Is Athy a potential solution to Conleths Park?

Having attended the Kildare match last night what are peoples opinions on Athy.

Athy's facilities are fantastic. Easy access from Newbridge and Naas side of Kildare. Plenty of parking in and around the grounds, excellent dressing rooms and referee changing facilities, A good big clubhouse and bar to go with it.

I wonder has the county board considered the merits of developing Athy's grounds further. The major thing is that it already has top class floodlights installed.

I believe the solution to Conleths park is staring us straight in the face there in Athy.

I wonder how much it would take to bring the grounds up to an acceptable standard. Maybe spending on Athy would be better than a sticking plaster over the cracks of Conleths.

There seems to be room either side of the pitch for development or upgrades and at the Club House end.

I agree the facilities are excellent but location is the problem. It's a fair old journey down if you're travelling from Maynooth or Leixlip. I know there's the motorway and it doesn't take that long to travel from one end of Kildare to the other, unlike say Cork or Donegal, but still and all, the county ground should be as central as possible.

For the level of expediture needed to get the Athy pitch up to the required level, I believe you'd be better off re-investing this into Newbridge. As Sam said in roundabout way, Newbridge is a far better location for all country supports than Athy.

Yep, Newbridge is more central, also Athy is too near the Laois border for my liking, some of that lot might try to swim up the Barrow to civilisation when the border guards are distracted by the match.

Athy has far greater potential than Newbridge and a far better pitch but there might be a problem with removing the banks - they may (from what I've been told) be filled with asbestos waste. But that's doable. Better facilities, better parking, better potential. The geography thing really isn't an issue - or shouldn't be.

If its easier or costs less to develop Athy than Newbridge, then where its located in the County shouldnt be an issue IMO.. Its certainly a fine venue and ticks a lot of boxes ie Floodlights, pitch size , Bar etc.. The only thing is, dosent the pitch tend to waterlog easy?, and that would be a headache in its self..

Yes if it is cost affective then of course it should be developed ahead of Newbridge as should any other ground in the county.
Was glad to see Athy used last night instead of Hawkfield and hope this continues with any other games that need to be played under lights with all county tems.

tomoneillandhissisteranne wrote:

Athy has far greater potential than Newbridge and a far better pitch but there might be a problem with removing the banks - they may (from what I've been told) be filled with asbestos waste. But that's doable. Better facilities, better parking, better potential. The geography thing really isn't an issue - or shouldn't be.

why shouldnt it be an issue? Newbridge is centrally located and basically acts as the middle road between north and south. Athy is the capital of hicksville.....i mean South Kildare.

Also the Athy pitch was up to last year anyway a terrible surface and not within an asses roar of the surface in Newbridge (the only thing good about St Conleths. Maybe the pitch in Athy has been relaid, as it was badly needed!

Its on the edge of town and is 15/20 minutes motorway south of Newbridge, hardly a cross country trek. I came that route and had no issues. Getting in and out of Athy too it is no issue and there seems to be plenty of parking.

I believe the surface has been relaid but i'm open to correction on that. It has top class floodlights, something Conleth's doesn't have. Athy looks to be a bigger pitch also.

Maybe it would need a lot of money. But €200,000 in Conleths as I said would only be a plaster. It woudn't change the dressing rooms or add flood lights to the place. Both these are already in place in Athy.

Athy is also centrally located. It would possibly have the potential of hosting other games although portlaoise seems to get a lot.

Athy looks to be a bigger pitch also

Athy is definitly a bigger pitch, no doubts. I wasnt aware it was re surfaced, if so then I dont see any objections, even the one that its too far South of The County and not Central.. Are all County Grounds central?.. The one thing that needs to be done is develop the seated area substantially.

Johnny, I doubt 200K would bring the Athy pitch / grounds up to standard required to host important championship matches like O'Moore park hosts. That's the standard of pitch Kildare required so that they can host their own league and championship games.

Coming from the North of the county I wouldn't mind the extra 10-15 minutes travel if there was parking available and good facilities in Athy.

