stripes LOI podcast, Devlin once again highlighted the above and seemed to suggest the club would look to make small improvements to its current home before any long term plans are established.
Galway have done loads of work on their pitch and it looks like a carpet. Don't know if it was the club or who did it or organised it but fair play whoever it was because it looks great.
Have shels closed the TV gantry in Tolka? You'd imagine that's something that would be needed with Premier division football supposed to be coming whenever dcc get their act together and sort out Tesco
Have to say Tallaght stadium looks the business these days on TV. That one extra stand has made a much bigger difference than I thought it would. The fourth stand will make it one of the very few finished looking grounds in this country. Although I think 10,000 seats is 2,000 too many and could make games like tonight feel less packed. Still a much better "problem" than anyone else has.
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