Croker open for business in 2007

colster

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2006/01/17/story240111.html

county

a step in the right direction,and a nice money spinner for the gaa

Gegerty

Sure is a nice money spinner and they won't hold back with the charges you can be sure of that. I'll still go to a game or 2 regardless and they know most people will.

jank

Gegerty wrote:

Sure is a nice money spinner and they won't hold back with the charges you can be sure of that. I'll still go to a game or 2 regardless and they know most people will.

Well they should charge the FAI what they want, with some common sense thrown in too.

egan007

....includes 2 Rugby internationals in February

That's going to be France and England

What a show!

wardie

Everyone is winner as the GAA will make a mint for these games too.

Something to look forward to.

Anyone know when lansdowne is due to be re-opened ?

Jonny Arson

Thankfully the GAA have eventually used their common sense. It's great it has been sorted, it will benefit all parties involved and it will only be a positive for Irish sport.

Just hope they get the floodlights in. For a so called world class stadium like Croke Park not to have floodlights is mindboggling. They'll be needed for midweek football internationals.

Kingp35

wardie wrote:

Everyone is winner as the GAA will make a mint for these games too.

Something to look forward to.

Anyone know when lansdowne is due to be re-opened ?

2009

whiskeyman

Trundle to score first hat-trick in Croker.... anyone know the odds?

Benedict XVI

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

Just hope they get the floodlights in. For a so called world class stadium like Croke Park not to have floodlights is mindboggling. They'll be needed for midweek football internationals.

The GAA do not have the need for floodlights, but they did get the satdiun wired for them when it was being built.

Planning permission will be applied for at somestage this year so once approved they can be insatlled very quickly.
No need to worry

~Rebel~

I heard somwhere that when that whole NFL in croker thing was on, they left all their lighting equipment behind free to be used. Dunno how true this is, but would be majorly handy if twas true!

3greenrizla's

great news,

but i was supprised by the sky news poll that said 48% of people were against it.

TwistsAndTurns

80,000 seated stadium, win win all around for the three organisations, the lights will not be an issue according to Sean Kelly, 2 rugby games, 3 football matches maybe more and a chance to show off whats said to be the 3rd bigest seated stadium in Europe to the world built by an amature organisation.

France and England in rugby will sell out no problem, I wonder if we get England in the european qualifiers will they hold over the home fixture until the end of the group stage after 2007 in hope that Lansdowne road will be finished ? Interesting times ahead indeed. At least a lot more football fans will get to see Ireland play.

redspider

Great to see this happening, everyone's a winner.

Its a win-win situation for the folowing year as well while Lansdowne gets re-dveloped and as long as the number of games held there doesnt get too many and that the pitch is managed well, especially after the rugby.

From a soccer viewpoint, where will Ireland play friendlies during that year? All away maybe?

redspider

The Clown Man

British National Anthem to be sung in Croke Park?

That should be fun to watch.

Guy:Incognito

eirebhoys wrote:

80,000 seated stadium, win win all around for the three organisations,.

Hill 16 is a terrace so ther'll be an empty side, which ruins the atmosphere imo. It'll be a big horseshoe and the capacity will be considerably less than 80,000. Anyone know what the terrace holds?

Pigman II

Although it's better than playing abroad I can already see three problems.

1. We'll probably end up trying to tailor our fixtures to maximise usage, ie we'll play the 5th-7th seeds in 2006 (Lansdowne) and the 1st-3rd seeds in 2007 (Croker).

2. There will be a lot of distance between the stands and the pitch (imagine Yokohama to get the idea)

3. As was mentioned already Hill16 will be empty (and I can't see the FAI bothering to install buckets there esp when they've already got 60,000+ seats to play with

The Rooster

I think the capacity is 83,500 or thereabouts. 70,000 of which are seats.

Fee per match has been agreed as the higher of:
a) €1.25m
b) 26% of gross receipts.

The FAI/IRFU will get money from the sale of boxes and premium seats, but they must be offered for sale to the current holders in the first instance.

The FAI/IRFU will get all the income from advertising hoardings etc.

No home games in June or September (the FAI are restricted to March, October and November).

There may be additional friendlies played in 2007 in Croke Park, but these will be subject to separate agreement.

Its win - win - win according to each association. The Irish Times reckon each will profit to the tune of €10m.

So everybody's a winner. Hard to put negative spin on it - unless you wanted to think about, where's all this money going to come from? Answer - the fans of course!

According to the FAI the current average price per ticket for competitive games is €50 (there certainly are tickets which cost this, but its not the average). The FAI say the average price will rise to €60 or €65, and I believe them this time . (Add about €15 per ticket for rugby matches).

whiskeyman

Isn't there going to have to be special security arrangements to keep opposition fans apart under FIFA/UEFA regulations?

(Currently Croker is a "free for all").

masterK

It's going to be a bit weird though with Hill 16 totally empty for the soccer matches, will take away from the atmosphere a lot. As far as I know they can install temporary seating for the Rugby if they so wish.

Benedict XVI

masterK wrote:

It's going to be a bit weird though with Hill 16 totally empty for the soccer matches, will take away from the atmosphere a lot. As far as I know they can install temporary seating for the Rugby if they so wish.

