GAA Infastructure

breezy1985

Is there any way to print the list. I'm not registered with the independent

Ray Donovan

kala85 wrote: »

Cusack Park in ennis must be the worst one I have been in.

Didn't think clones was great either

Cusack Park in Ennis is an absolute dive.

RugbyLover123

Where does Pairc Tailteann rank?

23rd.

Billy Ocean

How they ranked in full

1. Kilkenny
2. Thurles
3. Clones
4. Killarney
5. Pairc Ui Chaoimh
6. Tullamore
7. Armagh
8. Portlaoise
9. Newry
10. Castlebar
11. Cavan
12. Derry
13. Wexford
14. Omagh
15. Enniskillen
16. Carrick On Shannon
17. Ballybofey
18. Limerick
19. Sligo
20. Roscommon
21. Parnell Park
22. Carlow
23. Navan
24. Ennis
25. Salthill
26. Mullingar
27. Aughrim
28. Longford
29. Newbridge
30. Waterford
31. Corrigan Park Belfast
32. Drogheda

Consey

Billy Ocean wrote: »

How they ranked in full

1. Kilkenny
2. Thurles
3. Clones
4. Killarney
5. Pairc Ui Chaoimh
6. Tullamore
7. Armagh
8. Portlaoise
9. Newry
10. Castlebar
11. Cavan
12. Derry
13. Wexford
14. Omagh
15. Enniskillen
16. Carrick On Shannon
17. Ballybofey
18. Limerick
19. Sligo
20. Roscommon
21. Parnell Park
22. Carlow
23. Navan
24. Ennis
25. Salthill
26. Mullingar
27. Aughrim
28. Longford
29. Newbridge
30. Waterford
31. Corrigan Park Belfast
32. Drogheda

Have been to matches in 27 of them. Haven't been to matches in Nowlan Park, Pairc UiChaoimh, Sligo, Mullingar, Longford. Have had a gawk in the new Pairc UiChaoimh and Nowlan Park but not for a match.

When things get back to normal, will have to cross off those 5. Agree with the list broadly speaking. Killarney is a special venue with the mountains etc behind. Clones brilliant for atmosphere on a big day, takes over the town.

Billy Ocean

Consey wrote: »

Have been to matches in 27 of them. Haven't been to matches in Nowlan Park, Pairc UiChaoimh, Sligo, Mullingar, Longford. Have had a gawk in the new Pairc UiChaoimh and Nowlan Park but not for a match.

When things get back to normal, will have to cross off those 5. Agree with the list broadly speaking. Killarney is a special venue with the mountains etc behind. Clones brilliant for atmosphere on a big day, takes over the town.

Never been to Clones but the taking over the town point appiles to Thurles too

breezy1985

Apologies if there have been major upgrades in the last few years but Thurles and Killarney were kips the last time I was in either. The terraces in Semple barely have toilets and I never got this warm fuzzy "home of hurling" stuff that others go on about. I think it is very harsh on Galway and very very generous to Wexford park

Nowlan Park is the perfect model for what a mid/small size county should aim for. Built with the league and early round AI games in mind and plenty of cover for the crap league/club weather.

Never been to Clones but it doesn't look great on TV. Is this another history and myth pick?

Billy Ocean

breezy1985 wrote: »

Apologies if there have been major upgrades in the last few years but Thurles and Killarney were kips the last time I was in either. The terraces in Semple barely have toilets and I never got this warm fuzzy "home of hurling" stuff that others go on about. I think it is very harsh on Galway and very very generous to Wexford park

Nowlan Park is the perfect model for what a mid/small size county should aim for. Built with the league and early round AI games in mind and plenty of cover for the crap league/club weather.

Never been to Clones but it doesn't look great on TV. Is this another history and myth pick?

Salthill is probably the worst located ground in the country regards traffic and the worst for wind too, outside of Kilkenny do you like anywhere!!

