Stars come out at Stephen Ireland Astro Turf - a 'beacon of unification' in Cobh
Stephen Ireland, Stephen Ireland X1, second left along with guest players Nedum Onuoha, Emile Heskey and Chris Eagles, before their clash with Springfield AFC Select, as part of the Stephen Ireland Astro Turf opening at the Old Church Park development in Cobh, Co Cork.
On Saturday in Cobh the stars came out to play and a football community enjoyed a richly deserved celebration.
Stephen Ireland was back among his own and his people paid tribute to a talent that now leaves a legacy they hope will help more youngsters follow his path.
And as they gathered on Stephen Ireland Astro Turf, they marked the healing of a few old wounds and reminded each other what can be achieved when past divisions are forgotten and people pull together for a single cause.
For a town that loves its football, it’s probably fair to say that Cobh has had its fair share of disagreements about football over the years. Old arguments sometimes held up new ideas. Rather than find common ground, people went separate ways.
“It’s the nature of soccer in a lot of places, new clubs get set up,” says Mark Farrell of Cobh4football.
“Cobh has one GAA club, one rugby club, one basketball club, yet it has four soccer clubs.
“I came up through Springfield Ramblers, coached there, managed down in Cobh Wanderers, played for Cobh Ramblers at youths. Then there’s Springfield AFC. From my perspective, it’s difficult to understand the divisions of the past. And a lot of us are the same.”
Four years ago people from all corners came together and took stock.
“Cobh didn’t have a full-sized astro. We were seeing an awful lot of games being cancelled throughout the winter months. It was having an adverse effect on the children of the town.
“It’s a unique place in some ways. A kid can start playing soccer at five years of age and go right through the ages in Cobh and play either AUL, MSL or League of Ireland.
“Problem was, if you went to St Colman’s Park on a Saturday night, we weren’t seeing too many Cobh guys making it through to the other end.
“We had to look and see why that was happening and facilities were one of the aspects we had to focus on, to give our kids the best chance possible.
“And when we started this process four years ago, girls' soccer hadn’t really taken off. But girls and ladies soccer has gone to another level completely in the town. So it really became a necessity to have that pitch.”
Fortunately, one of the town’s finest talents, who made it all the way from kicking a ball round the green in Russell Heights to the Premier League, had triggered, along his journey from Ramblers schoolboys, the accumulation of a pot of money from transfer percentages and solidarity payments.
“There was a fantastic amount of money from Stephen’s transfers that was managed by some great people. One of their primary functions was to ensure the money was spent for the benefit of the children in the town. Anything we did had to benefit the youth in the town.”
Land adjacent to Cobh Wanderers’ current pitch at Old Church Park was surveyed and deemed ideal for the new pitch. But vision was also needed.
“The project was coming in around €650,000, it ended up around €705,000. We sat down with the four clubs to convince them of the benefit of working together. Whatever went on before would be left in the past and we set out a new ambition for Cobh football. If we can show a bit of unity and get the people of the town to believe in it, we should get the backing.”
A sports capital grant of €80,000 helped. The Wilson family, owners of Belvelly Castle, kicked in €30,000.
“Local businesses were brilliant, they all chipped in. Eventually, we were able to get the money to start the project. There’s still work to do on driveways and dressing rooms, but the pitch is there and ready to train on and we opened it on Saturday. It was a great celebration, a fantastic day.”
Stephen Ireland was there with other Premier League stars in tow. Ex-England striker Emile Heskey, Nedum Onuoha who played with Ireland at Man City. Former Man United man Chris Eagles, among others.
“Stephen has fallen in love with the place and he brought a few high-calibre guests, who gave up a lot of their own time. It was exceptional really.
“We had the Stephen Ireland XI v the Springfield AFC XI. Then the kids and youths played matches before we had a Ramblers v Wanderers past and present match. Some great legends of both clubs came out and we finished off in a fantastic event that night in the Radisson Hotel.”
Stephen Ireland Astro Turf at Old Church Park will be run by a management company with the four clubs having agreed to a timetable of usage.
“The four clubs are a beacon of unification. It shows if people can put their heads together and let go of any divisions, what can be achieved.”
And Mark hopes the astro's legacy will eventually be seen on the town's grass pitches.
“Let’s have a Cobh team in the League of Ireland with a good basis of the team from the town. Maybe in seven or eight years' time that will have happened.”
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