Darragh wrote: I am not sure why staying where we are is a preference for some because everything about it is compromised really.

Anything developed there will be only ever be tactical.

it is limited in space and physical topography and is complicated by an anchor tenant which holds a 99 year lease.

A clean sheet design (funding permitting) surely presents the best opportunity to build a facility fit for the next 50 years?

Because its our home and its hard to leave home

I am not sure why staying where we are is a preference for some because everything about it is compromised really.

Anything developed there will be only ever be tactical.

it is limited in space and physical topography and is complicated by an anchor tenant which holds a 99 year lease.

A clean sheet design (funding permitting) surely presents the best opportunity to build a facility fit for the next 50 years?

Best stadium I have seen recently is the one in Grenoble - Stade des Alpes. It is simply a superb facility. If only we could replicate it here.

We should explore :

a) buying out the Sportsground from IGB b) getting more creative about demountable seating/standing in the Sportsground in the short term c) buying the Galwegians complex on the Renmore road d) buying Fahys Field in Mervue and building there from scratch. All to be costed and evaluated in depth. Preference to stay where we are.

I presume proposing that we extend out onto the graveyard would be considered a jinxy post?

We could spit the naming rights.

"The Supermac's Necropolis Arena"

\o/

Can we not just copy AT&T stadium please and be done with it.

www.stadiumguide.com/float-marina-bay/

They need to build a floating stadium on Lough Atalia, solves all the issues.

Here is my stadium development plan for your amusement.
First problem I tried to solve is the back pitch. We really need to retain a full size pitch if we want to keep training on-site as well as facilitate OLBC, etc., but the position of the pitch hampers development on the Clan side.
So I tried to rotate it 90 degrees. That nearly worked, but as you can see from the blue outline on the photo, the gym gets in the way, so you'd have to move that, which is probably not an option, but if you did you could build an access road up the side of the new pitch and leave plenty of room for development. There'd be a fair bit of groundwork required of course as the carpark is lower than the pitch, and you also have the problems of placekicks ending up in the cemetery.
A cheaper option might be to nudge the back pitch back a bit. There's a few metres behind the dead ball line at the far end plus you could probably tighten up the in-goals a bit so that the playing area ends roughly where the posts are now. I also shoved it up a couple of yards towards the gym for good measure. That's the red rectangle.
This option loses road access to the gym/clubhouse/rear car park so that would have to be altered to use the other road through the doggy side and round the back (some IGB co-operation needed there so).
So then relocating the fabulously expensive Clan Bar and the adjacent luxurious jacks leaves us a bit of wriggle room for a stand (green outline). The main green rectangle is approx the same depth as the North Stand in Cardiff Arms Park, which has terrace in front and seats at the rear. There are only 9 rows of seats in that stand so based on the length I have marked out that would be about a thousand seats. Potential to go a bit further back near half-way. The terraced area would also be deeper than the Clan Terrace. Maybe another thousand standing.
Extending any further interferes with the clubhouse so part of the existing Clan Terrace could remain until phase two.
I would build it with the first step of the terrace elevated a metre or so off the ground. This would allow a temporary terrace to be erected on the dog track for big games and also allow the possibility of a permanent extension to the front in the event the dogs were to move out at any stage.
I have no ideas what it would cost and I'm sure there are massive flaws in there somewhere. All I would ask is that it be named in my honour after my inevitable death due to my own stupidity on an away trip.

Hard to see IGB subsidies being touched by a govt that depends on the Healy Rae faction.
So, not before Christmas anyway.

As was discussed earlier the dogs are heavily subsidised so don't see them going anywhere unless massive change in their grants from Irish Sports Council.. Sportsground is one of the few places they get bit of income and that's primarily down to pints in the Main Stand. Be brilliant if they fecked off but can't see it for few years if at all

Anyway I like lay out of this 9,500 stadium in construction in Portugal: stadiumdb.com/constructions/por/estadio_do_maritimo
I like how it's steep and Clan Terrace could be under the Corporate Box's

EDIT: Here are more pictures of its construction, it's original stadium was not all to similar from the current Sportsground aswell. www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=336127&page=41

dobby wrote: I'm a bit confused by the ongoing arguments. Both of the goal ends wont be covered, no more than the RDS is. The suggestion is to build a stand on the Clan side of which the upper part could block the viewing of dog races?. Are there so many people at dog races that the upper level could not be closed for the dog races. So there is no issue of view for the dog races really. All the facilities remain on the opposite side for corporate boxes and restaurant. I see no problem and I agree with Linley that Connacht and the Sportsground are synonymous.

