menacethedenis wrote: www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/irfu-boss...lendar-34882796.html


IRFU CEO Philip Browne also revealed that discussions between Connacht and the Galway City Council about possibly expanding the Sportsground were ongoing.
Connacht are hoping to build a stadium with a capacity of around 10,000 in the next four years and Browne admitted that was a realistic target, especially in light of Munster's struggle to regularly fill Thomond Park.

"The capacity obviously is probably not far off, it's the quality of the facilities is the issue," he said.
"We had a similar situation in the Aviva Stadium; when we built it people were saying, 'Ah, you're mad. You should have built a 65 or 70,000-capacity stadium, and if you have to go to a different site then so be it'.

"I'd rather have people beating the door down to try and get into the stadium than to have people saying, 'I don't like the weather today, I won't go'. Because it's easy to buy a ticket.

"It's about supply and demand, so I think the key is not to build something which is not going to be filled most of the time."


Good to hear him talk about it as last time he was asked he washed his hands of it.

An upwardly scalable renovated Sportsground would be absolutely fine, but a upwardly scalable bespoke Stadium which is designed for Galway's unique weather challenges would be the best option.

Basically If you want people to turn out week in week out, you have to counter bad weather with the appropriate facilities...

www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/irfu-boss...lendar-34882796.html


IRFU CEO Philip Browne also revealed that discussions between Connacht and the Galway City Council about possibly expanding the Sportsground were ongoing.
Connacht are hoping to build a stadium with a capacity of around 10,000 in the next four years and Browne admitted that was a realistic target, especially in light of Munster's struggle to regularly fill Thomond Park.

"The capacity obviously is probably not far off, it's the quality of the facilities is the issue," he said.
"We had a similar situation in the Aviva Stadium; when we built it people were saying, 'Ah, you're mad. You should have built a 65 or 70,000-capacity stadium, and if you have to go to a different site then so be it'.

"I'd rather have people beating the door down to try and get into the stadium than to have people saying, 'I don't like the weather today, I won't go'. Because it's easy to buy a ticket.

"It's about supply and demand, so I think the key is not to build something which is not going to be filled most of the time."




Good to hear him talk about it as last time he was asked he washed his hands of it.

Nice one and confirms what was said at the Connacht Development talk in June- Willie Ruane said development was in three parts- 1. Youngsters/schools/clubs - Eric's role, 2. Academy - Nigel and 3. The Pros. Start the young out with the best facilities and the game overall benefits..

Agreed SG would need a total rebuild, the big advantage is its location

Dug this up from the City Council site
Submitted to the Council March last

I hope it's got some legs. The city should be ambitious and learn from many past shortcomings.

A temporary capacity increase at the Sportsground, with a longer term strategic plan for the docklands would be quite something.

Whatever they do strategically has to satisfy the next 50 years and more.

Yep, headline and opening sentence are very misleading.
It is backed by City Councillors, but no mention of city officials/planners, who actually decide these things.

Evil_g wrote:
Hmmmm. Is this anything more than hot air? Can't be a bad thing I suppose. What powers do the council have though? Who needs to secure funding from who? I presume central government would have to get involved for anything to happen?

The council presumably have the power to zone the land? How is it currently zoned? What would the implications of designating it recreational, (or whatever it would need to be zoned to build a stadium)?

Couple points on this -

1) There's no single plot of land in the docklands that would currently fit a stadium, you'd be talking about purchasing multiple plots and sticking them together, possibly with changing roads etc. It'd be just about doable but very expensive.

2) Crowe has been pushing the proposed massive dockland extension for years, so it's likely that the site he envisages for a stadium is currently some metres beneath the bay. There are obvious questions along the lines of (a) will this site ever exist & (b) how long would it take to get a stadium there? It being we need our stadium shortcomings sorted out yesterday it doesn't seem much of a runner.

3) Willie Ruane talked about other options if the Sportsground doesn't work out, so Connacht's submission may be because the docks is the backup, or equally this may just applying pressure during negotiations with the dogs.

I'm tending to your hot air theory.

www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/85799/c...ium-in-the-docklands

Galway Adevertiser: Connacht a step closer to getting new stadium in the docklands?

A multi-purpose municipal arena, of which a new stadium for Connacht Rugby is a key part, has become one of the main objectives of the Galway City Council's Galway City Development Plan 2017 - 2022.

City councillors backed the inclusion of such an arena in the plan at a recent meeting in City Hall. The call to support the proposed facility was put forward by Fianna Fáil councillors Ollie Crowe and Peter Keane, and stems from a submission to the development plan made by Connacht Rugby.

The proposed development will be a "world-class multi-purpose arena where citizens can enjoy an array of recreational activities", located in Galway Docklands.

"In a week where Connacht Rugby have been pitted against the best Europe has to offer in next year's European Champions Cup," said Cllr Keane, "it is most appropriate Galway City Council stand four square behind the Connacht Brand at this time."

While the momentum for such a facility has been gathering pace in recent times, Cllr Keane said the challenge is to secure funding for the arena, but that seeking such funding should not "deter our efforts". He said Galway needed to look at the experience and practice in Swansea, Cardiff, Bolton and Melbourne, where "sound financial plans" by local authorities in those cities "created fantastic stadiums".

Cllr Ollie Crowe said supporting Connacht Rugby's proposal was a "key decision" for council members, and can now help "consolidate Galway's 2020 bid in circumstances where key infrastructural projects are central to the enhanced cultural lifestyle which Galway city has to offer".

Hmmmm. Is this anything more than hot air? Can't be a bad thing I suppose. What powers do the council have though? Who needs to secure funding from who? I presume central government would have to get involved for anything to happen?

The council presumably have the power to zone the land? How is it currently zoned? What would the implications of designating it recreational, (or whatever it would need to be zoned to build a stadium)?

A poster on boards is indicating that some deal is almost done with the IGB.
Seems to indicate, that whatever is being discussed, wont see the dogs leave the Sportsground, but will allow us to do more development at the Sportsground.

Would love to hear more. As long as its something that can keep fans dry, I'm all for it.
If they put in an uncovered stand somewhere, I might pull out my remaining hair

ConnachtCows wrote:

Robbo wrote:

RonanL wrote: I wonder could they look into teaching the dogs to run around 90 degree corners? Not the old dogs obviously.

Greyhound people always go on about what intelligent dogs they are so they'd relish such a challenge. You could further compress the track with judicious use of hairpins and chicanes.

All the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix but on a smaller scale...

Should definitely include tunnels under the Clan Stand. Let the punters watch that section on tv.
I think we might just have fixed Greyhound racing lads

Now if they could just stop sending the dogs to China.

Robbo wrote:

RonanL wrote: I wonder could they look into teaching the dogs to run around 90 degree corners? Not the old dogs obviously.

Greyhound people always go on about what intelligent dogs they are so they'd relish such a challenge. You could further compress the track with judicious use of hairpins and chicanes.

All the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix but on a smaller scale...

Should definitely include tunnels under the Clan Stand. Let the punters watch that section on tv.
I think we might just have fixed Greyhound racing lads

RonanL wrote: I wonder could they look into teaching the dogs to run around 90 degree corners? Not the old dogs obviously.

Greyhound people always go on about what intelligent dogs they are so they'd relish such a challenge. You could further compress the track with judicious use of hairpins and chicanes.

All the glamour of the Monaco Grand Prix but on a smaller scale...

Everything about yesterday was hugely impressive. Kudos to the branch and all involved.

I wonder could they look into teaching the dogs to run around 90 degree corners? Not the old dogs obviously.