The thing that gets me about the notion of redeveloping Fitzgerald stadium is that the only detail we have now is the price tag of €72.5 million. They have said there'll be a more detailed presentation in January but it seems like a very awkward way to announce such a big project.
Given that we only have a price tag my gut instinct would be that the GAA should be getting ready to tell Kerry to go and swivel if they're expecting a big pot of cash for the redevelopment. My opinion on that could obviously do a complete 180 if Kerry GAA unveil a brilliant plan for the project.
Premiership grounds do not have any terracing, the only big UK club that has safe standing is Celtic, afaik there are no plans to introduce this in the EPL. Anyway its for safety reasons etc that its not allowed in EPL, not an issue with the GAA
The price tag is the only detail needed, it should be back to square 1 on that basis. They need to determine how much money they realistically have and design within that budget, designing something and then trying to beg/borrow/steal the money is a recipe for disaster. Expecting others to go along with that is ridiculous.
What difference would "a brilliant plan for the project" make? It would still be a football pitch with seating/standing areas around it and there is limited space to add anything else. After a certain point, it is just spending money for the sake of it.
Isn’t the GAA’s annual revenue between 70-90 million. It’s the government funding this hangs on not croke parks.
Standing returned this year. In fact it never went away because whole sections just stood next to their seat anyway.
My understanding of things is that in general the GAA typically try to support projects like this financially. They've committed to paying £15 million of the cost of developing Casement for instance.
I'm making sure to give myself a bit of leeway just in case the board shocks everyone and has a great design and plan to fund it ready to go.
For me a "brilliant" plan would involve something like the following.
-Rock solid plan to finance the project without taking on a risky level of debt
- Commitment from someone like Kerry Group to pay upfront to buy the naming rights for a significant period of time
-A capacity more in line with modern requirements, say 20,000- 25,000
- Covered stands with unobstructed viewing angles
-Better set-down/pick-up facilities for buses
- Modern floodlighting
Nothing outrageous, just a solid financial plan and the intention to build a decent stadium you could reasonably expect to fill at least 50% full more than once every two or three years and able to host a concert or two each year, without a mountain of red tape, to raise extra funds.
The mooted price makes me doubt that's the intention.
Fair point
Ok so there's a push for a capacity of 20 to 25,000. What good is that for a Munster final when you could get 40,000. For the rest of the year you might not get 10 but for a final v Cork you'd get 40 plus.
Again I always have to say...Munster is different. Bigger GAA following, bigger counties . Hurling attracts bigger attendances . The round Robin is super. We stay over night in Waterford, 2. 5 hours away.. from my home in Clare. What keinster county has that drive. Kilarney is obviously going to be supported. Kerry are cute, do you think theyd just ,'fly a kite'..nope its done. Kerry will get a PUC mark 2. Meanwhile Thurles is falling down. Can't stand the town anyway..prefer Cork or limerick . You can overnight..go to the museums and stuff.
Galway to Wexford would be a fair drive now in fairness as is Wexford to Belfast (or wherever the fek they play)
72m was a comment made by the county board for "upgrades" there is no plan for a new stadium so no they won't get a PuC mk.II because of some myth of the cute Kerry hoor.
If Kerry get 70m I would be fairly certain Tipp and Limerick would want something similar in a few years time if they looked for it.
The GAA love playing matches there and they’re a venue that would be considered accessible for most counties competing in the hurling championship- I.e you have a train station and a motorway exit (M7 and M8 for thurles).
The only games lots of people consider for an overnight is quarter and semi finals onwards really. Ireland has got too expensive to be spending money on a hotel, dinner, few drinks etc on top of travel to the place the game is on and tickets. I saw a few people on Twitter saying the revamp is vital for Kerry hotels etc which is just rubbish in my opinion.
I see in the 42 Kerry county board are describing the project as a Refit which includes new dressing rooms and a new terrace. They also mention they will have to match government funds. So if we say the project is 70 million the county board will have to raise 35 million.
As per the post above the county board mentions the toursim angle and also even mentions that the Rugby committe said it was in ideal location so close to the town
No it's says they have already built a new terrace and dressing rooms.
The terrace at one end used only go half way round the pitch and they finished it off a few years back.
You wouldnt want me to take the minutes at the AGM
"In June of last year a 10-year extension of planning permission was sought and granted for a major upgrade of Fitzgerald Stadium which would include the reconstruction of the existing spectator terrace at the western end of Fitzgerald Stadium, with shops and toilets underneath. The plans also provided for new entrance stiles and exits"
An article from 2019 mentioned the above plans. In fairness the West "terrace" is a gravel slope so work there makes sense and I think we all agree that most GAA stadia are lacking toilets and shops.
Rob Heffernan - Cork Footballers
Donnacha O’Callaghan - Waterford Hurlers
Bernard Jackman - Donegal Footballers
Bernard Dunne - Few teams previously
Interesting trend and kinda throws an F U to those GAA ran Coach/Analyst badges (which I think are a bit lame anyway)
Does it really throw an FU to any who do those courses? Not that interesting trend. Lot more people with extensive pro playing/Olympic experience and can bring that to the game.
Its also really off topic.
Not an FU to people who do them. FU to the courses themselves and shows that Intercounty teams in particular put no weight on them
So it’s not an interesting trend? Even though like you said there are so much more similar people that might have something to offer?
Cool
Sorry bud. I shouldn’t be going off topic. Might break a forum that has pretty much feck all interaction already. I’ll stop x
What about Newbridge? Its in a perfect location for a decent stadium in Leinster. We need a second one badly. Croker isnt fit for purpose unless 50k+ are attending.
There's houses, shops etc and a busy couple of roads around conleth park, i don't think the space is there to redevelop to a large extent, a large stadium in Kildare I'd say would have a to be a brand new site.
i wonder has anyone got the full text of this?
Nice try Kerry. Pairc Ui Chaoimh is just down the road and underutilised.
Eventually all utility infrastructure requires modernization. Stadiums are no different from shopping centers, airports and cinemas. A large % of population just don’t seem to be aware of this.
True but I think you're missing the point that a more coordinated effort is needed for stadium developments/upgrades.
We're a small country, do we really need 4 massive stadiums in Munster alone.
In most cases it would be better to divert funds to having one modern stadium in a region/province rather than having multiple half arsed white elephants.
You’re still going to need a 20k modern stadium in Killarney. And that won’t be costing less than 75 million.
edit - to be honest it will have to be 30 k at an absolute minimum. Kerry have to have a ground capable of hosting Munster finals. So does one of thurles and limerick.
But Kerry are not asking for of suggesting a new stadium.
75k seems a lot for what little work they have described. If they want to build a new stadium that would be a different story.
Well we don't know yet what they are proposing, we just know how much they want to spend. It doesn't matter how they want to spend it, nobody is going to give them that much. They shouldn't even be asking for that much, they should be planning something realistic.
Its all just county board politics and haggling. Ide say they know they are getting nowhere near that.
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