Who Has The Worst County Grounds?

Mullet · 25-11-2012 10:25AM

The worst gaa grounds I have visited over the last few years are Newbridge, Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Both these grounds have issues that have been highlighted before. I am aware Cork County Board have planning permission to redevelop Pairc Ui Chaoimh but is there a need for another ghost stadium that maybe full twice a year. Then you have the location that is not very accessible on match day whether it be league or championship.

My favourite county grounds are Tullamore, Carlow, Longford, Killarney.

Clonmel1000 · 25-11-2012 01:39PM

Ennis and Walsh Pk in Waterford 2 absolute kips

Stereomaniac · 25-11-2012 02:13PM

Which is a pity because Waterford is a much nicer place to spend time than Clonmel is....

J Cheever Loophole · 26-11-2012 09:28AM

From my own personal experience, it would have to be Aughrim, although it's a lovely part of the world.

Apologies to any Wicklow people here if that sounds critical, as it is not my intention to do so - up until recently I believe we had the worst county grounds in Ireland - thankfully we got our own ground redeveloped, although as Mr Blue from Reservoir Dubs said, the Panama Canal was built in quicker time!! :pac:

ardmacha · 26-11-2012 09:22PM

Apologies to any Wicklow people here if that sounds critical, as it is not my intention to do so - up until recently I believe we had the worst county grounds in Ireland - thankfully we got our own ground redeveloped, although as Mr Blue from Reservoir Dubs said, the Panama Canal was built in quicker time!!

Rome wasn't built in a day :rolleyes:. Now though, with the most cover of any Ulster ground, it is well suited to events like the forthcoming Down destruction Ulster club final.

Our neighbours Louth wouldn't have the best ground, Hughie Morgan will have to shell out.

DazMarz · 27-11-2012 01:34AM

J Cheever Loophole wrote: »

From my own personal experience, it would have to be Aughrim, although it's a lovely part of the world.

Apologies to any Wicklow people here if that sounds critical, as it is not my intention to do so - up until recently I believe we had the worst county grounds in Ireland - thankfully we got our own ground redeveloped, although as Mr Blue from Reservoir Dubs said, the Panama Canal was built in quicker time!! :pac:

Believe me, no person from Wicklow would ever try to claim that Aughrim is anything but a kip.

There is no denying it. The grounds up there are a disgrace.

Green Giant · 27-11-2012 04:00PM

Clareman wrote: »

Cusack Park in Ennis really is terrible, it has a river on 1 side of it and only 4 bathrooms for the whole place, no shops or anything around the place, no parking, terrible approaches, 90% of the entrance gates in the same place, a stand that only goes from 21 to 21, awful dressing rooms, now the pitch is even terrible in there, the only thing going for it is that its in the centre of town so if there's a match on there's a great atmosphere around. They got massive money for selling half the ground to Aldi in the boom, ended up pumping it into Clare Abbey

And that's not to mention that one of the toilets doesn't even have a bloody light in it which leaves punters addressing nature's call in pitch darkness.

The scoreboard with the team colours as opposed to names (for club games) and one noble citizen changing the numbers by hand is a bit cringeworthy too - surely in 2012 a county ground ought to have an electronic scoreboard, AND A CLOCK.

Topping it all off is the age-old recording of trad music being pumped through the PA system and the strangest version of the national anthem I've ever heard. No word of a lie, twice in the last year I've heard the trad music skipping while it was being played over the PA. Laugh or cry? The former in this case but as a Clare native myself it seems a bad reflection on the county to have this crumbling edifice as the county ground

Ando's Saggy Bottom · 28-11-2012 11:20AM

Pairc Ui Chaoimh is a f*cking shambles as well alright. For the main county ground in the s-called "second" city its shocking. Tiny seats, impossible to drive in and out of on a busy day, those tunnels under the terrace are an accident waiting to happen. Kip.

Mountainlad · 28-11-2012 12:09PM

Walsh Park is dreadful. Fraher Fields facilities aren't great, but they've great lights there now and the pitch is always in great condition.

Pairc Ui Caoimh is terrible because of the hazard there. No space between the sights, but moree importantly the area under the stand is far too small. I understand that it's that small so they'h have a bigger capacity, but it's so small that the capacity shouldn't be as high as it is.

hardybuck · 28-11-2012 02:25PM

Mountainlad wrote: »

Walsh Park is dreadful. Fraher Fields facilities aren't great, but they've great lights there now and the pitch is always in great condition.

Pairc Ui Caoimh is terrible because of the hazard there. No space between the sights, but moree importantly the area under the stand is far too small. I understand that it's that small so they'h have a bigger capacity, but it's so small that the capacity shouldn't be as high as it is.

From a spectator point of view Walsh Park has better stand and terrace facilities than Fraher. Fraher has better access as it isn't in a city centre.

