Croke park

The Hill is being rebuilt at the moment, to half height. I don’t think there’s enough room to build a full stand, given that the pitch had to be rotated by about 15 degrees to fit the new Canal End in – remember that the West side of the old hill was only about 5 rows deep. It’s not a bad design though – the open end lets in light, but since it’s not facing South there’s much less chance of a team playing in to the sun.

Here’s a model of the completed stadium….there is not enough room to develop a 4th stand due to the close proximity of the railway line.

…….the problem can be seen here with the plan

I think you’re being harsh – there are lots of U-shaped stadia in the world….

but aspillj its a fabulous stadium, when i lived abroad i was for ever showing off about it, people are always thinking that gaa sports are a folk activity like croquet or that indian game where you hold your breath and its great to be able to point out the high standard it is played at, the overwhelming popularity of the irish sports and the quality of croke park. the U-shaped design is a consequence of its urban location, which is one of the best things about it. it looks great from inside and out. if only we had a horse track so centrally located.

by the way, i apologise if it turns out that that indian game is actually second only to cricket in south asia and played in a magnificant stadium by highly trained athletes.

aspillj – I think you’re well off the boil on this one !

Remember the Special Olympics opening ceremony at Croke Park ??? did that not make you proud to be an Irish person living abroad like it did with me ? if it didn’t ……..

Anybody who saw that, including my foriegn friends, were amazed about Croke Park. They thought it was massive. The open end gave a perfect backdrop to the stage.

Twickenham is another (no where near as good) horse shoe shaped stadium like Croke Park.

Despite only being full-height on three sides, Croke Park is still one of the largest stadia in Europe – bigger than anything in the UK.

A capacity of 80,000 when complete…..imagine had a fourth stand been built …the capacity would have exceeded 100,000 I’m sure. What a leviathan of a ground.

they should have built it though and either diverted the track or built around it..

Originally posted by FIN
they should have built it though and either diverted the track or built around it..

And where exactly would they divert the track to? Also to close the Maynooth line, the only bi directional rush hour line in the country to facilitate a head in the sand like organisation like the GAA?

stranger things have happened. if it’s for the greater good then it will turn out to be worth it in the end.

eh, couldn’t they build some kind of underpass for the train, like the one on the dart at landsdowne! That said i’ve no problem with 3 sides.

exactly. and i have no problem with the 3 sides either but just saying it would be nice if the finished it off

You make it sound like it unfinished – just ending with bits of concrete reinforcing rod sticking into space…. people remember that it was designed as a three sided arena – so it is finished and I think it looks very good… so to say “i wish they would finish it” is misleading to say the least…

also there is a school of thought that open at one end arenas get better grass growing conditions that completely enclosed grounds….

I does as it allows for better circulation of air at pitch level – vital for good grass health

to me it’s unfinished i have to be honest. although i don’t know about it being designed as 3 sides as the roof profile changes when u move from the orginal cusack to the canal end. maybe it was and that’s intentinal but i can’t see the reason for it. i was hoping that they would do the nally as an extension of the hogan but it all seems to be going into the hill from what i could see on tv and from greg’s pics.
u do have a good point on the grass as cardiff is having major problems along with a lot of premeirship clubs.

Anyway, the Hill 16 end could be finished off well if it has permanently installed a fair sized scoreboard, video screen and flag masts to fly banners of the county or Provinces colours as well as the dear old Tri-Colour itself centre stage!

Originally posted by GregF
… What a lleviathan of a ground.

What a great word!

It was possible to engineer the hill to look like the other stands in the ground but I think the GAA were correct in leaving it pretty much intact as is. This way it will conserve the great tradition and atmosphere that is the hill. Having another tier over your head just wouldn’t be the same.

It also adds a bit of quirkiness to the ground. It will never feel like one of these soulless out of town super stadia as you can always get a view of the city in the background.

Just because most stadia have four equal sides doesn’t mean Croke Park has to and that’s what I like that about it even if it was a result of a fiscal decision and some ardent Dubs.

Originally posted by FIN
the roof profile changes when u move from the orginal cusack to the canal end. maybe it was and that’s intentinal but i can’t see the reason for it.

As far as I remember, the change in the roof profile was to give better rain protection for the guys on the bottom level. There’s extra window sections in the Canal End roof as well to let more light onto the grass.

so it was designed as one?????

The new Cusack was first to be built and has a shorter roof section for cost reasons, the Canal End and Hogan were build next and have the same size roof, with transparent sections in the South-facing Canal End for sunlight. I don’t think the roof of the Cusack Stand can be extended to match the others.

the canal end is the same length as the cusack. the hogan is 10metres longer than the others. The GAA had more money due to government grant at that stage. The difference in cost is something like 2million for every extra metre out