“The so-called Derry shredding machine, anticipated to go into overdrive and gobble up a helpless Antrim challenge, was proven to be a mere figment of the imagination in front of 20,000 sun-baked spectators at Casement Park yesterday.”
THE above extract was the opening paragraph from a newspaper report the day after Antrim and Derry drew in the Ulster SFC semi-final in the year 2000.
That was undoubtedly one of my favourite days playing at Casement Park. At nine points down and with 25 minutes to go I entered the fray. That was my first appearance after suffering a broken jaw in an NFL game six weeks previous.
As I warmed up I got a rousing reception from Antrim supporters that will live with me to the day I die. Two Kevin Brady goals later and we were on the cusp of one of Ulster football’s biggest ever upsets.
Casement was rocking. Derry were 1/5 with the bookies that day. The reason I remember the odds was because an old team-mate from college was heading to the States the next day a grand worse off as he had thrown his lot on Derry to try and win £200.
For the first time in over 18 years, we had a footballing identity. Even if it was short-lived, we had something to be proud of and momentum to carry forward.
Antrim football stood tall and Casement Park, for once, truly belonged to the supporters in saffron and white.
I loved everything about the old Casement Park, not least the experience of playing there in front of a big crowd on Ulster Championship day.
But even on days when crowds were sparse the atmosphere and experience could be memorable. The playing surface was always immaculate and, in my opinion, it had no equal. It now lies in a tatter of ruins and that makes me as sorrowful as it does frustrated. But thankfully we seem to be a step closer to the re-emergence of our iconic stadium.
I attended one of the consultations last week and the plans are mightily impressive. It should be considered if Ulster Council have got the numbers game right in choosing to go with a 34,500 capacity. What will the atmosphere be like, even on days when it is only partially filled? And what, if anything, will this modern stadium mean for Antrim GAA?
Two years ago, I wrote a column suggesting that a 38,000-seater stadium was bigger than a new Casement Park needed to be, even for the hosting of the Ulster Football finals.
My proposal was that it should be scaled down to somewhere between 28,000-32,000 in order to alleviate some of the major concerns of residents and, at the same time, not compromise on the purpose of being the new provincial stadium.
At 34,500, we are now not far off that threshold. But critically concerns over height, boundaries, dimensions, as well as access, safety and crowd control have all been addressed.
We now know the highest point of the new scheme is 12 metres lower than the highest point of the original scheme.
The back of the seating bowl on the South Stand is 11 metres further away from the boundary than the previous scheme and the proposed West Stand is only six metres higher than the existing stand.
Its reduced scale will allow for a ‘circulation zone’ of about two acres (9,000m2) around the perimeter of the stadium to improve exiting arrangements.
A series of measures to encourage people to use bus and coach travel rather than cars are also outlined.
Stephen McGeehan and his team at Ulster Council are making sure that this time around all the key measures are in place so that it can be signed off by the safety team before planning permission can be granted.
To this point they have done a great job. The size is perfect, the design fabulous, and it has the potential to be a truly magnificent stadium. Bar a fair agreement with residents around the number of concerts to be staged annually,
I feel there isn’t much more they can do.
Just for the record, another report actually quoted 28,000 as the attendance that day Antrim and Derry drew.
Looking around a packed Casement, my guess was that 30,000 wouldn’t have been an overestimation.
The exact attendance doesn’t really matter. The atmosphere during the second half that day in an open, hollow, mainly terraced stadium was absolutely electric. Some of the doom and gloom merchants seem to think that unless the new ground is filled to capacity 20 times a year, then it will somehow be a soulless ‘white elephant.’
I remember being at club games in the old Casement on many occasions when the stadium was only partially filled.
Some of those contests I recall mostly for the noise, passion and atmosphere created by just a few thousand supporters.
Two Ulster hurling finals between Lavey and Dunloy in 1994 and 1997 stand out as memorable occasions.
There were 20,000 people at this year’s camogie finals in Croke Park. So if your glass is half-empty then that equates to the stadium being three-quarters abandoned. But the noise and atmosphere that day was described by people as ‘something special’.
The new stadium will be shaped in a dome with a roof the whole way around. One of the advantages with this type of construction is that the noise stays within the ground.
On days when smaller crowds are in attendance, they will only need to open one section. This will alleviate running costs associated with opening the stadium and, at the same time, ensure atmosphere can be maximised.
Ulster GAA President Michael Hasson spoke of a “new beginning for Antrim, a provincial stadium for Ulster” and an “iconic stadium that will be a beacon to inspire GAA players throughout West Belfast, Antrim and across Ulster”. The new Casement Park will be owned by Ulster Council and presumably they will call the shots. But people must remember that the old Casement Park was the asset of Antrim GAA.
So any agreement around occupancy, access and rights to usage should involve Antrim as a key tenant.
I’m not sure why this wasn’t negotiated from the outset, but this is where the new ‘Saffron Vision’ find themselves. Antrim deserve a fair deal out of this. Belfast is the country’s second city, but for too long Gaelic Games in Antrim has underachieved. This isn’t going to change by merely plumping a state-of-the-art stadium in the middle of west Belfast and expecting new generations of young people to be inspired.
We need to see our club finals, from underage to senior, played here. Schools matches the same. When Antrim host development squad blitzes involving other counties, they need to be played there.
National League matches too. Men’s football, ladies football, hurling and camogie should all be given adequate opportunities. Antrim need to be a sitting tenant with the autonomy to use the new stadium to promote Gaelic Games in Ireland’s second city and across the county. This iconic place can be a catalyst to grow the appeal of Gaelic Games in the county which can only be a good thing for the province.
Picture yourself in the comfort of the new Casement Park on a sunny day supporting your beloved county. Even on the wettest of days, you’ll always be dry. Not even Croke Park can guarantee that.
Can you hear the roar? I certainly can. My glass is three-quarters full.
