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

[johnnycool]

Hard to see it going any other way.

Rewarding failure

No doubt, but is it also rewarding those with vision to go bigger.

IFA played safe and got Linfield a nice wee stadium, 90% of the time meets their requirements, Ulster Rugby probably similar, ruling them out of these blue riband evens whereas the Ulster Council probably aimed far too high, made a shíte of it in all honesty, ably assisted with some political partners who overplayed their hand but could still end up with a far superior stadium than the other two..

[Baile Brigín 2]

Hard to see it going any other way.

Rewarding failure

No doubt, but is it also rewarding those with vision to go bigger.

IFA played safe and got Linfield a nice wee stadium, 90% of the time meets their requirements, Ulster Rugby probably similar, ruling them out of these blue riband evens whereas the Ulster Council probably aimed far too high, made a shíte of it in all honesty, ably assisted with some political partners who overplayed their hand but could still end up with a far superior stadium than the other two..

Vision isn't a word I associate with the Casement Park project.

But it is bonkers to think that Casement may end up Belfast premier stadium in these circumstances

[marty34]

Hard to see it going any other way.

Rewarding failure

No doubt, but is it also rewarding those with vision to go bigger.

IFA played safe and got Linfield a nice wee stadium, 90% of the time meets their requirements, Ulster Rugby probably similar, ruling them out of these blue riband evens whereas the Ulster Council probably aimed far too high, made a shíte of it in all honesty, ably assisted with some political partners who overplayed their hand but could still end up with a far superior stadium than the other two..

Vision isn't a word I associate with the Casement Park project.

But it is bonkers to think that Casement may end up Belfast premier stadium in these circumstances

If built to the full spec, I'm sure nobody will care 10 years down the line.

Only thing is how many times will it be at full capacity?...apart from soccer competitions.

Having a saying, 20, 000 all seater with all the mod cons would be some job.

[Rossfan]

Antrim might need to be using the Stadium while that Euro soccerball thingy is on.
Croke Park will be hitting into peak usage then too.

Are we sure Croker will be involved? You can't have 2 stadia in the one city unless one is the final venue.

You'd better tell the media that if it's true.

Even with the (nationalised taxpayer funded) FAI involved they should win the bid as they're the only bidders.

[Evil Genius]

Antrim might need to be using the Stadium while that Euro soccerball thingy is on.
Croke Park will be hitting into peak usage then too.

Are we sure Croker will be involved? You can't have 2 stadia in the one city unless one is the final venue.

That is the normal arrangement.

Generally each venue gets to host 3 or 4 group games, plus maybe a knockout game. It may be different in 2028 because there will be 32 teams, but rather than allow two stadia in one city, I suspect they'll just extend it to more cities.

If so, then politics (both big and small "p") will likely determine where the games are played. England will demand -and get - the Lion's share (sorry), since it is really "their" bid. (Remember, they really only roped the other four in in order to get extra votes at UEFA). Plus England has plenty of big two-club soccer cities, like Manchester, Liverpool and London etc, all with big, modern stadia. On top of which the UK government will be stumping up serious dosh, and there are far more votes for them in England than Scotland. Wales and NI.

Meanwhile, unless the Dail writes a huge cheque, I suspect Dublin will be told it's one venue, i.e. the AVIVA, esp if NI were staging games at a new Casement.

And the FAI should be happy enough with that, since they'd rather any extra Irish government money going was spent meeting other soccer needs, rather than more going into the coffers of the GAA/Croke.

But we'll see.

[Baile Brigín 2]

Antrim might need to be using the Stadium while that Euro soccerball thingy is on.
Croke Park will be hitting into peak usage then too.

Are we sure Croker will be involved? You can't have 2 stadia in the one city unless one is the final venue.

That is the normal arrangement.

Generally each venue gets to host 3 or 4 group games, plus maybe a knockout game. It may be different in 2028 because there will be 32 teams, but rather than allow two stadia in one city, I suspect they'll just extend it to more cities.

If so, then politics (both big and small "p") will likely determine where the games are played. England will demand -and get - the Lion's share (sorry), since it is really "their" bid. (Remember, they really only roped the other four in in order to get extra votes at UEFA). Plus England has plenty of big two-club soccer cities, like Manchester, Liverpool and London etc, all with big, modern stadia. On top of which the UK government will be stumping up serious dosh, and there are far more votes for them in England than Scotland. Wales and NI.

Meanwhile, unless the Dail writes a huge cheque, I suspect Dublin will be told it's one venue, i.e. the AVIVA, esp if NI were staging games at a new Casement.

And the FAI should be happy enough with that, since they'd rather any extra Irish government money going was spent meeting other soccer needs, rather than more going into the coffers of the GAA/Croke.

But we'll see.

Pretty much my understanding. If there can be two stadium cities they will he London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool, not Dublin.

Croke Park doesn't fit here.

[Baile Brigín 2]

Antrim might need to be using the Stadium while that Euro soccerball thingy is on.
Croke Park will be hitting into peak usage then too.

Are we sure Croker will be involved? You can't have 2 stadia in the one city unless one is the final venue.

You'd better tell the media that if it's true.

Even with the (nationalised taxpayer funded) FAI involved they should win the bid as they're the only bidders.

It is true. I have no idea why the press are running with London, Manchester, Glasgow, Birmingham one venue, Dublin two.

