Great to see talk of a 20k stadium. as was said already thats prob too big, Have to say that I was impressed with sandy park in exeter. 12500 capacity and well set up for the supporters.

Some might dismiss this as idle talk, but if we dont plan for these things they will never happen.

If there are any civil/structural engineers or architects lurking here they may be able to answer this. Afaik a second tier built on the cantilever system would have little or no pillar requirements. It may well limit the capacity potential of an upper tier of course.

If they were to move, somewhere out by the NUIG pitches in Dangan could be a good shout. If they ever build the GCOB, it'd be handy enough for anyone arriving from outside Galway by car but still just about walkable from town, especially if the Dangan greenway is ever built.
Though all things considered, I would stay at the SG unless someone else is paying the bills.

On the two tier stand idea, from what I can think of, the only stadiums on the island with upper tiers are Lansdowne and Croke Park (unless you count the soon-to-be-demolished Angelsea Stand in the RDS). Even a lot of the Premier League football grounds in England have no upper tiers. Generally you only go two tier if you're going above 30k and I presume there is a reason for this. I would guess increased construction costs due the greater engineering challenge presented and increased running costs as H&S requirements would probably mean more stewards, etc.
Add into that the fact that in the approved design shown (red seats), there are pillars blocking the view from the terrace, which would kill it IMO. It's bad enough trying to look past me and Swift4Prez but those big steel supports would bring back memories of that bloody finishing post that seemed to be constantly between you and the ball wherever you stood in the main stand a few years back. The hinge they added to that is arguably the most significant improvement ever to the Sportsground
Unobstructed views are a basic requirement in any even remotely modern stadium and the damage the pillars would do to the Clan Terrace would more than cancel out any benefit in the extra few hundred seats.

In the short term, is there anything to be said for seating part of the Main Stand Terrace? Even just the smaller section on the Bohermore side of the entrace. The lack of any proper outdoor covered seats is a major problem.

Borders no.2 wrote
That's a huge leap from where we were but if we are to push it up to the 9 or 10 k we need regularly to generate the sort of revenue to stand on our own two feet a bit more we need to look after new fans.

For me as a Mayo man I would like any new development to be outside of town, with a bypass of Claregalway and Tuam. A fair percentage of the" New Fans" are traveling up from Mayo and Sligo where rugby is becoming evermore popular. I do agree that the new development needs to be in town but a small accommodation for what is still a very much untouched market of northern Connacht would be greatly appreciated. Easy in Easy out.

galway_gas wrote:

RonanL wrote: Adding the attachment to my previous post didn't work.....

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Heres some montages that connacht used over at a dinner before the quins game in london a couple of years back. It uses the current clan terrace with second tier of approx 2200 seats and is largely based on the planning permission cited above.However It was a concept rather than a project - designed to whet the appetites of potential sponsors.
Planning permission expired last July for the "2 tier clan". Interestingly Connacht did not seek an extension (would have been granted). I assume that they now realise that it would not have been big enough.

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The second one caused quite a stir here a couple of years ago. It looks fantastic but the reality is that it isn't practical due to space restrictions. The admin/ dressing room building would have to be knocked and the training pitch sacrificed as an access road would still be required for the back of the site.

The one with the red seats at top, which had planning, is far more practical and while originally for 900 could, with minimal design alterations, be expanded to say 1200 plus media and coach boxes. That would reduce clan terrace to circa 1800 according to original estimations so a combined capacity of 3000 on clan side.

The pics with green seating were originally accompanied by a lovely permanent stand in spot where current temp covered stand is. That would have a capacity of 350. Again small design changes could increase that to 400 with an identical one on college road side of dog stand. That would give a seating capacity of 2000. I know there are issues with the b+b owner but they could be solved.

The enclosed stand could be refurbished to cater for both sporting events better and be the premium level for connacht matches. Before and after match speakers, food, music and drink combined with piping in the atmosphere from clan terrace through the sound system combined with complimentary ref mic etc.would imo be popular with local business. The capacity here would probably be 200+.
The main stand terrace itself would imo still hold 2000 comfortably. That would have a combined main stand capacity of 3000.

behind the goals I would put up panelling at rear of existing terraces. They would probably need to be 8 foot high. The panels themselves would be removable, similar to panelling we are all familiar with in housing estate back gardens and along side of motorways, but the metal holders would be permanent. They wouldn't cause any more of a view restriction to the racing watchers than current lamp posts do. This would allow extra capacity to be added for say a home Qtr final. finally I would put some permanent seating immediately behind adverts behind both goals. Not all way across but sets of 2 sporadically. These would be for mothers and young children to view. I don't know what capacity of these terraces are but doing the maths they have to be around 1000 each given that clan terrace is 2000.

I don't think you can do much more with SP than that to be honest. It would have a capacity of 8000 with 2000 seats and 200 premium level accommodation. I also think that connacht rugby have invested too much in the SP to walk away now. Their admin and training centre is here so moving would have to be heavily subsidised to be attractive to them.

