Derry Club Football & Hurling original

[Fear Bun Na Sceilpe]

Genuinely not trying to court controversy here but Celtic Park is the most over rated surface in the county.

It's OK but there are plenty in the county of a similar or better standard.

Give us your list. I've piayed on a lot of them

Well done you.

Screen
Glen
Lavey Top Pitch
Banagher
Bellaghy
Dungiven hurling pitch

To name a few.

Dont get me wrong.  It's not a bad surface.  But it's pretty heavy, and there are huge patches of it that get extremely boggy after any rain at all.  And there are other areas that get bare very quickly when it dries up.  The only thing that saves it at times is lack of use.

Now all that said, this is true of lots of surfaces in the county.  But they are not afforded the mythical status that our city brethren seem to attach to CP.

Im not sure why you are taking that cheeky attitude.

Anyhow.

Screen - Poor pitch but has a stand, albeit old and uncomfortable
Glen-Decent pitch, decent stand, poor access
Lavey Top Pitch _Good pitch, no stand
Banagher- Middling pitch, no stand
Bellaghy-Never in the place
Dungiven hurling pitch-Good pitch, no stand, poor access

I would say pretty much everyone here has played on a lot of them, so I'm not sure how you think that would differentiate you in terms of making an assessment.

I was really only talking about the surface of the pitch itself, spectator facilities etc are obviously better in CP than all club grounds.

But if your assessment criteria says Banagher is a 'middling' surface, then CP would also be middling *at best*.

it does not differentiate me at all and I didn't suggest that either, but it does qualify me somewhat. Banagher can be a bit heavy, but most will be now as we enter Autumn.

[BuzzKill (Version II)]

Genuinely not trying to court controversy here but Celtic Park is the most over rated surface in the county.

It's OK but there are plenty in the county of a similar or better standard.

Give us your list. I've piayed on a lot of them

Well done you.

Screen
Glen
Lavey Top Pitch
Banagher
Bellaghy
Dungiven hurling pitch

To name a few.

Dont get me wrong.  It's not a bad surface.  But it's pretty heavy, and there are huge patches of it that get extremely boggy after any rain at all.  And there are other areas that get bare very quickly when it dries up.  The only thing that saves it at times is lack of use.

Now all that said, this is true of lots of surfaces in the county.  But they are not afforded the mythical status that our city brethren seem to attach to CP.

Im not sure why you are taking that cheeky attitude.

Anyhow.

Screen - Poor pitch but has a stand, albeit old and uncomfortable
Glen-Decent pitch, decent stand, poor access
Lavey Top Pitch _Good pitch, no stand
Banagher- Middling pitch, no stand
Bellaghy-Never in the place
Dungiven hurling pitch-Good pitch, no stand, poor access

Screen got a brand new pitch laid a few years ago. Yes in the past screen could have been accused of having a poor, heavy pitch. But that argument doesnt hold up any more. Screen pitch is as good as or better than most others in the county

[Franko]

Genuinely not trying to court controversy here but Celtic Park is the most over rated surface in the county.

It's OK but there are plenty in the county of a similar or better standard.

Give us your list. I've piayed on a lot of them

Well done you.

Screen
Glen
Lavey Top Pitch
Banagher
Bellaghy
Dungiven hurling pitch

To name a few.

Dont get me wrong.  It's not a bad surface.  But it's pretty heavy, and there are huge patches of it that get extremely boggy after any rain at all.  And there are other areas that get bare very quickly when it dries up.  The only thing that saves it at times is lack of use.

Now all that said, this is true of lots of surfaces in the county.  But they are not afforded the mythical status that our city brethren seem to attach to CP.

Im not sure why you are taking that cheeky attitude.

Anyhow.

Screen - Poor pitch but has a stand, albeit old and uncomfortable
Glen-Decent pitch, decent stand, poor access
Lavey Top Pitch _Good pitch, no stand
Banagher- Middling pitch, no stand
Bellaghy-Never in the place
Dungiven hurling pitch-Good pitch, no stand, poor access

Screen got a brand new pitch laid a few years ago. Yes in the past screen could have been accused of having a poor, heavy pitch. But that argument doesnt hold up any more. Screen pitch is as good as or better than most others in the county

Didn't pick up on that - it's true also.

As far as surface of pitch goes, I'd say CP is slightly above average in Derry terms, nothing more.