Actually thought the list is harsh on Parnell Park, obviously has it limits regards capacity but the place was hopping for Dublin Wexford game i was at in 2019.

breezy1985

Billy Ocean wrote: »

Salthill is probably the worst located ground in the country regards traffic and the worst for wind too, outside of Kilkenny do you like anywhere!!

Ok I was going on the assumption it was about the stadium itself as in the building.

If traffic is included I am definitely doubling down on my dislike of Killarney

Billy Ocean

breezy1985 wrote: »

Ok I was going on the assumption it was about the stadium itself as in the building.

If traffic is included I am definitely doubling down on my dislike of Killarney

it includes bit of everything, surprised Limerick was so low, the very old Mackey stand seemed to be its downfall in the article.

kksaints

If Wexford is the thirteenth best county ground in the country, then the rest of them below it must be absolutely dreadful. A leaking stand, that has only approx 150 seats with backs, rest are benches, other side is concrete benches. Only one stand covered, very exposed to the elements. Not particularly well stewarded, there's been overcrowding issues at two matches I've been at there. Only its location within Wexford Town is a plus and that's only if you don't drive as finding parking around can be hard if there's a big crowd.

Billy Ocean

kksaints wrote: »

If Wexford is the thirteenth best county ground in the country, then the rest of them below it must be absolutely dreadful. A leaking stand, that has only approx 150 seats with backs, rest are benches, other side is concrete benches. Only one stand covered, very exposed to the elements. Not particularly well stewarded, there's been overcrowding issues at two matches I've been at there. Only its location within Wexford Town is a plus and that's only if you don't drive as finding parking around can be hard if there's a big crowd.

Despite those issues Tommy and Jackie called it the best venue they've played in for atmosphere.

kksaints

Billy Ocean wrote: »

Despite those issues Tommy and Jackie called it the best venue they've played in for atmosphere.

Can't agree with that myself. Sound escapes due to the lack of cover for three of the stands. It's better than a lot of gaa grounds but I wouldn't say it's much of a cauldron of noise. Might be different for the players in fairness.

Billy Ocean

kksaints wrote: »

Can't agree with that myself. Sound escapes due to the lack of cover for three of the stands. It's better than a lot of gaa grounds but I wouldn't say it's much of a cauldron of noise. Might be different for the players in fairness.

thats what opinions are I suppose...

kksaints

Billy Ocean wrote: »

thats what opinions are I suppose...

Has the application for the floodlights gone in yet?

Billy Ocean

kksaints wrote: »

Has the application for the floodlights gone in yet?

think its in the pipeline but upgrading the training centre/ centre of excellence in Ferns seems to the priority, will Nowlan Park ever see floodlights?

kksaints

Billy Ocean wrote: »

think its in the pipeline but upgrading the training centre/ centre of excellence in Ferns seems to the priority, will Nowlan Park ever see floodlights?

I haven't heard anything about floodlights. Doubt it tbh. It's too close to some residential areas. Would make it a great ground. Same with a full stand behind the goal instead of the half one there now.

Billy Ocean

kksaints wrote: »

I haven't heard anything about floodlights. Doubt it tbh. It's too close to some residential areas. Would make it a great ground. Same with a full stand behind the goal instead of the half one there now.

Cody not a fan of games under lights as far as I know too

kksaints

Billy Ocean wrote: »

Cody not a fan of games under lights as far as I know too

Don't know that myself but it would be a bad idea to let a manager dictate something like that. Floodlights open up far more options with regards to matchtimes and there's a better atmosphere at floodlit matches imo.

Billy Ocean

kksaints wrote: »

Don't know that myself but it would be a bad idea to let a manager dictate something like that. Floodlights open up far more options with regards to matchtimes and there's a better atmosphere at floodlit matches imo.

Personally prefer afternoon games in the winter but understand floodlights can open opportunities regards games been televised etc. A big championship game at 7 on a warm Saturday summer evening is absolutely fantastic.

blackcard

Billy Ocean wrote: »

Despite those issues Tommy and Jackie called it the best venue they've played in for atmosphere.