I think we first of all need to recognise that progress has been made from the days where if it was a wet evening you could forget getting anything over 700 or 800 only a few years ago to the stage where even on a wet evening, we'll draw a decent crowd. However, the next step is making it so that everyone in the ground has shelter. Whoever was behind the post the last night paid around €30 or so (not sure how much actually) to go to a game and while it was fantastic we won, if we are to compete for these fans on a more regular basis, you have to ensure people are at the very least dry when they pay that amount of money.

20k is unrealistic at the moment, I love the Clan Stand as it is at the moment, its a unique atmosphere and gives a great sense of togetherness among the fans I think but we need to push on with the development overhead in this stand. A compact, yet well laid out 12-16k venue as someone mentioned above would be perfect imo too.

We see enough of games in half-filled stadiums in this league to know that we have to thread carefully. If you watch football in the lower leagues in England, lots of teams have gleaming stadiums but supporters dotted here and there throughout the ground and only half full if even. That isn't conducive to a good atmosphere and while going to Connacht matches is now a habit for much more supporters than previously, Ireland is an event junkie country in reality and Connacht have to wary of seeing big demand for one or two fixtures as a situation where these people will turn up for games against the Italians, Dragons, Challenge Cup games etc.

In the short term, behind the goals I'm sure there is some temporary roof that could be put in place for nights like Friday where these fans who we should be desperately trying to drag back can at least watch the game in comfort. There is no dog racing after so that shouldn't be an excuse. Most casual fans aren't around for enough games to justify a season ticket but they could be 7 or 8 game a season fans if we look after them. Charging fans the same to stand behind the goal on a wet windy January evening as to be in the Clan Stand doesn't make good business sense, I know its first come first serve but we have attendances at around 5k give or take a few hundred. That's a huge leap from where we were but if we are to push it up to the 9 or 10 k we need regularly to generate the sort of revenue to stand on our own two feet a bit more we need to look after new fans.

Also heard they were looking at a site behind moneenageisha community college. Entrance would be opposite AIB on Tuam road. Lots of parking evenings/weekends in surrounding factories.
Galway FC won't move from Deacy Park. Good surface and perfect size. Low rent from Galway and District League.
I'm not a GAA man but not everyone would agree that Pearce stadium is the future of Galway GAA. Massive problems with parking. Very unhappy residents. Planning refused recently for floodlights. Hurling fans in particular have been boycotting it for years. If they moved elsewhere the site would take approx 50 houses - a few million to spend elsewhere. There is some precedent for GAA/Rugby sharing grounds at community level but I'm not aware of them working together for any major projects. Unfortunately the GAA would probably be looking for a 20-30,000 capacity stadium.

I heard before that they were looking to pitch in with Galway Utd in Terryland Park.
How about knocking the Galway FA offices extend the pitch to make it long enough! Build a goal end terrace here and you have 3 stands. Capacity is already 5000 with 3000 seated. The land between there and the river is owned by NUIG i think and some of it could be got from them to move the Dike road away from the stadium to leave a nice open area at the front!

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Heres some montages that connacht used over at a presentation before the quins game in london a couple of years back. It uses the current clan terrace with second tier of approx 2200 seats and is largely based on the planning permission cited above.However It was a concept rather than a project - designed to whet the appetites of potential sponsors.
Planning permission expired last July for the "2 tier clan". Interestingly Connacht did not seek an extension (would have been granted). I assume that they now realise that it would not have been big enough.
EDIT
also attached is temporary covered seating in scotstoun which covers running track for big games.

Sure didn't the whole RWC 2023 bid start with a chat on Off the Ball with David McWilliams.

This thread could see the start of the new Galway Arena!

Savage idea. Start mentioning it to all your elected officials.

No problem with that. It'd help with the bottom line. That's the only reason to do it

Yeah, like Aviva, Independant ex-Musgrave Park, Ravenhill Kingspan etc

Something like "Mazda sportsground"

connachta wrote: Would you guys agree for a naming?

As in naming it after a sponsor?

There's a big hole in the ground that was meant for apartments/shopping centre across the road from the Trappers. Perfect location for a stadium. A small bit more out of town but so what

Would you guys agree for a naming?

RonanL wrote: We're definitely losing the run of ourselves, but it's good craic. I always marvel at the millennium stadium in Cardiff. It's hands down the best rugby venue in the world in my opinion, and that's partly because it is slap bang in the middle of the city (the roof also helps with atmosphere). You really can't overestimate the value rugby fans place in proximity to the pub (whether they'll admit it or not). The sportsground location has that, but a location in the docklands would have it too. Here's a link to an image outlining the proposed docklands redevelopment - surely they'd squeeze an ould stadium in there somewhere: www.galway.net/GalwayNet/img/orig/506.jpg

Its some development to be fair (lets hope they dont mess it up). An indoor arena is certainly a pipe dream (although I think it makes sense) but an outdoor stadium would certainly be feasible.