Harping On V Kildare County

May 20, 2006

Having finally got that elusive first win of the season on Tuesday night tonight we look to further build momentum and confidence as we entertain Kildare County. After starting our season on such a positive note with the fine win at Station Road we've had plenty of ups and downs since- but generally we seem to be on the up again and our young side seems to be growing together all the time. Already this season we've seen a lot of young players prove their potential to be very good players at this level, no more than Davitt Walsh whose superb hat-trick was instrumental in our win over Monaghan. Slowly but surely the feel-good factor seems to be seeping back into the club and hopefully tonight will see another result and performance that will see that continue to grow. We should not underestimate our opposition tonight however- remember that until Tuesday night they sat above us in the table, and this season has already proved that most teams in this division can give each other serious problems on any given day.

Recent times have seen a lot of interesting developments around the league in terms of facilities. Athlone's stadium isn't too far from being opened we're told and I'm sure Tallaght will finally get built one of these years. The main headline-grabber has been Bohs proposed move to Castleknock with Dalymount being sold for development. Bohs would not only receive a brand new 10,000-seater stadium but also a cool €26 million for their trouble. This deal has been approved by the Bohs membership and even if things don't work out as long as the contract is signed they'll definitely receive €2 million. The debate on the Bohs website in the run-up to the vote was passionate and detailed- and those against the move certainly raised a lot of what seemed like very valid points. The access to the new ground was questioned (it'll be right beside the toll plazas on the M50) and many felt that while the offer seemed good that the club should look for other options as well before plumping for this one. If the deal comes to fruition it will see Bohs with the cash to dominate the Irish game for quite a while- whether this is good for the game in Ireland remains to be seen. If Bohs invest that money wisely they'll be very difficult for any other club to compete with, but then other clubs have already found that the biggest expenditure, while always an advantage, doesn't always guarantee success.

The prospect of Bohs move has thrown the cat amongst the pigeons regarding the ongoing debate around ground-sharing in Dublin. Not so long ago it almost seemed inevitable that Shelbourne would move in with Bohs, using the money generated from the sale of their lease on Tolka to buy a 50% stake in Dalymount. This always appeared to be a terrible deal for Bohs as far as I'm concerned, and although Bohs have said they'd be still open to ground-sharing after any move Shelbourne have said that they definitely will not move to Castleknock. Meanwhile St Pat's seemed to be under pressure to consider moving to Tallaght to share with Shamrock Rovers- but with the prospect of Shelbourne eyeing up a move to Tallaght this seems to have receded. The government have said they want 2 main football grounds in Dublin and will allocate funding on that basis, and this is what has caused a lot of the maneuverings that we have witnessed recently. Meanwhile UCD are moving to a new ground on the Belfield campus, and the only club who don't seem to be talking about moving are Dublin City- despite the fact that they're the only ones with no home of any sort.

Meanwhile up the road in Derry debate is raging on the future of Derry City and the Brandywell. It is recognized that the ground in its current form just isn't up to standard but little progress has been made on getting anything done about it. The ground is owned by the council and they've shown little interest in redeveloping it to date, or even giving Derry City a long term lease so that they can develop it. Movement is expected soon however as Derry City have submitted a detailed plan to the council. Some Derry fans would like to see the club leave the Brandywell for a green-field site, but this appears totally impractical given the price of buying land and developing from scratch. There's also the fact there really isn't that much land available on the City side and moving to the Waterside or moving to Donegal are probably out of the question. In the midst of all the debate it's unclear where the greyhound men fit in- but most of the Derry fans don't want them in any new development. Strangely enough I think the thing that's most likely to get Derry's plans moving is further progress on our own move. Seeing Harps in a state-of-the-art facility could well embarrass the authorities into action. Meanwhile it's certainly fun to read the comments of Derrymen seriously worried about the prospect of our move being completed while they remain in their current situation.