The FAI played a blinder here. 4 or 5 games in Dublin at zero cost and zero effort. Can the GAA step up and get a stadium rammed home for the IFA?

[Evil Genius]

The FAI played a blinder here. 4 or 5 games in Dublin at zero cost and zero effort. Can the GAA step up and get a stadium rammed home for the IFA?

Tbf, the FAI didn't really "do" anything, they had this handed to them by the Englsih FA and all they had to do was pledge their vote and shake a few hands in Switzerland.

Indeed they're not even providing a stadium, like eg the EFA/Wembley or SFA/Hampdenseeing as how the IRFU effectively owns the AVIVA.

[Wildweasel74]

Sure you can fire a game or 2 in that stadium built in Cork

[Baile Brigín 2]

The FAI played a blinder here. 4 or 5 games in Dublin at zero cost and zero effort. Can the GAA step up and get a stadium rammed home for the IFA?

Tbf, the FAI didn't really "do" anything, they had this handed to them by the Englsih FA and all they had to do was pledge their vote and shake a few hands in Switzerland.

Indeed they're not even providing a stadium, like eg the EFA/Wembley or SFA/Hampdenseeing as how the IRFU effectively owns the AVIVA.

Try that again...

[Baile Brigín 2]

Sure you can fire a game or 2 in that stadium built in Cork

Where are you putting the 20,000 extra seats?

[Evil Genius]

Indeed [the FAI are] not even providing a stadium...    ....seeing as how the IRFU effectively owns the AVIVA.

Try that again...

When the stadium was rebuilt, along with the government, the FAI and IRFU both put up funding in return for a share of the receipts from their respective events. I can't remember what the split was, but I do know the FAI needed/chose to borrow their share against future ticket sales etc.

Meanwhile, at the end of the 50 year agreement, stadium ownership would revert to the IRFU, which is not so unfair as it might seem, since they own the freehold and 50 years is generally considered to be the working life of a sports stadium, after which it will have to be rebuilt again.

Which was all hunky dory until the crash of 2008/09, premium tickets sales for the FAI slumped and the debts rose.

Then when Delaney was finally ousted and the FAI got a proper look at the accounts, they were revealed to be in deep doo-doo (accountant's term)i, the only way the FAI could avoid bankruptcy was by selling their sole real "asset" i.e. their stake in the AVIVA :
https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/fai-chiefs-admit-liquidation-possible-21181196

I'm not sure of the exact details, but I'm fairly sure the IRFU played hard ball by declining to buy out the FAI's stake - they were sitting pretty as it was, still are in fact.

While the government was also reluctant, since they were already putting enough money in just to keep the lights on, they didn't want to have to put up any more public money on behalf of an organisation which still might fail.

That was nearly 2 1/2 years ago and I don't know exactly how the FAI got themselves out of the bind they were in, since it was all kept very hush hush. But a quick google reveals the following - I'm not a Times subscriber, but the headline looks to give a good steer:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rugby-hold-aviva-stadium-dublin-spccx0ngh

[armaghniac]

Sure you can fire a game or 2 in that stadium built in Cork

Where are you putting the 20,000 extra seats?

I would be astonished if the terracing was not designed so that seats could be placed there.

[Baile Brigín 2]

Sure you can fire a game or 2 in that stadium built in Cork

Where are you putting the 20,000 extra seats?

I would be astonished if the terracing was not designed so that seats could be placed there.

And I'd be equally as astonished if it was and more if it was allowed

[Baile Brigín 2]

Indeed [the FAI are] not even providing a stadium...    ....seeing as how the IRFU effectively owns the AVIVA.

Try that again...

When the stadium was rebuilt, along with the government, the FAI and IRFU both put up funding in return for a share of the receipts from their respective events. I can't remember what the split was, but I do know the FAI needed/chose to borrow their share against future ticket sales etc.

Meanwhile, at the end of the 50 year agreement, stadium ownership would revert to the IRFU, which is not so unfair as it might seem, since they own the freehold and 50 years is generally considered to be the working life of a sports stadium, after which it will have to be rebuilt again.

Which was all hunky dory until the crash of 2008/09, premium tickets sales for the FAI slumped and the debts rose.

Then when Delaney was finally ousted and the FAI got a proper look at the accounts, they were revealed to be in deep doo-doo (accountant's term)i, the only way the FAI could avoid bankruptcy was by selling their sole real "asset" i.e. their stake in the AVIVA :
https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/fai-chiefs-admit-liquidation-possible-21181196

I'm not sure of the exact details, but I'm fairly sure the IRFU played hard ball by declining to buy out the FAI's stake - they were sitting pretty as it was, still are in fact.

While the government was also reluctant, since they were already putting enough money in just to keep the lights on, they didn't want to have to put up any more public money on behalf of an organisation which still might fail.

That was nearly 2 1/2 years ago and I don't know exactly how the FAI got themselves out of the bind they were in, since it was all kept very hush hush. But a quick google reveals the following - I'm not a Times subscriber, but the headline looks to give a good steer:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rugby-hold-aviva-stadium-dublin-spccx0ngh

The split was 50/50, as it remains. They both own the building but the egg chasers own the land. Standard enough The Times article breathlesslytells us what's in the piblic domain.

I thought politicans were pushing for the also broke IRFU to buy the FAI out rather than it be a serious solution.

I don't think it's hush hush. There was a book and tv show. They refinanced the mortgage on LR and were less aggresdive with the repayment schedule.