I have always thought that Wexford Park was a hostile place to play a game which is the way it should be for any team visiting there, Ennis too

Consey

blackcard wrote: »

I have always thought that Wexford Park was a hostile place to play a game which is the way it should be for any team visiting there, Ennis too

Enjoyed both Ennis and Wexford Park. Yes Ennis is quite old and Wexford Park has some stone seats, but why spend a lot of money on venues that might be close to capacity once or twice a year, depending on draws etc.

Sitting on stone seats on a summer championship day is no hardship.

Each has stands that cover league matches in the spring and/or big club games. What more do you need?

Like that grounds are different and have a bit of character.

Billy Ocean

Billy Ocean wrote: »

Salthill is probably the worst located ground in the country regards traffic and the worst for wind too, outside of Kilkenny do you like anywhere!!

Actually thought the list is harsh on Parnell Park, obviously has it limits regards capacity but the place was hopping for Dublin Wexford game i was at in 2019.

another issue I believe with Salthill is the lack of a GAA tradition in Galway City, Tuam Stadium is seen as the home of football and the ground in Athenry for hurling within the county, if I'm wrong Galway supporters feel free to correct me.

Billy Ocean

Consey wrote: »

Enjoyed both Ennis and Wexford Park. Yes Ennis is quite old and Wexford Park has some stone seats, but why spend a lot of money on venues that might be close to capacity once or twice a year, depending on draws etc.

Sitting on stone seats on a summer championship day is no hardship.

Each has stands that cover league matches in the spring and/or big club games. What more do you need?

Like that grounds are different and have a bit of character.

another factor with Wexford is its rarely used as a neutral venue, the only time I remember it been used in this regard is a Carlow Wicklow leinster football 1st round game in 2006, I remember Ballyhale and Ballygunner played an all ireland club semi final in 2019 in Thurles and I taught Wexford would have been an ideal venue for that.

It actually mentioned in the article that portlaoise is probably the most common netural venue of all.

breezy1985

Billy Ocean wrote: »

it includes bit of everything, surprised Limerick was so low, the very old Mackey stand seemed to be its downfall in the article.

Mackey stand is nowhere near as old as some on the list but it is a bit flat so the view aint great. The new stands were great but then they stuck the floodlights inside the stand to placate the entitled posh residents and also didnt bother with shops so its still melted mars bars from a kid with a pop up table. It is nowhere near the worst but there are missed opportunities.


Most of the time though the complaints come down to atmosphere because it is so big and rarely full. On the days it is full I would have it top 5 though

breezy1985

Consey wrote: »

Enjoyed both Ennis and Wexford Park. Yes Ennis is quite old and Wexford Park has some stone seats, but why spend a lot of money on venues that might be close to capacity once or twice a year, depending on draws etc.

Sitting on stone seats on a summer championship day is no hardship.

Each has stands that cover league matches in the spring and/or big club games. What more do you need?

Like that grounds are different and have a bit of character.

Ennis only got league games in hurling for years and it was a fine size for those games. Great town to visit too for after the game

Is Wicklow the only one not in a main town or at least a proper sized town? Aughrim is a very small village.
Ballybofey would maybe fall into the former category too, though I’m not sure how small the town is.

Billy Ocean

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Is Wicklow the only one not in a main town or at least a proper sized town? Aughrim is a very small village.
Ballybofey would maybe fall into the former category too, though I’m not sure how small the town is.

Think that's the case alright, thurles is the only 40k plus capacity venue not in a city. Pretty sure clones, castlebar and killarney all had capacities above 35k at 1 point before health and safety became more stringent.

Consey

ReginaldSmythV wrote: »

Is Wicklow the only one not in a main town or at least a proper sized town? Aughrim is a very small village.
Ballybofey would maybe fall into the former category too, though I’m not sure how small the town is.

Ballybofey/Stranorlar would be a bit bigger than Clones maybe but not that much different size wise. Smaller than most towns with grounds mentioned here but bigger than Aughrim.

Ballybofey is also home to Finn Harps, so the main soccer ground in Donegal also.