Devils own wrote: I understand some people don't like change and would happily have things stay as they are.

To be fair I don't think anyone has said they want things to stay the same -it's clear Sportsground at present isn't fit for purpose (the lack of seats for those unable to stand for long in terrace is cruel)

The argument is for either a new stadium in an unknown location vs a redeveloped Sportsground

I agree a decision needs to be made about the future, if the IGB had any sense they'd be bending over backwards to make sure we don't leave..

dobby wrote: Connacht rugby published that an extra 1900 places (over the 7,700 odd places available at the Munster game) will be available for the Glasgow game.

I read that announcement differently. It wasn't clear at all, but I thought they were announcing and extra 1,900 over the normal 5,900 (or whatever it is), bringing them up to the 7,800 they had for Munster. Is it made clearer anywhere?

At some point you're probably limited by exit routes rather than viewing positions.

Devils own wrote: Nobody is suggesting we spend 86 million euro on a white elephant ( grenoble have a 21 million a year budget by the way we have about 6) but pat lam knows far better what we need and suggesting we would be stupid enough to replicate the wastefulness of munster who built a 25,000 behemoth during the end leg of the celtic tiger when building costs were still astronomical and a total rip off and then the economy went into free fall just when it was finished. Its crazy to compare the two ventures and lets not forget they got BIG write offs from the IRFU.
I'm sure pat lam and everyone in the Connacht branch is just as aware of those poorly planned and budgeted ventures as we all are and anyone with any sense understands we should be very smart and extremely prudent getting the best value for money.
We could have filled close to a 10,000 stadium this year for a pro12 interpro with munster with them only lying 6/7 in the pro12 table as pat lam stated over a 1000 people having to be turned away was criminal. Glasgow is likely to be a sell out easily
The first year we have qualified on merit for the champions cup on a long overdue level playing field.
Its very hard for anyone to turn out to cheer on your athlete if you know they have two hands and a leg tied behind their back so i wouldn't call others now flocking to support Connacht band wagoners, once they see their provincial team has the same fighting chance as others of course they are more likely to get out and support and growth will follow as it has been,
What happens next year if we have Dan carter and racing metro and a other big teams coming to galway that are much bigger draws, maybe even getting out of our group will 2000-3000 people have to be turned away
I understand some people don't like change and would happily have things stay as they are.
The sportsgrounds problems have existed and are well known for a long time, we cant keep going in circles, a decision has to be made,its location is great and very important granted but it becomes a chariot without wheels.unless we can magically solve these long standing problems and get the reasonably sized state of the art stadium we need.

Best comment of them all. Even we as fans cannot decide what is best but this topic is just going round in circles.

Nobody is suggesting we spend 86 million euro on a white elephant ( grenoble have a 21 million a year budget by the way we have about 6) but pat lam knows far better what we need and suggesting we would be stupid enough to replicate the wastefulness of munster who built a 25,000 behemoth during the end leg of the celtic tiger when building costs were still astronomical and a total rip off and then the economy went into free fall just when it was finished. Its crazy to compare the two ventures and lets not forget they got BIG write offs from the IRFU.
I'm sure pat lam and everyone in the Connacht branch is just as aware of those poorly planned and budgeted ventures as we all are and anyone with any sense understands we should be very smart and extremely prudent getting the best value for money.
We could have filled close to a 10,000 stadium this year for a pro12 interpro with munster with them only lying 6/7 in the pro12 table as pat lam stated over a 1000 people having to be turned away was criminal. Glasgow is likely to be a sell out easily
The first year we have qualified on merit for the champions cup on a long overdue level playing field.
Its very hard for anyone to turn out to cheer on your athlete if you know they have two hands and a leg tied behind their back so i wouldn't call others now flocking to support Connacht band wagoners, once they see their provincial team has the same fighting chance as others of course they are more likely to get out and support and growth will follow as it has been,
What happens next year if we have Dan carter and racing metro and a other big teams coming to galway that are much bigger draws, maybe even getting out of our group will 2000-3000 people have to be turned away
I understand some people don't like change.
The sportsgrounds problems have existed and are well known for a long time, we cant keep going in circles, a decision has to be made,its location is great and very important granted but it becomes a chariot without wheels.unless we can magically solve these long standing problems and get the reasonably sized state of the art stadium we need.

If you look at the attendance's figures, other than the interpros, the figures suggest that any more than 10,000 (outside the interpros less than 5000) is not required. On top of that the bigger you get the more the atmosphere dies (cue thomond). Connacht rugby published that an extra 1900 places (over the 7,700 odd places available at the Munster game) will be available for the Glasgow game. That's close to 10,000. What you get in return is a closeness to the team. Maybe its not beautiful but that closeness counts for lots. No demolishing required. Most of us have witnessed a game from the clan side. You watch the game, can't see the game, but are holding each other in hope. Is this good enough. Hmmm. Hard to say. Whether you agree or not it does add to things as you simply can't be sure try or not. If you want perfect viewing go watch it on TV. If you want to go through all the emotions live with the uncertainty. Its much more rewarding. Would most fans have seen the Cronin bealham dispute with better seats? Very few no matter what stand you build. You build an environment not a stand.

www.connachtrugby.ie/additional-terracin...-connacht-v-glasgow/
Is this gonna put up the the attendance up at 9700 or is it just what it was at the Munster game at 7800 ? I think a 10k seat and terrace stadium Would be ideal. We have the best atmosphere in the league and our current stadium is the worst in the league. This is down to how close we are to the action and the fact it's all terrace. We cannot lose that so an all seater is not gonna work.

10000 feels right.

Perhaps with some scope to have temporary seating put in for 12000 on occasions which demand it.

