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About LinkBacksYou'd like to hope it would host a Heineken Cup 1/4 final as a minimum given the host team has qualified for that stage twice in the last two years. But what's the next grade up from that?Originally Posted by factual
You'd like to hope it would host a Heineken Cup 1/4 final as a minimum given the host team has qualified for that stage twice in the last two years. But what's the next grade up from that?
Surely it should be build mainly with the regular capacity needs of supporters in mind? Would Ulster's Rugby team attract that many supporters on a regular basis? Surely it makes sense to move up gradually. I gather this will be a very big % increase from the present capacity.
RIRA not in my name-Traitors to Ireland MMcGuinness; People are entitled to cultural & social equality MLMcDonald; We have a length to go understanding unionism GAdams
I'm not into soccer, but surely it would be more sensible for the IFA to forget about Windsor and offer assistance to Ulster to help develop Ravenhill in shared future developments. A bit like the IRFU and FAI down here and Lansdowne Road.
And does Ulster recieve any finacial assitantce from the Irish govt via the IRFU ? Surely they must ?
Leinster European champions 2012. Roll on Lansdowne Road 2013 for the three in a row !!!!!!
The problem is that the IFA are contracted to use Windsor Park for about 70 more years. To get out of that contract would potentially cost tens of millions. Ravenhill looks pretty good to me otherwise. A shared stadium makes sense between the two sports because the pitch size is very similar however international regulations in football means that terracing is not permitted which would reduce Ravenhill's capacity for football quite significantly.
Ulster is a branch of the IRFU which is HQed in Dublin. Ulster receives money mainly from NI Sport, Lottery etc in the UK and administers the sport in Northern Ireland plus the three non-NI counties of Ulster. There must be some monies going both ways across the border from various pots of public money depending on the jurisdiction. I don't think it would be significant though.And does Ulster recieve any finacial assitantce from the Irish govt via the IRFU ? Surely they must ?
cheers for giving me a good laugh- if the gaa wasnt sectarian why would the chairmen up north refuse to meet the queen. complete idiots the lot of them
You would think with all the money both organisations receive they would be able to fund a decent 40,000 odd seater at either Ravenhill or Windsor, and sell off the unused stadium. Munster rugby were able to afford the construction of a 26,000 seater at Thomond Park after all.
I think that you are about to make the same mistake that the Rep made. What should have happened in the rep was all monies should have been combined. Croke Park should have been made into a 100,000 all seater. Landsdowne Road should have been sold to some property developer and the money from that should have been put into other stadia around the country. If that had been done we would now have a least 4 to 5 world class statiums with one 60,000 all seater in each province. This would have enabled soccer and rugby internationals to be played all over the country. UEFA regulations dictate that the European Cup Final has to be played in an 80,000 + stadium, of which there are only a handful in Europe. And of those that are currently under construction only one will have that capacity. Therefore Croke Park could easily have hosted several finals well into the future. They also want the UEFA cup final to be played in stadiums holding at least 50to 60,000+, given the economic climate this is a bit rich really. Cork, Galway and wherever the stadium in Ulster had been build, (this too could have been ironed out), could have hosted such finals. I always though the 3 associations and government made a big blunder on this. Croke Park is paid for, but costs over €1 million on maintence alone every year. The IRFU are only ok financially at the moment but the FAI is struggling and may not be able to meet their repayments in the comming years. The capacity of the GAA grounds have been reduced significantly by health and safety and this will cost the association a fortune going forward so redevelopment for them is a must. Stuff like leases, rent etc could all have been sorted out if they had put their heads together.
If Munster, Leinster and Ulster ever have home semi-finals at the same time we are going to be in a bit of bother. They cannot play their home semis in their respective home grounds so they would have to find three other stadiums somewhere in Ireland in which to play. Had the draw been a little different we could have that senario this year. Where would they go if they are all to be played on the same weekend?
NI should have a rethink before they start spending massive amounts of money on three different stadiums. Sure there will be huge problems with all three associations but it could be done. Belfast would be the obvious city but if not there, then somewhere in Co. Down or Derry. Money is scare, use it wisely.
purpledon, GAA has completely different needs from rugby and football. Northern Ireland international matches only require a 20k seater stadium. Ulster rugby requires about 20k too but not necessarily seated. Rugby and football have similar size pitches.
GAA has enough stadiums around NI already although an upgrade of Casement seems to be required. However, the pitches are completely different sizes. Casement is also in an area that few Ulster Rugby or NI football would relish going to. Ravenhill and Windsor would be accessible for all sports although there might be some concern about both for some GAA supporters. Buying new land for all three is very expensive with no suitable publicly owned sites and all would require massive infrastructural investments for planning to get approval.
The three sports in question couldn't agree to the best way forward and two only tentatively gave approval in principle to the ill-fated and ludicrous Maze prison site.
The Executive took the right decision to upgrade all three locations as all three had separate requirements. I agree that Ravenhill would be a good venue for NI matches but this would require giving Linfield tens of £millions to get out of the lease on Windor. That could be done but it isn't the best use of money which is to share the limited funds out.
How could three teams ever have home semi-finales? Worst case scenario is there is a need for two stadia, although I imagine Lansdowne would just be used twice over a weekend.
Doo, I'm a clown. You're right. But in better financial times Ravenhill could do with a bigger capacity. Where would they go if Leinster or Munster were playing in Aviva. Hang on, you're totally discounting Connacht. Four Irish provinces in the semis????
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