Rugby matches don't require all seating so the Hill can be used for them.
Only competitive soccer matches require all seating.
The FAI may apply to FIFA for the installation of buckets in the Hill 16 for competitive games. Not sure if it is going to happen though cos about a year or so ago FIFA only allowed the continued use of buckets in Lansdowne once it had been agreed to redevelop it.
With regards segregation of fans: The north side of Croke Park is actually divided by a fence into Hill16 and Nally Terrace. The Hill takes up about 60% of the area starting at the Cusack Stand side, from the fence to the Hogan Stand is the Nally Terrace.
If buckets were allowed you could put away fans in one of these spots.
Or in one of the stands divided by some empty seats and police either side as they do in EPL grounds.

Now I saw this in today’s Indo and I can’t figure out what they are on about, can anyone enlighten me.

Irish Independent wrote:

One of Staunton's first jobs, once the contracts are signed, will be to visit Croke Park with Robson, MacDonald and Kelly to decide where they want to position the soccer pitch and how big they want it to be.

With the FAI hoping to put bucket seats on Hill 16, it is likely to be in a central position thus denying us the opportunity of putting one goal right in front of the Canal End and allowing the crowd to suck the ball in or blow it out as required.

whiskeyman

Benedict XVI wrote:

Now I saw this in today’s Indo and I can’t figure out what they are on about, can anyone enlighten me.

Different size pitches (soccer a fair bit smaller) and they're suggesting it's slapped in the middle of the playing surface.


Gaa
The pitch, or field of play, should be rectangular, between 130m and 145m in length and 80m and 90m in width.

Soccer
The length of pitch for international matches should be in the range 100 m - 110 m (110-120 yards) and the width should be in the range 65 m - 75 m (70-80 yards).

Guy:Incognito

Pigman II wrote:

3. As was mentioned already Hill16 will be empty (and I can't see the FAI bothering to install buckets there esp when they've already got 60,000+ seats to play with

They dont have an option to install bucket seats. Afaik Hill16 is too steep, but even if it was'nt UEFA/FIFA woud.nt allow it. They were only allowed do it at Lansdowne under a special exeption because they assured UEFA/FIFA that the ground was getting redeveloped, so they were let do it short term.

Imposter

The Rooster wrote:

So everybody's a winner. Hard to put negative spin on it - unless you wanted to think about, where's all this money going to come from? Answer - the fans of course!

There was a similar rental agreement for Lansdowne between the FAI and IRFU. Percentage wise this one is not that much different and seeing as the capacity is bigger the FAI have the possibility to earn a lot more profit. There's no doubt the big games will sell out but will the games against the weaker teams in the group sell-out?

Pigman II wrote:

2. There will be a lot of distance between the stands and the pitch (imagine Yokohama to get the idea)

I'm not sure there will. The entire width of the pitch will/can/should be used and if the Hill is not used the goals can be beside the canal end. For rugby there'll be a bit of empty ground at either end but considering the view from the canal is good from every seat this ain't a problem. Views from the hill are the only problem with this.

Whiskeyman,
I've read somethere that a soccer pitch can be up to 100m in width (but can't be square).

Guy:Incognito

Whats the situaion with Lansdowne after redevelopement? Did the fai buy into the ground or are they still just tenants? I cant see the point ploughing money into somethign that isnt yours. What happens if they did somehow manage to sort themselves out and get ther own stadium, they would have wasted millions in Lansdowne. It's a bit lie renting a house and filling full of expnsive gear and redecorating, then moving out and leaving it there.

whiskeyman

Imposter wrote:

Whiskeyman,
I've read somethere that a soccer pitch can be up to 100m in width (but can't be square).

Where'd you read that?
The pitch is going to appear smaller, and "away" from the stands.
From FIFA laws of the game:
http://www.fifa.com/documents/fifa/laws/LOTG2005_e.pdf

FIFA Laws wrote:

Dimensions
The field of play must be rectangular. The length of the touch line must
be greater than the length of the goal line.
Length: minimum 90 m (100 yds)
maximum 120 m (130 yds)
Width: minimum 45 m (50 yds)
maximum 90 m (100 yds)

International Matches
Length: minimum 100 m (110 yds)
maximum 110 m (120 yds)
Width: minimum 64 m (70 yds)
maximum 75 m (80 yds)

Pigman II

So theoretically you could have a pitch that was 90m long and 89m wide? Crazy!

Guy:Incognito

Pigman II wrote:

So theoretically you could have a pitch that was 90m long and 89m wide? Crazy!

Someone should do that to really fcuk wih the away teams head.:D Maybe a low league team that draw a pl team in the fa cup.

Pigman II

It'd **** with their heads alright but it probably wouldn't do you any favours.

The general rule of thumb if you're playing a team technically far superior to you is to make the pitch as narrow as possible to compress the play. 120x45 sounds about right

Benedict XVI

whiskeyman wrote:

Different size pitches (soccer a fair bit smaller) and they're suggesting it's slapped in the middle of the playing surface.


