John Fallon: Safe Standing part of solution to Turner’s Cross bottleneck

Last weekend’s sixth round of five Premier Division fixtures attracted an overall turnout of 22,172 fans.

Wed, 22 Mar, 2023 - 07:41

FROM the dread of worrying about attendances, the concern consuming League of Ireland clubs nowadays is accommodating the upsurge in spectator interest.

Last weekend’s sixth round of five Premier Division fixtures attracted an overall turnout of 22,172 fans, the largest of the season but the fear for some grounds as the campaign progresses is the inability to meet demand.

The only pity is that it takes limited capacities, sometimes caused by unsafe, unusable areas of venues, for the antiquated state of facilities of national grounds to be exposed.

Cork City, with 16,422 spectators, are only behind champions Shamrock Rovers in the home tallies across the 10 top-flight clubs from their opening three games but the problem they’re facing is inside Turner’s Cross.

Dermot Usher, who took ownership of City in the off-season, isn’t ignoring the issues arising from the fixtures against Bohemians, UCD and Shelbourne – calling an open meeting with fans for Saturday.

Grievances relate primarily to the Shed Area, its popularity as the heartbeat of City’s hardcore, vocal support creating a situation whereby the section was full 15 minutes before kick-off.

That saw regulars being refused entry to the block, having to make do with being rerouted onto the left side of the stand originally named by the Munster FA after Joe Delaney.

Frustration has grown and Usher is anxious to broker a solution; hence the gathering being convened for the Turner’s Cross Tavern at 2pm.

“My primary concern is for safety,” stressed Usher. “For the first home game against Bohs, when I went into The Shed, there was major overcrowding with three people standing around each seat.

“We introduced a policy of Under-16s having to be accompanied by an adult but we still had problems and I’m trying to address those in an open fashion by listening to the fans on Saturday.”

Encouraging ticket-holders to be in their ‘seats’ a half hour before matches kick off is great in theory yet all but impossible to enforce given matchday traditions and habits.

Another tweak might be reverting to first principles by allocating seat numbers to each ticket, the norm in most countries, but demand is certain to outstrip supply and a cohort or two could easily be cut adrift. A one-size-fits-all answer, in the short-term at least, appears to be elusive.

Usher surveyed his options across the League of Ireland before investing in City and believes the spike of interest has to be facilitated.

“I’ve been going to LOI games for years and I’ve certainly noticed a new breed of fan going into the post Covid-era,” he observed. “There’s a new dynamic to it, with mainly young fans choosing to spend their Friday nights watching football.

“They are entitled to come into a safe place and that’s what we’re aiming to provide. I might not come up with the ideal solution but I’m prepared to at least try.”

Multi-million investment is essential for grounds to be modernised but less expensive and less laborious methods are open to clubs while the FAI apply the finishing touches to their ambitious infrastructural plan that’ll be put to the government for grant aid.

Bohemians, for example, have somewhat rectified their capacity deficit by installing a temporary terrace – at least filling the derelict side of Dalymount Park with an area for fans. That space for 400 fans, ostensibly for away ones, alleviated the pressure by punters to watch the early league leaders but a larger version of the structure is contained within the redesigned plans for the permanent rebuild of the famed venue.

Likewise, Tolka Park – for all its creaks and shortcomings – has created a better atmosphere on match-nights by converting the seated area at the Ballybough End into terracing.

The key phrase here is safe standing. All-seater stadiums were deemed compulsory in the top two tiers of English and Welsh leagues following the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989.

While unquestionably a safer form, the diminished atmosphere gradually led to fans exploring compromises that could both ensure welfare and promote the collegiality of standing shoulder to Shoulder with likeminded supporters.

Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion, with its famous ‘yellow wall’ at one end of the 80,000-capacity venue, is advanced as the best-in-class prototype while the Opening in 2016 of Celtic’s Rail Seating Section has been widely hailed for improving the matchday experience.

This is the first season that English Premier League clubs have been permitted to operate safe standing, albeit it’s rare to see any of the 20 venues without fans on their feet for every game.

Usher has already pumped a significant sum into improvements at Turner’s Cross, a venue owned by the Munster FA and not the club, meaning any additional outlay will be prudently spent.

In this case, however, notwithstanding what emerges from Saturday’s summit, altering the existing structure is imperative, not simply to house extra fans but optimise the unique backing Cork City receive from their faithful.

FAI gets motoring with Circle K after lukewarm response to Castore kit

Initial fears about the quality of first Ireland kit from new supplier Castore have been borne out by the general adverse fan reaction this week.

Finances were uppermost in the selection criteria once the FAI dispensed with Umbro and a deal with the English-based manufacturer was concluded by October.

A short turnaround has been blamed by sources on the relative blandness to the home kit — a near replica of a change strip Scottish side Rangers have been wearing since last summer — while those customers that want to pay €81 for an adult shirt or €60 for kids must wait until the middle of April for delivery of their pre-orders.

This package, hailed by chief executive Jonathan Hill as “transformational”, is one of five sponsorship deals the supremo promised delegates during a recent remote meeting.

Every football federation has a vehicle partner, and Nissan have extended their FAI partnership.

Another portfolio due to be secured is the water supplier, as plastic bottles around the international set-up this week have labelling removed, while we can confirm that Circle K will be announced tomorrow in another alliance.

Negotiations with the fuel retailer were flagged in these pages back in November but it’s not anywhere near the ballpark value they’ve been seeking for the flagship backer of the men’s senior team.

Sky’s prominent position during the kit launch underscored the mileage they’re clocking for the last 18 months from paying a modest fee for sponsoring the World Cup- bound women’s team.

Time for Irish football to dig deep to assist Jacko McDonagh's plight

Four-in-row talk has been a constant at Shamrock Rovers in recent months and now a driving force of the original trailblazers, James ‘Jacko’ McDonagh, is in urgent need of teamwork of a different sort.

McDonagh became a central-defensive mainstay of a Hoops team that collected back-to-back titles in 1984 and 1985 before French club Nimes lured him on a full-time contract.

Although he set up house and home in France, during the late noughties he returned to the League of Ireland to coach Sporting Fingal’s A Championship side, reuniting with former Rovers teammate Liam Buckley, whom he’d also played alongside in Belgium at KSV Waregem.

Unfortunately, the occasion of his 60th birthday last year in Dublin coincided with him falling ill, resulting in left-sided paralysis.

This week, his family have gone public in their plea for financial assistance, putting at €120,000 a fundraising target to meet his long-term care costs.

While he’s best known for his playing days at Bohemians and Rovers, Jacko gave national service, peaking with three appearances for the senior Ireland team.

Donations to the pot, already up to €5,000 after 24 hours, are welcomed at: GoFundMe.