From a players point of view, Walsh Park has far better dressing rooms, Fraher has better drainage and lights (Walsh Park was supposed to get them but had problems with planning permission).

Both substandard county grounds which Waterford aren't proud of.

Mountainlad · 28-11-2012 02:31PM

hardybuck wrote: »

From a spectator point of view Walsh Park has better stand and terrace facilities than Fraher. Fraher has better access as it isn't in a city centre.

From a players point of view, Walsh Park has far better dressing rooms, Fraher has better drainage and lights (Walsh Park was supposed to get them but had problems with planning permission).

Both substandard county grounds which Waterford aren't proud of.

I dunno that access should fall under worst County grounds. Granted, it's important to spectators but there's not a lot that can be done to change that.

Haven't been in the Walsh Park dressing rooms, do they have 4? They're also building new dressing rooms in Fraher Field.

The quality of surface (the most important thing to me) is far superior in Fraher Field. The stand and banks are one in the same, any difference is marginal.

I think Fraher Field is better. But I agree, neither are great.

hardybuck · 28-11-2012 03:26PM

Mountainlad wrote: »

I dunno that access should fall under worst County grounds. Granted, it's important to spectators but there's not a lot that can be done to change that.

Haven't been in the Walsh Park dressing rooms, do they have 4? They're also building new dressing rooms in Fraher Field.

The quality of surface (the most important thing to me) is far superior in Fraher Field. The stand and banks are one in the same, any difference is marginal.

Walsh Park used to have four, but have built 2 new ones and have some office space there as well. Generally now they merge the original 4 into 2 which have acres of space, and the two new ones which are good also.

The stand and banks are not the same. The stand in Walsh Park is far bigger. The terraces have more elevation as well as the steel posts to rest upon in comparison to just plain grass banks in Fraher.

Anyway, we're only splitting hairs as both are rubbish grounds.

DDC1990 · 28-11-2012 05:42PM

The surface in Páirc Uí Chaoimh is excellent.

The terraces are brilliant craic, and great atmosphere.

However, The stand is probably the worst in Ireland. Bitterly cold, whatever time of year :P
Knee's are up against your chest, or into the back of the Wild-Eyed 70 year old Rebellette in front of you, who jumps up and down for the match, causing your knees to crack every 30 seconds or so, and become even more disfigured.
Feckin supports getting in your line of sight whenever there is an exiting moment.

Really, for one of the top teams in Hurling and Football, they should have better facilities.

zetecescort · 28-11-2012 09:11PM

wait until non-gaa people turn up for Bruce Springsteen next summer. they'll be in for a shock at the state of the place

castletownman · 29-11-2012 04:30PM

Worst county ground I've been to a match at: Aughrim or Tuam Stadium.

Best county ground: O'Moore Park, Portlaoise and Wexford Park.

In fact, without sounding biased I genuinely feel that Wexford Park is a criminally under-used county ground. Speaking from experience, it had the best dressing room facilities and pitch in the county (although the flooding last week that caused the cancellation of Oulart and Ballyhale was bad publicity). Parking is good considering it's location in town and the new stand is decent (so too is the uncovered side on a fine evening). It's a pity about it's geographical location because it would be well capable of hosting more championship games.

rockonollie · 29-11-2012 07:10PM

Don't know if they've upgraded it since........but went to a game in Ennis a couple of years ago and it was pretty appauling.

ollaetta · 29-11-2012 11:38PM

Clareman wrote: »

Cusack Park in Ennis really is terrible, it has a river on 1 side of it and only 4 bathrooms for the whole place, no shops or anything around the place, no parking, terrible approaches, 90% of the entrance gates in the same place, a stand that only goes from 21 to 21, awful dressing rooms, now the pitch is even terrible in there, the only thing going for it is that its in the centre of town so if there's a match on there's a great atmosphere around. They got massive money for selling half the ground to Aldi in the boom, ended up pumping it into Clare Abbey

Totally agree, it's a dump but I have to say I was never that keen either on the now dead as a dodo land swap plan to move out of town. It's a huge plus point having the ground so near the town centre even if it is wedged beside two supermarkets and proper parking is almost nil.

If the rumour of Tesco moving elsewhere ever happens it would make sense to try and get that site for parking (can't see it being much use for anything else) and then consider spending a serious few bob on upgrading the ground. I won't hold my breath, though.

derealbadger · 29-11-2012 11:53PM

DDC1990 wrote: »

The surface in Páirc Uí Chaoimh is excellent.

The terraces are brilliant craic, and great atmosphere.

However, The stand is probably the worst in Ireland. Bitterly cold, whatever time of year :P
Knee's are up against your chest, or into the back of the Wild-Eyed 70 year old Rebellette in front of you, who jumps up and down for the match, causing your knees to crack every 30 seconds or so, and become even more disfigured.
Feckin supports getting in your line of sight whenever there is an exiting moment.

