New stadium and pitches on 28 acres at Newtown
Site will also be base for schoolchildren’s league and possibly rugby and tennis
PLANS for a new Drogheda United stadium at Newtown - at the rear of Aston Village on the Termonfeckin Road - will include a 5,500 all-seater stadium, a full size all weather pitch, parking for 300 cars and nine full size grass pitches on a 28 acre site.
Louth County Council and the FAI are working on the project and an announcement is expected shortly by FAI Chief Executive John Delaney and Joan Martin, Chief Executive of Louth County Council.
Speaking to the Drogheda Independent this week on Drogheda Utd and its present and long term plans, United chairman Fiachra Kierans said the stadium plan would be huge for the area.
‘ The stadium is a 5,500 all-seater which will be built with a 3,200 capacity initially, with a full-size all-weather pitch at the top of it. There will be nine full-size grass pitches on site, three five-a-side all-weather pitches, plus the ancillary development and car parking for 300 vehicles.
‘We’ll have all our training facilities for ourselves and for the Drogheda Schoolchildren’s League who are crying out for facilities. It will actually become a centre of excellence for the south Louth/Meath/North Dublin area.
‘I don’t think that’s an unrealistic target. I think it’s in Louth Co Council and the FAI’s interest to make sure this project happens. It will be a shame to move out of United Park, but United Park outlived itself 20 years ago and I believe in the mantra that if you build it they will come,’ he said.
He said it will take two seasons before it will be completed and ready for use.
‘It’s also dependent on Government funding in terms of the Northern Cross route. There’s road access which has to be put in and that’s LCC’s problem, but they’re looking at the bigger picture. If they can get a facility like this up and running, it makes access to funding for them easier and it also opens up more land for housing.
‘We’re not adverse to having a discussion with other sporting organisations. It mightn’t primarily be just a soccer facility and my personal feeling is that it should be open up to other sports and we’ve had preliminary chats with tennis and rugby people.
‘We’re not so bloody-minded that it has to be a soccer development. It has to benefit the town of Drogheda rather than just Drogheda United,’ he added.
It will actually become a centre of excellence for the south Louth, Meath/North Dublin area