Just don't see the sport ground complexities easily unwound, if ever.

The location of the Sportsground to the city is one of its greatest assets - every rugby supporter in Ireland loves the location of the ground but not the facilities of the ground. The key here is not going for the Munster ' build it & they will come' nonsense. The debt levels & ratios to revenue now at Munster are in real bad territory.

Connacht has to learn from the templates of similar sized cities, of similar sized sports clubs and of correctly sized grounds.Stand on the shoulders of others & making the right decisions now is key.

Its the economics of it all will make it work. My preference would be for , as has been said, the dogs to move out & strong investment made to make the Sportsground a great facility for Connacht Rugby. Don't personally see a 15,000 capacity every being a runner for the foreseeable (Ulster's Ground is 17,000 in Belfast - a city of nearly 500,000). But I do see the feasibility of a cracking facility , with all amenities of 10,000.

Success breeds success - Golden Rule 101. The bandwagoners & their cash are welcome in my book because it all goes into the same pot & our pot has to be as large as possible. Very large! A few West of Ireland 'sugar daddys' would not go astray either.

Easy does it..................

eezipc wrote: Couldn't they just build a "permanent" marquee at the Bohermore end for the big-wigs? It would be close to the game and if Ronaldson uses the marquee as a target during games, the hob-nobs will get the true experience of Connacht Rugby.

But why bother when corporate facilities are the one thing we have in spades? (OK one of two things, terraces being the other).
What we are lacking is outdoor covered seating.

pinky wrote: I can't see the main stand being knocked. It's fairly new, cost a few quid and suits the dogs grand. Doesn't suit us at all of course but there are certain aspects of it that we could use a lot better. For example Connacht sell hospitality packages where the match ticket is for the Clan Terrace. Now I think the Clan Terrace is great but if you're paying €110 for a corporate package you don't want to be standing beside the likes of me. The enclosed stand is set up for hospitality but for some reason they decide the best use for it is to cram a load of people in there with plastic glasses and a fight for stools (haven't been in there for years so maybe I'm exaggerating).
They'd want to gentrify the feck out of that, have reserved seats, real glasses, table service and the odd canape and increase the price accordingly. I am guessing the reason they don't is due to various disputes over catering contracts and who gets the profit, etc.
I think whatever is done, the relationship with IGB probably needs to improve in order to achieve anything and a little bit of political pressure might help in that regard.

Couldn't they just build a "permanent" marquee at the Bohermore end for the big-wigs? It would be close to the game and if Ronaldson uses the marquee as a target during games, the hob-nobs will get the true experience of Connacht Rugby.

I can't see the main stand being knocked. It's fairly new, cost a few quid and suits the dogs grand. Doesn't suit us at all of course but there are certain aspects of it that we could use a lot better. For example Connacht sell hospitality packages where the match ticket is for the Clan Terrace. Now I think the Clan Terrace is great but if you're paying €110 for a corporate package you don't want to be standing beside the likes of me. The enclosed stand is set up for hospitality but for some reason they decide the best use for it is to cram a load of people in there with plastic glasses and a fight for stools (haven't been in there for years so maybe I'm exaggerating).
They'd want to gentrify the feck out of that, have reserved seats, real glasses, table service and the odd canape and increase the price accordingly. I am guessing the reason they don't is due to various disputes over catering contracts and who gets the profit, etc.
I think whatever is done, the relationship with IGB probably needs to improve in order to achieve anything and a little bit of political pressure might help in that regard.

The Main Stand being knocked and built properly (have some of it seated, move stand closer to the pitch, make the stand the length of the actual pitch, have a proper structure for the TV cameras instead of scaffolding, corporate boxes but also usable for the Races) seems like a good compromise - may as well embrace the dogs as I don't see them going anywhere and having them onboard might help with getting funding(although IGB in such debt so unlikely)

Cardiff Arms Park and Gloucester Kingsholm are two good models to try replicate

I think we do have to strike while the iron is hot, but sensibly. People are entitled to dream, but in my view a fancy all seater stadium would be madness, for several reasons (cost and atmosphere being the main ones). I think a facility with a mixed (terrace/seats/boxes) main stand on one side, and a big terrace on the other would be perfect. Anyone who has been to Gloucester's ground will get where I'm coming from. I'm like a broken record, but staying in town is key. So many people view the rugby as the start of a night out. If you're out in the sticks, that doesn't work.

I wonder with a decent budget and some compromise if we could make the sportsground work for connacht and the dogs. I'm thinking along the lines of knocking the main stand and building something along the lines of what I've described above, and then extending the Clan. I wonder could the pitch/track level be lowered to allow for some more room in the Clan, and a better view.

Devils own wrote: We must strike while the iron is hot

That's what they did in Grenoble and look where it got them. An €86 million white elephant for a third division football team and a lot of angry taxpayers. Similar stories in Munster and Scarlets. And remember Cardiff Blues' disastrous move to the football stadium?

Devils own wrote: It may be but nostalgia is no reason to stunt vital critical growth we don't want to remain a child with a stadium unfit for purpose and a child must move out of home to grow up. A new state of the art stadium and training facilities completely cements our current atmospheric level. We must strike while the iron is hot

Apart from Nostalgia there are 3 other good reasons for staying put
1)Location 2)location 3)location

I'd rather a properly redeveloped Sportsground than a spanking new stadium outside of the city centre

It may be but nostalgia is no reason to stunt vital critical growth we don't want to remain a child with a stadium unfit for purpose and a child must move out of home to grow up. A new state of the art stadium and training facilities completely cements our current atmospheric level. We must strike while the iron is hot