The Sands Siro, One Step Closer

Latest picture of the design of the new National Stadium

So the IFA have voted in favour of supporting the government's new planned International Stadium at the Long Kesh site (I am now ceasing to call it 'The Maze').


On the one hand, they say they are only voting 'in principle', and are keeping all options open.


On the other hand, it's going to be very hard for the IFA to back out of this now.


Before I start, let me make one thing clear. I am approaching this issue from the point of view of an Northern Irish football fan. I am not a fan of the Northern Ireland international team (except when they beat England or the Republic, and that's just for selfish personal reasons :) ) The fact that I am a Linfield fan matters not a jot, our contract with the IFA to stage international matches (years remaining: ca 90) means Linfield are in a win-win situation. However we need a competent, financially-sound governing body and a competitive, financially-sound league to survive. I want to see a strong Irish League.


I acknowledge the need for a new national sports stadium in Northern Ireland, accessible for all (although I don't buy the old argument about Windsor Park and its 'sectarian' setting).


BUT this Long Kesh stadium idea is all wrong. There are a number of reasons why it is a bad idea for Northern Irish football, but the most disastrous reason for the IFA is that THE NUMBERS DON'T ADD UP.


Under the existing deal, the IFA have to pay 500k a year, plus 20% of all ticket sales to the stadium promoters. How will the IFA raise this? They pay nowhere near this amount of money to Linfield for use of Windsor Park, and as I have said before, projected revenue is a joke (7,000 fans paying 12 quid a pop for the County Antrim Shield final? This is pie-in-the-sky). Agreeing to this is like turkeys voting for Christmas.


Other reasons why this stadium is a bad joke:


SIZE. Let me repeat this: FORTY-TWO THOUSAND IS AT LEAST 17000 TOO MANY.

In terms of international football, people keep harking on about the England game and the potential for 2012 Olympic matches and UEFA Cup finals, as well as major concerts.

How often are these events going to take place? Surely we should be tailoring a stadium to our everyday needs and not to once-in-a-generation events, if we are to avoid a huge white elephant?


Norn Iron will never get 42,000 crowds again. They get a good side once in a generation (1958, 1982-86, ???) and even then crowds will never be that big. Two examples:


1999 vs France (then World Champions) crowd 9,000
1998 vs Germany crowd 10,000


If we can't attract big crowds for this type of opposition, what sort of crowds are we realistically going to attract for the likes of Estonia, Finland, Romania etc?


In terms of local football, pro-LK (Long Kesh) fans say that the design of the stadium will mean fans can sit in the lower tier without the resultant loss of atmosphere. So a) we won't see the 17,000 empty seats above us and b) we're gonna get 25,000 for local Cup finals. Be real. The 2001 IC final (Linfield - Glentoran, the biggest in 16 years) attracted 14,000 fans. That is the MAXIMUM possible. Imagine how embarrassing a 7,000 crowd for a Larne - Ballymena cup final in a 42,000 capacity stadium will look, and feel.


LOCATION. Lots of pro-LK, non-Belfast fans have been turning the location of the new stadium into a Belfast vs rest of NI debate. I don't live in Belfast anymore, so I don't care. I just think putting a national stadium in the middle of nowhere is illogical. The whole argument about the Long Kesh site being more accessible to more residents of NI is a red herring. The majority of NI football fans and IL fans reside in the Greater Belfast area. The difference is a maximum 15 minutes, and this will be negated by the effect of 15000+ fans trying to exit a stadium onto the same road. No fan will spend a day in a glorified industrial estate, so any sense of belonging or atmosphere will be lost. In any case, bars in stadium complexes must remain closed on the day of international matches, so fans will have to congregate in Belfast and travel there. What major international stadium can you name me that is located outside of a city, in the open countryside?


Let's be clear about this, this decision to locate the stadium WAS made for political reasons, no matter what government spin-doctors and gullible local media try to tell us. The British government are trying to do something positive with the old Long Kesh site to try to paint a shiny happy people scenario of good coming out of evil. Under the Freedom of Information Act, various Northern Ireland supporters have tried to obtain information pertaining to the Long Kesh proposals. After a delay, they discovered that certain information (including the Business Case for the Maze/ Long Kesh) had been withheld as this was likely to lead to one or more of the 3 sporting bodies withdrawing from the project (football?).


So exactly who IS driving the agenda on the Long Kesh project? If the business case is so robust, why is it shrouded in such secrecy? What is there to hide?


The last thing that greatly angers is the gun-to-the-head approach of the government: "It's Long Kesh or nothing. There is no alternative." Yet apparently there is. But the government will not give them enough time/ consideration. The fobbing off of the Titanic Quarter site is a case in point. The Titanic Quarter refutes the claim of the government that it withdrew from the running.


I am approaching this from a purely practical point of view. What are we going to do with the stadium on the 330+ days it will not be in use during the year? How will it pay for itself? As the Amalgamation of NI supporters says, let the agenda for football be set by football and not by others. This stadium would be a disaster for Northern Irish football. Both Gaelic and Rugby have fallback options. We don't.