SimonG knows so much about New Zealand...
We don't play cricket or football here obviously...
SimonG knows so much about New Zealand...
We don't play cricket or football here obviously...
With respect, I think this shows you don't know much about Ireland.
In New Zealand, we don't have
any football stadiums of any major size. When football is played here it is played in established rugby grounds or else in very small community stadiums. Cricket is sometimes played in multi-purpose venues like Eden Park, MacLean Park or Westpac Stadium. For test matches we generally use purpose built stadiums and this has been the trend in recent years.
Ireland is completely different. They have had a history of social problems and politics in rife in their sports in comparison to New Zealand. Ireland has many football stadiums, rugby stadiums and GAA grounds. Their only multi purpose stadiums seem to be the Aviva and Thormond Park. In Ireland most of the stadiums are not owned by the local authorities but either by the IRFU, the GAA or the individual football team. This doesn't cause problems in places like Old Trafford. Man U are a big club and can spend money on their stadium and ensure it stays up to standard. Most sports in Ireland do not have a lot of money so cannot reinvest in their stadiums. In New Zealand our stadiums are either owned by trusts (Eden Park, Westpac) or by the city council (Waikato Stadium, Forsyth Barr).
The ridiculous thing is there is no reason not to have ground shares in Ireland. In Wellington most of us are unhappy as we have a multipurpose stadium used for cricket and rugby. Since it is an oval stadium, you are too far away from the action for rugby. It makes sense for cricket and rugby to play in different stadiums. In Ireland hurling, gaelic football, football and rugby can all be played on the same field! There is no reason not to have ground shares.
Something like this would make sense to me for a RWC:
Irish Stadiums:
- National Stadium 85,000 (GAA finals, rugby internationals, some football internationals. Owned by the Irish government)
- Dublin City Stadium 35,000 (Leinster rugby, Dublin GAA, some football internationals. Owned by the Dublin City Council).
- Limerick 45,000 (A modern all-seater in Limerick).
- Cork 35,000
- Northern Ireland National Stadium 35,000
- Galway 25,000
- Derry Stadium 22,000
If you had those seven stadiums then you would probably still need to add about 3 more GAA stadiums for a RWC. Ireland's stadiums could easily look like that. All the stadiums could be top class facilities and would be well used as they would all be multipurpose. You just have to look at the political problems when Northern Ireland tried to build a multipurpose stadium which shows that any new stadium is unlikely to go ahead. It's a shame because Ireland could host a World Cup if you at passion for the game and population. However, with the stadiums that Irish fans have been putting out you guys don't have a chance.