Really, for one of the top teams in Hurling and Football, they should have better facilities.[/QUOTE]

I tought Páirc Uí Chaoimh was in cork must have got it wrong

ardmacha · 30-11-2012 01:07AM

In fact, without sounding biased I genuinely feel that Wexford Park is a criminally under-used county ground.

Being in a corner of the country is not ideal for neutral games, places like Mullingar or Portlaoise get these. Also two of Wexford's neighbours, Carlow and Wicklow have the lowest profiles in the GAA, having neither decent football or hurling teams.

Wexford Park does have the best coffee though of all GAA grounds.

dartsfan · 30-11-2012 03:27AM

Without a doubt Tuam

Syferus · 30-11-2012 04:06AM

ardmacha wrote: »

Being in a corner of the country is not ideal for neutral games, places like Mullingar or Portlaoise get these. Also two of Wexford's neighbours, Carlow and Wicklow have the lowest profiles in the GAA, having neither decent football or hurling teams.

Wexford Park does have the best coffee though of all GAA grounds.

You mean the Wicklow team that won Division 4 this year and have consistently been competitive for over half a decade, beating everyone from Kildare to Sligo in the process? You mean the team it took a hell of a lot of luck and two games for Armagh to beat last year?

Felexicon · 30-11-2012 02:25PM

Syferus wrote: »

You mean the Wicklow team that won Division 4 this year and have consistently been competitive for over half a decade, beating everyone from Kildare to Sligo in the process? You mean the team it took a hell of a lot of luck and two games for Armagh to beat last year?

Certainly looks more impressive than 5 years.

eigrod · 30-11-2012 04:26PM

tippman26 wrote: »

pairc ui chaoimh is the worst by a long way.facilities are a disgrace and the big problem is it gets close to 2 sell outs a year.the tunnels underneath the stands are a deathtrap at ht and after matches.toilets are very poor and now they even let the men go outside piss in a fenced off area because of the problem of lads doing it aginst the walls in the tunnels. several times the blackrock terrace has been unable to take the crowd and people were force to sit behind the goal(mainly cork v kerry,cork v tipp,remember eoin kellys goal in 08) i remember goin to the tipp clare matches of the late 90s early 00's down there in the uncovered stand and how someone wasn't killed or seriously injured in the tunnels is a mystery.at least now it isn't as packed but it is still a deathtrap

Totally agree, and I'm from Cork. It's a disgrace.

Lovely playing surface, horrendous access, seating & facilities.

Was one of the issues the players raised during their strikes too, and rightly so.

Development has been delayed due to difficulties in procuring land in the Showgrounds (or so we're told) but they really need to kick on with this.

Thurles is the best. Great space and great pitch and very accessible.

padd b1975 · 02-12-2012 11:23PM

Can't believe Markiewicz Park has not been mentioned.

theoneeyedman · 02-12-2012 11:31PM

padd b1975 wrote: »

Can't believe Markiewicz Park has not been mentioned.

It's a bitch to park but a nice enough compact ground to watch a game.
Watching the Ulster finals today at the excellent Armagh grounds.....good to see the loyal subjects affiliations don't prevent them from taking the Queens shilling.....I read somewhere recently Tyrone had benefited by more than 1 million last year...hard to compete with that down here !!

manofwisdom · 03-12-2012 07:06PM

padd b1975 wrote: »

Can't believe Markiewicz Park has not been mentioned.

Markiewicz Park was recently done up and like Longford,Leitrim's grounds (other smaller venues) it's a decent place to watch a GAA game.

FionnK86 · 07-12-2012 09:32PM

cormac halpin wrote: »

Kildare.

Have to agree, you'd think a high-profile team like Kildare would have a better grounds for their sons and daughters in this day and age.

Utopia Parkway · 08-12-2012 05:26AM

dartsfan wrote: »

Without a doubt Tuam

I've been in Tuam loads. Cusack Park is worse believe me. Besides Tuam isn't even Galway's main ground anymore. They play one football league game there a year pretty much and that's it. It's very much a secondary ground these days.

curry-muff · 08-12-2012 05:33AM

Im happy with Ballybofey, not the best ground in the land but by no means the worst either.

I duno what it is about it, but I really can't stand Breffni.

Casement looks horrible outside, but it's a pretty nice stadium inside the ground.

davegrohl48 · 08-12-2012 07:41PM

Aughrim is a very nice grounds. It might not have a very modern stand but I wouldn't like this to put anyone off from going there. I had heard that it was a great ground to watch a game and two years ago I went to one. Really nice with the hills around it.

Who Has The Worst County Grounds?

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