Gaa
The pitch, or field of play, should be rectangular, between 130m and 145m in length and 80m and 90m in width.

Soccer
The length of pitch for international matches should be in the range 100 m - 110 m (110-120 yards) and the width should be in the range 65 m - 75 m (70-80 yards).

So assuming that CP is the full 145x90 if you fit a full size (110x75) soccer pitch in the centre you are going to be approx c20m from the side line on the Canal End Stand and Hill 16/Nally Terrace sides(145-110 = 35/2 = 17.5. + 3 = 20.5, It’s about 3m from the front row of each to the grass)
And about c10m away on the Hogan and Cusack stand sides (90-75 = 15/2 = 7.5 + 3 It’s about 3m from the front row of each to the grass)

I think that is a better option that planning the pitch around that Canal goal, which would mean that the Hill/Nally (empty or not) would be c38m from the ‘north’ goal (145-110 = 35 +3).
Anyone who as a ticket in the Hogan and Cusack Stands from this ‘north’ gaol line up to the Hill/Nally Terrace are getting bad value for money.

BTW Do Ireland have the wide players to be able to use a 110 x 75 pitch

colster

eirebhoys wrote:

80,000 seated stadium, win win all around for the three organisations, the lights will not be an issue according to Sean Kelly, 2 rugby games, 3 football matches maybe more and a chance to show off whats said to be the 3rd bigest seated stadium in Europe to the world built by an amature organisation.

France and England in rugby will sell out no problem, I wonder if we get England in the european qualifiers will they hold over the home fixture until the end of the group stage after 2007 in hope that Lansdowne road will be finished ? Interesting times ahead indeed. At least a lot more football fans will get to see Ireland play.

There are only 69500 seats and 13000 standing on the Hill.
Still though 82000 for Rugby and @ 70000 for soccer not bad.

BaZmO*

Benedict XVI wrote:

The GAA do not have the need for floodlights, but they did get the satdiun wired for them when it was being built.

Planning permission will be applied for at somestage this year so once approved they can be insatlled very quickly.
No need to worry

Imagine that, somebody having the foresight to actually think that maybe in the future they might have the need for something that they don't need at the moment? :eek: Something the FAI might learn from......well maybe not.

Sean Kelly was on the Hub on Setanta last night and he was asked about the floodlights and he said the same as Benedict XVI, there'll be absolutely no problems putting them in, well maybe there wood be if it was up to the FAI to install them........How many AAA batteries does a Floodlight take?

Imposter

whiskeyman wrote:

Where'd you read that?

Nah I was thinking of the general pitch sizes. Didn't realise there were further restrictions for international matches! Why would the allowed width be less than maximum for international matches! After all these are supposedly the best players!

Anyone who's complaining about the pitch been too far away from the stands what do they propose? Move the match to Tolka, or England/Wales? The view from every seat is good and terrace views are always slightly worse anyways so nothing hige has changed. People manage fine to see GAA games which uses the whole pitch.

Pigman II

BaZmO* wrote:

there'll be absolutely no problems putting them in, well maybe there wood be if it was up to the FAI to install them........How many AAA batteries does a Floodlight take?

They could just get TheTraitor to come over and moon the pitch. Sure doesn't the sun shine out of his arse according to most people?

BaZmO*

Pigman II wrote:

They could just get TheTraitor to come over and moon the pitch. Sure doesn't the sun shine out of his arse according to most people?

Ooh...Controversial!

Guy:Incognito

Pigman II wrote:

They could just get TheTraitor to come over and moon the pitch. Sure doesn't the sun shine out of his arse according to most people?

Yawn.

dr zoidberg

Stekelly wrote:

Whats the situaion with Lansdowne after redevelopement? Did the fai buy into the ground or are they still just tenants? I cant see the point ploughing money into somethign that isnt yours. What happens if they did somehow manage to sort themselves out and get ther own stadium, they would have wasted millions in Lansdowne. It's a bit lie renting a house and filling full of expnsive gear and redecorating, then moving out and leaving it there.

The FAI will be joint owners along with the IRFU and won't have to pay rent anymore once Lansdowne is finished. They're both paying the same amount to fund its reconstruction.

BaZmO*

dr zoidberg wrote:

The FAI will be joint owners along with the IRFU and won't have to pay rent anymore once Lansdowne is finished. They're both paying the same amount to fund its reconstruction.

On The Hub last night one of the journalists that was on was makin the point that they might not even get planning permission for the redevelopment of Lansdowne and that if Bertie has anything to do with it Abbottstown might still go ahead with the option of using Croker for any big games. It's quite possible if you ask me.

dr zoidberg

True enough, they have set aside a whole year for planning permission but it could take even longer, and Croke Park won't be opened until permission is granted and work gets underway. TBH I wouldn't mind having the stadium at Abbotstown, then we could have all our major sports facilities and academies in one place. Not to mention the major advantages of building on a new greenfield site rather than in the middle of a city. The media shot it down last time and they'll probably do it again if it happens to come up

BaZmO*

dr zoidberg wrote:

and Croke Park won't be opened until permission is granted and work gets underway.

I thought Croke Park has been opened up because the planning process has begun?