Mayo vs. Roscommon Connacht SFC Semi-final (June 16th, McHale Park)

[muppet]

Statement regarding Dr. Hyde Park
posted 6 hours ago by PRO Roscommon
The Management Committee of Roscommon GAA was recently informed by the Connacht Council that Dr. Hyde Park will not be considered as a venue for Connacht Senior Football Championship Finals for the foreseeable future.

We were disappointed to receive the news but can accept the reasoning due a number of the concerns contained in the "Slattery Report" which was published last year. Although a number of issues were addressed in the lead up to last year's Connacht Final some of the facilities are not considered suitable and there are a number of Health and Safety issues outstanding.
At present the venue cannot accommodate crowds in excess of 18,750 but can host other Connacht Championship games, All-Ireland qualifiers and other games with smaller attendances.

We are aware of the financial benefits that hosting the past two Connacht Finals has brought to Roscommon town and the impact on our own finances and we are doing our utmost to resolve the situation.
We are currently finalising negotiations with Roscommon Gaels to transfer control of the stadium to Roscommon County Board and once this process has reached a conclusion we will forward a plan to the Connacht Council and Central Council to seek funding for the redevelopment of the Stadium in order to bring the facilities to a standard required for hosting major games and to give the people of Roscommon a Stadium to be proud of.

It can't be over-stated how much that's going to feed into the sentiment at the weekend. That is a hugely emotive issue here. Nevermind the players, the supporters will be liable to run through a few brick walls. Prenty just added another foil to the match.

Forget about the play-acting for a second - this has really pissed me off in a way very few things can. Pathetic.

1) This has already happened in Mayo when Castlebar Mitchels club was relieved of McHale Park .
2) Rossies have little to whinge about considering what happened the original vote for a Provincial Ground for Connacht.

This has nothing to do with Mayo or this match and you are seriously clutching at some hypocritical straws there.

[Syferus]

Who the hell said anything about Mayo the county? It's Prenty the man and our board for making a mess of the Hyde that are to blame.

That Prenty is and has been trying every trick in the book to service the spiralling debt on McHale very much feeds into Sunday's game at the titular Prenty Bowl.

[muppet]

Who the hell said anything about Mayo the county? It's Prenty the man and our board for making a mess of the Hyde that are to blame.

That Prenty is and has been trying every trick in the book to service the spiralling debt on McHale very much feeds into Sunday's game at the titular Prenty Bowl.

It can't be over-stated how much that's going to feed into the sentiment at the weekend.

Well?

[Syferus]

Who the hell said anything about Mayo the county? It's Prenty the man and our board for making a mess of the Hyde that are to blame.

That Prenty is and has been trying every trick in the book to service the spiralling debt on McHale very much feeds into Sunday's game at the titular Prenty Bowl.

It can't be over-stated how much that's going to feed into the sentiment at the weekend.

Well?

The non-bolded part gives you your answer, Muppet.

You're away in the clouds if you don't think Prenty's involvement and his unerring love and funding for McHale won't feed into the underdog sentiment at the weekend for us.

[muppet]

Who the hell said anything about Mayo the county? It's Prenty the man and our board for making a mess of the Hyde that are to blame.

That Prenty is and has been trying every trick in the book to service the spiralling debt on McHale very much feeds into Sunday's game at the titular Prenty Bowl.

It can't be over-stated how much that's going to feed into the sentiment at the weekend.

Well?

The non-bolded part gives you your answer, Muppet.

You're away in the clouds if you don't think Prenty's involvement and his unerring love and funding for McHale won't feed into the underdog sentiment at the weekend for us.

What allegations exactly are you making about Prenty?

[Syferus]

Who the hell said anything about Mayo the county? It's Prenty the man and our board for making a mess of the Hyde that are to blame.

That Prenty is and has been trying every trick in the book to service the spiralling debt on McHale very much feeds into Sunday's game at the titular Prenty Bowl.

It can't be over-stated how much that's going to feed into the sentiment at the weekend.

Well?

The non-bolded part gives you your answer, Muppet.

You're away in the clouds if you don't think Prenty's involvement and his unerring love and funding for McHale won't feed into the underdog sentiment at the weekend for us.

What allegations exactly are you making about Prenty?

Oh, so we're going down that lane, are we? Plenty of other know the situation better than me and if they want to retread Prenty's greatest hits as regards McHale and the Hyde they can.

It's a toxic combination of our board's ineptitude and Prenty's opportunism. Sligo and Leitrim have been screwed out of accessible Connacht finals to boot. More money for Mayo and Galway, exactly what the province needs.

[IolarCoisCuain]

Statement regarding Dr. Hyde Park
posted 6 hours ago by PRO Roscommon
The Management Committee of Roscommon GAA was recently informed by the Connacht Council that Dr. Hyde Park will not be considered as a venue for Connacht Senior Football Championship Finals for the foreseeable future.

We were disappointed to receive the news but can accept the reasoning due a number of the concerns contained in the "Slattery Report" which was published last year. Although a number of issues were addressed in the lead up to last year's Connacht Final some of the facilities are not considered suitable and there are a number of Health and Safety issues outstanding.
At present the venue cannot accommodate crowds in excess of 18,750 but can host other Connacht Championship games, All-Ireland qualifiers and other games with smaller attendances.

