Casement Park in line for major overhaul - 40,000 all seater Stadium.

[trentoneill15]

I hate the site of Belfast and everything about it

[Maguire01]

Clones is an awful hole of a town and no place for a large stadium. Two and a half narrow roads into it means traffic chaos.

Two and a half roads? I can count 8.

[twohands!!!]

Lets put it in Athlone then..

Jeez even people from Athlone hate Athlone.

[babarino]

Clones is an awful hole of a town and no place for a large stadium. Two and a half narrow roads into it means traffic chaos. The only reason it is associated with big games atmospheres is cos it gets all the big games like Ulster finals!
I travel to Belfast regularly and the potential of big games at Casement is very exciting with the new stadium. The infrastructure is miles ahead of Clones village and will inevitably become the home of Ulster football I'd say

Why a swanker (with a silent 's') from Sligo is taking swipes at Clones beats me. When was the last time there was a big game in Casement with an attendance of 30,000? Casement is miles away from the train station and if you manage to get a taxi, you're go nowhere fast. Andersonstown Road is complete bedlam with a crowd of less than 20,000.

St. Tiernach's Park (owned by the Ulster Council) hasn't had a penny spent on infrastructure in decades, to facilitate the switch to Belfast. Bullying Health and Safety officers and backhanders to the residents will sort it out. 

[trileacman]

Clones is a cracking venue. Casement is a shithole. Why would we relocate the home of Ulster football to an area where joy-riding is the most predominant sport?

[Nigel White]

I hate the site of Belfast and everything about it

The most sensible post on this thread by a mile.  By everything about it I assume/hope you mean Antrim in general

[imtommygunn]

Clones is an awful hole of a town and no place for a large stadium. Two and a half narrow roads into it means traffic chaos. The only reason it is associated with big games atmospheres is cos it gets all the big games like Ulster finals!
I travel to Belfast regularly and the potential of big games at Casement is very exciting with the new stadium. The infrastructure is miles ahead of Clones village and will inevitably become the home of Ulster football I'd say

Why a swanker (with a silent 's') from Sligo is taking swipes at Clones beats me. When was the last time there was a big game in Casement with an attendance of 30,000? Casement is miles away from the train station and if you manage to get a taxi, you're go nowhere fast. Andersonstown Road is complete bedlam with a crowd of less than 20,000.

St. Tiernach's Park (owned by the Ulster Council) hasn't had a penny spent on infrastructure in decades, to facilitate the switch to Belfast. Bullying Health and Safety officers and backhanders to the residents will sort it out. 

The biggest i recall was derry down in the early 90s. 92 i think. Since then the odd antrim game has had half decent crowds. Can't recall a full house.

To be honest at this point, and i'm sure a lot of antrim people would agree, i just want us to have our county ground back. I am not convinced casement is the place for ulster finals etc. the whole thing is a debacle and has got very political - with ulster council guys as much as anyone.

[Walter Cronc]

Clones is a cracking venue. Casement is a shithole. Why would we relocate the home of Ulster football to an area where joy-riding is the most predominant sport?

What a c*ck!

[trileacman]

I agree. If an Ulster final is ever held at Casement, the supporters of both teams should head to Clones and watch the match in the pub.

Glad you've came to sense.

[trileacman]

Just to clarify this isn't an irrational dislike of Belfast or casement or the people around there. It's just a poor place for the provincial ground imo. That said casement is still a better stadium than Omagh which is unparalleled in its shiteness as a gaa ground. Honestly I've never been in a duller ground with as poor a pitch. O Connor park is possibly the only ground than comes close.

[general_lee]

Don't see why why Casement shouldn't be able to host Ulster finals. I'd like to see them alternate between Clones and Casement.

Always liked the nice backdrop of the mountain, the sublime surface. Yes a bit of a cnut to get out of with queues of traffic but so is Clones.

It's a shame this is being allowed to drag on for so long as the new stadium will provide a real shot in the arm for GAA in west Belfast.

[trileacman]

Don't see why why Casement shouldn't be able to host Ulster finals. I'd like to see them alternate between Clones and Casement.

Always liked the nice backdrop of the mountain, the sublime surface. Yes a bit of a cnut to get out of with queues of traffic but so is Clones.

It's a shame this is being allowed to drag on for so long as the new stadium will provide a real shot in the arm for GAA in west Belfast.

The traffic round Clones is a tough one alright but there seems to be this myth that Casement is 4 four minutes from the nine counties. Anytime I visited, I'd as much bother getting home as I did from Clones, don't see how this is gonna suddenly change with a new stadium on the same site.

[Sidney]

Every cloud has a silver lining.
Clones looking well today.

Ulster final day in Clones should have a preservation order attached to it.

Hurling people talk about Munster hurling final day in Thurles being special. Ulster football final day in Clones is just as special and to do away with it forever in favour of moving to a soulless flat-pack cavern in Belfast would, in my view, be an act of desecration.

Agreed. I have been going to Clones for over 40 years & while it certainly isn't the last word in sophistication, the atmosphere on a big day can't be beaten.

If we move to a soulless all seater modern concrete stadium on the Falls Rd we will lose something that will be very hard to replace.

Is Croke park soulless?  Casement to be built to a mini version of Croke... If its built, I'm sure like most stadiums of a similar style in all the major cities around the world, it will be grand... Given half the chance Clones would change if given free money

If Croke Park doesnt have at least 70,000 people in it, yes, it's generally soulless. In fact, if the crowd is below 40,000, it's one of the most soulless venues I can think of.

I can name about 20 matches I've attended in the last five years at Croke Park which have had atmospheres that make a wet Sunday in Holyhead seem exciting in comparison.

Clones is special. Casement Park will never be.

[imtommygunn]

At this point hs i'd just like to see us with a county ground. The whole thing has turned into a farce and ulster council have not exactly handled things well. Antrim county board have dealt with it as they tend to deal with most things- incompetently.


I don't see an easy way out of this and just hope we don't lose everything out of itas it's very dependent on grants and if they're cut then trouble ahead.

[imtommygunn]

Ai but you'd like to think it'd be able to be used for county games. Yeah the if, or perhaps when, is what worries me more.