If you want to get into facilities/lights etc, that's another debate and obviously CP would score highly here.

But in this day and age where you only have a few hundred at a game (max) and have to change at the boot of the car, it's largely irrelevant.

Point taken RE: broadcasting though.

[Keyser soze]

Ask any player where they would like to play a big championship game from the pitches on that list and I would guarantee the vast majority of them would pick CP.

And up until last year was easily and by far the best surface in the county, dunno what its like this season.

I don't see why the views of casual supporters would have influence, let alone precedence, in this matter. 

[theticklemister]

Just a wee word of appreciations for the PR work by the County Biard  on Twitter/Facebook and Mal McMullan with County Derry Post.

Just excellent.

[restorepride]

Just a wee word of appreciations for the PR work by the County Biard  on Twitter/Facebook and Mal McMullan with County Derry Post.

Just excellent.

I agree.

Talking of pitches, did anyone have the unique experience of playing on Swatragh's old pitch?!  And yet we just got on with it.  Puts the standard we have now in to some perspective - and what previous generations sacrificed.  Land for leisure was scarce but communities gave all they had.

[Real Talk]

The fact that CP is not a Club ground means it (as someone has already said) doesn't have the same regular use as Clubs do therefore it should always be in better condition.   

The dual Club pitches (the generally have 2) play an awful lot of games and have a serious number of training sessions in any one year .... totally incomparable with Celtic Park. 

I was speaking to a man from the Screen Club recently (they are just 1 example) and they has over 22 age groups using their pitches ... that includes Football (male & female),  Hurling and Camogie ... all maintained by volunteers and financially supported by the Business and the local Community sector.

However at this point in time Celtic Park is the only sensible option to properly facilitate the format of the current Championship games and serve the needs of all age groups in the County and the wider Gaelic supporting Community

[theticklemister]

Just a wee word of appreciations for the PR work by the County Biard  on Twitter/Facebook and Mal McMullan with County Derry Post.

Just excellent.

I agree.

Talking of pitches, did anyone have the unique experience of playing on Swatragh's old pitch?!  And yet we just got on with it.  Puts the standard we have now in to some perspective - and what previous generations sacrificed.  Land for leisure was scarce but communities gave all they had.

Worst pitch I ever played in was Foreglens oul wan off the Derry to Dungiven Road. If the hill and sheep didn't get ye, the women with the umbrellas did.

[Bronco]

Mal does indeed do a great job. But I'd love Derry to have something like Antrim do with Saffron Gael website. Puts Derry to shame the service they provide. Full match reports with photos within 24 hours and covers all codes at all age groups. It can be hard enough to find out much about some of the games happening within Derry especially now you can't attend them all.

Just a wee word of appreciations for the PR work by the County Biard  on Twitter/Facebook and Mal McMullan with County Derry Post.

Just excellent.

[theticklemister]

Mal does indeed do a great job. But I'd love Derry to have something like Antrim do with Saffron Gael website. Puts Derry to shame the service they provide. Full match reports with photos within 24 hours and covers all codes at all age groups. It can be hard enough to find out much about some of the games happening within Derry especially now you can't attend them all.

Just a wee word of appreciations for the PR work by the County Biard  on Twitter/Facebook and Mal McMullan with County Derry Post.

Just excellent.

Mal is only one man, and nothing to do with Derry GAA. He is employed by CDP and must keep reports to a minimum before paper released.  I think the PR team within county board is doing excellent work. They have revamped the website this year also.

The other codes, the ladies' and camogs' presentation  has improved massively. Tomorrow's final will be broadcast live which I'm greatly looking forward too.

[Bronco]

I know,not knocking Mal,just think Derry could be doing more to promote games. Even on the streaming front, charging to watch games v Antrim's  brilliant free coverage of the hurling last weekend, Derry should have made their games free.

[Bronco]

And the Derry website is still shocking imo

[theticklemister]

30 quid not bad for the games. When I found out you could watch back all club games it was even better. I've been away from home now 8 years and missed every championship so this is heaven for me.

I have felt the county's coverage has been excellent.

Ps.

I read that a Dublin club game needed to pass 360 paid streams to make a a profit.

[imtommygunn]

Have they not suspended the 30 quid offer?

[theticklemister]

Don't know. But with the amount of games they are going to show live(from now on) it wouldn't work out value anyway.