The pitch and stands would need considerable investment though.

I have always liked the gaa grounds in athy. Nice wide pitch, a lot wider than Newbridge, and easy enough access. The extra 15 minutes is not much difference. There is also plenty of room around the pitch and the stand could be developed further. Am I mistaken or am I right in saying we used to use athy back in the day for the odd league match even in the early 90's? My grandfather and his brothers cycled once or twice from Leixlip to athy donkeys years ago!

Hosted two All Ireland finals as well!

TommyKeegan wrote:

Hosted two All Ireland finals as well!

I know i'm right on this. I believe its an ideal venue with investment.

Wouldn't underestimate the value of having a bar and food on site either for a cash strapped county.

lilywhites on tour wrote:

I have always liked the gaa grounds in athy. Nice wide pitch, a lot wider than Newbridge, and easy enough access. The extra 15 minutes is not much difference. There is also plenty of room around the pitch and the stand could be developed further. Am I mistaken or am I right in saying we used to use athy back in the day for the odd league match even in the early 90's? My grandfather and his brothers cycled once or twice from Leixlip to athy donkeys years ago!

We played Offaly in Athy in the league in Micko's time and possibly Carlow but I'm not sure that that one was a league match. I think Portaloise and Baltinglass played a Leinster final there also. Its an interesting idea especially if Conleths needs a lot of money to make adequate for big matches.

IMO Athy would need a lot more money to bring it up to the standard of hosting a high profile league match or any sort of a championship match, its stand would hold a few hundred max, it has grass banks, parking is not as plentiful as people think. The pitch is also not a patch on Newbridges. There would not be nearly enough toilet facilities at all. For an all ticket match there are not enough access points for people to enter.

Pitch was relayed out to the 21 yard when it hosted the Shinty - haven't seen it closed since then. Correct banks have abestos in them, so not sure how much of an issue this would be. Used for colleges, ladies football & camogie intercounty a good bit. I'd imagine the issue might be the club itself, they only have a training pitch at the back so if the ground was been preserved for county matches club teams mightn't be too happy!
Great atmosphere in it last night, better than conleths on Saturday - fact crowd is closer to the pitch on all sides seems be work well but still behind a barrier.

Fair points FFF, although have to disagree on pitch. One of the best in the country, even people from other counties always comment on it.

Too far away from the north of the county, where a massive chunk of the county's population lives.
I wouldn't think Athy people would be impressed if they had to travel to Maynooth for Kildare home games.

TommyKeegan wrote:

Fair points FFF, although have to disagree on pitch. One of the best in the country, even people from other counties always comment on it.

having played on both newbridge and athys pitch, athy is grand in the summer but can get messy enough in spring/autumn time unlike newbridges whatever the weather is always in good shape and grass like carpet.

surely the costs of bringing Athy up to the standard of grounds like Portlaoise, Tullamore even Parnell park would far outweight the costs of improving (albeit drastically) the facilities in Newbridge.

With either option you are looking at a cost in excess of 7 figures to bring it up to the standard of Kildares rivals. That is no exaggeration.

Go support the Dubs then Ohtoohtobe, they'd be closer.

It's a good shout Johnny but I think you're underestimating the cost involved in bringing Athy up to provincial standard. That carpark doesn't hold that many cars, unless of course the rugby club beside it is used. Toilets, turnstiles, entrances and exits and not to mention safely holding 7000-10000 spectators.

I'd imagine the Athy club would have an objection to this, they have a lot of teams that play on that pitch. Where would they go?

We played Carlow a couple of times there about 15 years ago in League. I remember attending an u21 championship game v Laois also. I dont think its as accessible were a National League size crowd to show up! 3 All Irelands there i think, 2 *hurl, 1 *football. Is a nice setup alright and was surprised not to see it mentioned in these pages some months back on people opinion on Best Ground in Kildare. More OByrne Cup games there now surely . Pitch much more suitable than Newbridge but overall i would plump for Newbridge if/when they fix it up.