We are aware of the financial benefits that hosting the past two Connacht Finals has brought to Roscommon town and the impact on our own finances and we are doing our utmost to resolve the situation.
We are currently finalising negotiations with Roscommon Gaels to transfer control of the stadium to Roscommon County Board and once this process has reached a conclusion we will forward a plan to the Connacht Council and Central Council to seek funding for the redevelopment of the Stadium in order to bring the facilities to a standard required for hosting major games and to give the people of Roscommon a Stadium to be proud of.

It can't be over-stated how much that's going to feed into the sentiment at the weekend. That is a hugely emotive issue here. Nevermind the players, the supporters will be liable to run through a few brick walls. Prenty just added another foil to the match.

Forget about the play-acting for a second - this has really pissed me off in a way very few things can. Pathetic.

And here's me thinking all this time that you were a placid, easy-going sort of a buck.

[Tubberman]

From a supporter's point of view, it can only be good news. The Hyde isn't up to scratch, as acknowledged by Roscommon County Board themselves.
You come through the turnstiles and you have to walk across a field to get to the terrace or stand ffs. The 'seating' below the new stand is literally crumbing away to nothing, and I'm sure the media facilities aren't much better. The players have to come out from a separate dressing room building in the far corner, almost having to ask supporters to make way for them.
It's a terrible 'user experience' if you want to talk marketing language.

McHale Park and to a lesser extent Pearse Stadium are the only grounds within the province capable of hosting provincial finals that satisfy the modern-day requirements - from the point of view of supporters, media and I'm sure players as well.

[Tubberman]

On the match itself, that's a very decent Roscommon side. A lot of those players would be familiar to the Mayo players and vice versa.
So the Rossies won't start the match with any inhibitions. But you'd have to think their conditioning, speed, tackling, speed of thought would all be a fair bit behind the level Mayo are operating at.
If Mayo go at the Rossies the way they went at Galway, they should win comfortably enough in the end. I don't expect complacency from them - Horan and the entire squad seem to be very focussed on their own performances rather than relying on rivalries etc to get them up for a match.
But if for some reason they approach the game thinking the game will look after itself, the Rossies have the players and the chip on the shoulder to make it a very uncomfortable afternoon.

[spuds]

Mayo 3-14 Dross 1-9

[Lar Naparka]

Who the hell said anything about Mayo the county? It's Prenty the man and our board for making a mess of the Hyde that are to blame.

That Prenty is and has been trying every trick in the book to service the spiralling debt on McHale very much feeds into Sunday's game at the titular Prenty Bowl.

Oh, FFS, the caterwauling has started once again!
Year after year, we get assloads of it; Prenty done this or Prenty done that.
Bliain i ndiaidh bliana, gan stad gan staonadh. (Or something like that.)
Next, ye will be blaming him for closing down Roscommon Hospital or for the state of the roads in yeer god-forsaken part of the country.
Going by what I do be reading on this board, Roscommon is the second worst county in Connacht for failing to recognises it's own CB as the main source of its problems. It has to be Prenty or Jesus Christ; Finn McCool –anyone at all bar the laitchekos in charge of running the county's affairs.
Prenty didn't singlehandedly turn the Hyde into a dumping ground for second-hand sheep. Not so long ago, the Hyde was earmarked (pardon the pun) for development as the provincial venue for finals and look what happened to that proposal!

Last year, ye were going on and on about the exciting new plans to re-develop the place and make it fit for human occupation and ye're at it again this year. Can ye not do anything for yeerselves? (I'm afraid I'm slipping into Sligonian-speak here.)
BTW, can you instance one single action by Prenty to divert funds from the Hyde to McHale Park?

[RMDrive]

Still though, having the Connacht final played in Castlebar every year will help a bit with paying off the McHale park costs.

[Crete Boom]

Still though, having the Connacht final played in Castlebar every year will help a bit with paying off the McHale park costs.

   That's a fair point but the Mayo Co Board (who I am no fan of) did manage to get their act together to redevelop McHale Park ( although the made a balls of it ) so it was up to a modern standard and as far as I am aware the financing was handled by the Mayo Co board with no mystic funds being magiced away from Roscommon by Prenty or anyone else! It's not a lot to ask the Ros Co Board to sort out the Hyde which would definitely make a great compact 26K or 28K stadium which would be great for non Mayo v Galway Connacht finals. Say what you like about the debt on McHale park but at least our Co board got the money and rebuilt the stadium which is now up to modern standards. Whether the correct amount of money borrowed was acquired or the best value for money was achieved are Mayo's problem as the county in Gaa terms are on the hook for the Loan with Gaa headquarters( not the Connacht Council) the people who underwrite the loans obtained by Co Boards for Capital expenditure.
   While the other Connacht counties (and North Mayo + all Erris men) can certainly have a go at Prenty over the building of the centre of excellence in Bekan you can't balme him for the ineptitude of the Ros Co board over not sorting out the Hyde as personally I wouldn't have any problem going to Connacht finals in a up to standard Hyde Park.

[Lar Naparka]

Still though, having the Connacht final played in Castlebar every year will help a bit with paying off the McHale park costs.

Point taken; I'm sure it is a great help but Prenty alone isn't responsible for that.
The Rossies had their chance to have the Hyde developed as the provincial and they blew it.
There are only two venues in Connacht big enough to stage Connacht finals; Castlebar and Salthill.
Granted, last year the final was played at the Hyde in Roscommon but that was because Sligo opted to play there rather than give Mayo home advantage or go to Salthill which would not suit the supporters of either county. 
Luckily enough from a safety point of view; the weather was very bad that day and that kept the attendance low.   

[Farrandeelin]

Can Leitrim not choose Hyde Park if they get to the Connacht final now?