Lads, the dogs are on the way out. It's a dying "sport". Eventually their funding will be stopped and they will have to leave.
People have copped onto that whole industry now and alot of people are hesitant to go to greyhound racing anymore. Even this week the IGB requested that greyhounds be exempt from chipping FFS.
Rant over. ......
If anyone needs to move, it is them.

I'm a bit confused by the ongoing arguments. Both of the goal ends wont be covered, no more than the RDS is. The suggestion is to build a stand on the Clan side of which the upper part could block the viewing of dog races?. Are there so many people at dog races that the upper level could not be closed for the dog races. So there is no issue of view for the dog races really. All the facilities remain on the opposite side for corporate boxes and restaurant. I see no problem and I agree with Linley that Connacht and the Sportsground are synonymous.

salmson wrote: The 2009 Mount Merrion stand in Ravenhill cost £4.5m sterling, the rest of the stadium £14.5m, so they got out at just over £1,000 sterling or ~1300 euro per head. This is fantastic when compared with Lansdowne Road (~8000 euro per seat), or even the far more cost effective Thomond Park, which at 40M euros cost ~2500 per head of added capacity, or ~1500 euro per head of total capacity.

Allowing for Ulster building during a recession and that for a smaller stadium you might lose some economies of scale, you can take it that for a mixed seated/standing stadium with some corporate/hospitality elements you're talking 1500 euros per head minimum.

If by some miracle the dogs do one then the land comes free (at the Sportsground). If you're building down the docks and have to buy the land (really the only available land there asides from the not-actually-there-yet-and-not-likely-to-happen docks extension is the railyards) you could add a lot to that.

The RDS are planning a major redevelopment of their stadium and are intent on tapping up the government for half the cost. I can't find a link but if I recall correctly we got more than half the cost of the Clan Terrace in grant aid. If we were able to do the same for, say, a 10,000 seater stadium at the Sportsground, we'd be able to get out for a cost to the IRFU of a lot less than 10 million. Put that way it almost sounds like a bargain.

So the issue of availability, control, and cost of the land is probably far more of an issue than the build cost.

Edit: Found that link -
www.dttas.ie/press-releases/2014/leinste...l-capital-allocation

€424,000 to Connacht Rugby to upgrade the Connacht Showground to Heineken Cup standard.

So about 2/3 of the cost of the Clan Terrace was covered by the government.

I see Thomond got dig out of €3m in 2010, fair bit of wedge.
Wonder would same amount be available to Connacht...?

Staying at the sports ground is the best option financially. Stad design Alps style stadium would be perfect and would help with the weather along with sunlight for surrounding areas which would be a factor. Land at the docks will be expensive and there are no real viable options. Getting the dogs to move would be needed though. How that could be done is another issue.

The 2009 Mount Merrion stand in Ravenhill cost £4.5m sterling, the rest of the stadium £14.5m, so they got out at just over £1,000 sterling or ~1300 euro per head. This is fantastic when compared with Lansdowne Road (~8000 euro per seat), or even the far more cost effective Thomond Park, which at 40M euros cost ~2500 per head of added capacity, or ~1500 euro per head of total capacity.

Allowing for Ulster building during a recession and that for a smaller stadium you might lose some economies of scale, you can take it that for a mixed seated/standing stadium with some corporate/hospitality elements you're talking 1500 euros per head minimum.

If by some miracle the dogs do one then the land comes free (at the Sportsground). If you're building down the docks and have to buy the land (really the only available land there asides from the not-actually-there-yet-and-not-likely-to-happen docks extension is the railyards) you could add a lot to that.

The RDS are planning a major redevelopment of their stadium and are intent on tapping up the government for half the cost. I can't find a link but if I recall correctly we got more than half the cost of the Clan Terrace in grant aid. If we were able to do the same for, say, a 10,000 seater stadium at the Sportsground, we'd be able to get out for a cost to the IRFU of a lot less than 10 million. Put that way it almost sounds like a bargain.

So the issue of availability, control, and cost of the land is probably far more of an issue than the build cost.

Edit: Found that link -
www.dttas.ie/press-releases/2014/leinste...l-capital-allocation

€424,000 to Connacht Rugby to upgrade the Connacht Showground to Heineken Cup standard.

So about 2/3 of the cost of the Clan Terrace was covered by the government.

What do we think a state of the art 10000-12000 seater stadium would cost on new land with supporting offices and training facilities?

There is not much point doing the stadium and still having sub standard training facilities imho.

The plan and investment should cover the lot.

20m?