Opening up Croke Park could cost €20m

THE staging of international soccer and rugby games in Croke Park could necessitate the expenditure of €20m by the GAA.

Floodlighting would have to be installed to cater for both soccer and rugby, but, because of strict UEFA regulations governing the segregation of supporters, significant modifications of the stadium lay-out would be inevitable for the former.

Prominent figures within the association opposed to amending Rule 42 believe incurring major expenditure could be a serious impediment to opening up Croke Park.

However, none were prepared to go on the record, because of the sensitivity of the matter in advance of this weekend’s Congress.

While the figures could be disputed, what is not in question is that the logistics of playing a soccer international could pose serious headaches both for the GAA and UEFA.

The stadium is designed on what’s described as “a vertical circulation,” which means that any spectator can walk from the Cusack Stand through the Canal End to the Hogan side uninterrupted. Using the new Hill 16 terrace would not be an option for soccer because of the strict ‘seat-only’ policy.

This would mean the capacity would be restricted to 69,000.

However, standing supporters are accommodated at rugby grounds and using Hill 16 would increase capacity to the maximum figure of 82,300.

There is an acceptance that floodlighting would have to be provided as soccer and rugby internationals are invariably played during the winter.

The big issue to be addressed would be actual entry to the ground. For the major GAA games, Croke Park is accessed over two hours, which means that the turnstiles are capable of taking in the full crowd over this period. Generally speaking, the pattern of access to soccer and rugby games tends to be shorter - over the course of approximately a half-hour.

Catering for international games would require the stadium authorities to re-examine the turnstile configuration and - after consultation with UEFA - deciding what changes would need to be made. Segregation of supporters (for soccer) not only entails control of the crowd entering the stadium but when people are actually inside. Planning for this would involve an examination of available toilet and exit capacities in particular areas of the ground.

The worst case scenario is that the concourses and tunnels (which run around the back of the stands and underneath) would have to be blocked off in order to create a dedicated area in one of the stands for visiting fans.

While nobody is prepared to look beyond Saturday’s debate and a possible transfer of power to the Central Council to decide on the availability of Croke Park for the other sports, the belief is that state funding would be made available to facilitate its use by the Ireland rugby and soccer teams.

For instance, when in 2001 the Government committed £60m to the Croke Park development, a quarter of the money was earmarked for necessary work to be carried out at the northern (Hill 16). The requirement then was to have it ready in time to host the opening of the Special Olympics two years later.