Brandywell Stadium Development

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marcoloco
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

Kellz wrote:l met several people with wains at the two home matches who were giving off that they couldn't buy sweets or even a cup of tea. Surely this is basic stuff. I could understand it at the first match, after all they only had 18 months to prepare. But that should have been sorted for the second. Instead there were two mobile chippy vans that struggled to cope with demand & several people like myself walking around looking for a hot drink & a bar of chocolate.
Yes, the new stand is impressive but if I have to piss in a portakabin then surely i could buy a Mars Bar in one......just not the same Portakabin.
Whilst this is important i'm sure it'll all get sorted in good time... but if your going to the game and want a bag of sweets and a cuppa then come prepared! Think the priority is to get the certificate that allows them to increase the capacity.

DC-2010
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by DC-2010 »

I think they were told to purchase a portable unit..... quiet an outlay for an operation that sells 50p soup

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Adam Quigley
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by Adam Quigley »

KEVK wrote:
rodgers wrote:From highlights on Soccer Republic, it looks like the poles impede tv view a little when ball is near corner flags at Mark Farren side.

Hopefully won't be too big an issue for Pats match for the live tv debut of the new redevelopment.
Whilst on the subject of the televised Pats match, can we remove the practice goal nets that sit on the little grass embankment behind Brandywell Road net?

An absolute pet hate of mine when I see televised football and a pile of goal nets have been thrown into a corner of the ground - totally amateur looking and something you expect to see at Leafair, Magee, etc.

Also, might be a good idea to get more flags to cover the dull wall behind the Brandywell Road end as it looks awful on TV :)
On here I've seen users with some really cool looking Derry City avatars. Some could look good on a banner ?

rodgers
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by rodgers »

Was at the new ground for second time on Friday and watched match back on tv. The ground overall is better, think the Mark Farren Stand could do with a small scoreboard across the top. And maybe even some lettering letting people know the name of the stand. Standing will have to be sorted out eventually as well. Would be nice to have a separate shop somewhere that just sold hot drinks and snacks.

I think the council really missed a trick with the ground. While there might be a novelty to begin with, I don't think the demand for continuous use of the Brandywell is there, particularly at the prices that the council will be under pressure to charge. It already seems clear that Derry won't be hosting any friendlies open to the public there.

I was chatting to a few Bala Town fans last year on way back from Wales ROI game in Cardiff and they were very positive about their team's astro pitch. Bala has a population of 2,000 so the pitch makes a bit of sense there. But it doesn't in somewhere the size of Derry. Instead, the Brandywell should have been redeveloped as the prestige ground for by far and away the no 1 sport in the whole North West, hosting only a certain number of games each year.

3 Derry players were involved in the NI u21 game against Spain last week, going up against multi million pound players from Real Madrid. The same was true of the France u21 game last year, again in which a number of NW players went up against the likes of Rabiot, Lemar and Dembele. The Spain game was played in front of a healthy crowd at Shamrock Park but I think some of the more self important Spain players were giving out about the slope on the pitch and the general facilities there.

These are precisely the types of games (along with the more high profile games that Derry will play in Europe, cups etc.) that should be played at a grass redeveloped Brandywell. This would be far more beneficial to the community of Derry and the NW both socially and economically (and would be inspirational to younger fans who would get to see young Derry players like McDermott go up against Champions League players in their own home town) than any number of hours of it being available for 90 pounds to the likes of me! There are already any number of publicly or privately owned astro facilities across the city that people can already go to. As I have said before, the demand is nothing that a grass pitch cannot cope with (eg Tallaght).

On tv, the poles and the empty nets are pretty annoying.

What we have is good but it would have been so easy to make it so much better. Football grounds really aren't all that hard to get right. Two main stands and covered terraces behind nets. Instead, the usual cohort of consultants, advisers and salesmen half of whom have probably never been to a match in their lives hoodwinked an all too willingly gullible council into spending a lot of money on a surface that won't produce the financial or community return that they were sold. I'm surprised the Brandywell hasn't been renamed a 'multi-modal sports hub' yet!

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

Its a council facility so it was never about doing what's right for DCFC. If we could do it ourselves then it would be grass. But in saying that... most players now at top clubs train on both astro and grass so whilst its a big deal to us fans its actually less so for the players... plus the standard of some grass pitches, especially during bad weather, are shocking so im not too bothered.

Plus, St Pats played us off the park on Friday. Passed the ball about like a top side and we were chasing shadows. We sat back because we would not have stood a chance trying to match them at their own game. So i'm not too bothered tbh. We never get to host glamour international ties and the old slope is gone.

Agree about the finishing touches. Still work to be done to get it looking top notch!

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

ps Agree the spare nets are a distraction especially when sitting in the Southend Stand. Can't we get a message to the club to move these or at least cover them from view during games?

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

Load of call offs again due to waterlogged pitches... those muck baths will be in awful condition for months were as we'll have a perfect playing surface. Just need a decent midfield now and were sorted!:-)

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by johnm »

marcoloco wrote:ps Agree the spare nets are a distraction especially when sitting in the Southend Stand. Can't we get a message to the club to move these or at least cover them from view during games?
The council and us, and those who pay rates would like to have an image that shows the facilities off to all, including tv viewers. The nets were better stacked than last match but still an eye sore. We’ll see next home match how it looks.
The council must have a clause in the rent of the ground to have several announcements put out to help us recognise bins that are strategical place at the bottom of the stand and use, but as only a few spectators at the front pass them, it’s unlikely the rest of the crowd are going to come down on the way out to use them. I took some rubbish with me as I passed no bins on my way out.

marcoloco
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

Harps match called off tonight due to unplayable (waterlogged) pitch.

Again, another sign that our astro truff surface might not be all that bad of an idea...

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by KEVK »

I've been pleasantly surprised by the astro turf and the way it plays - bounce of the ball etc,

Aesthetically, it looks good on TV and in real life as some artificial pitches look awful and dull. We'll see what it's like in a few years time.

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by davybhoy »

In relation to corners of the pitch looking dark can the floodlights be realigned or is it because we brought the pitch closer to the southend stand will redirecting the lights even hit the correct areas? Just asking as it looks pretty noticeable.

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Greengo
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by Greengo »

When you think about it the floodlights were aligned for the old pitch...
The new pitch has moved sideways and down towards the Southend park stand now I.e. closer to it... so it would make sense to re-direct the lights onto the new pitch layout...

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by pgdcfc »

Yes lights need re-aligned for Def. I sit in Southend stand and bottom corner, Show grounds side nearest us seems darker than other areas. Seems to be lit at Mark Farr en stand half of pitch. Someone get up the lights and get it sorted, please.

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

With the Southend Stand now refurbed and full of fans I must say it looks the part when seen on TV. It also sits better now that the pitch has been moved and the slope gone. Can't believe that the RMF kicked up such a stir when it was suggested that this stand be renamed in Ryan's honour. I would be great to have both stands named with clear lettering so when it on tv or photos the respective names are there for all to see.

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John Bacon
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by John Bacon »

I'm glad someone else mentioned the lights. Definitely needs looked at.

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by KEVK »

John Bacon wrote:I'm glad someone else mentioned the lights. Definitely needs looked at.
When we first got the floodlights installed in 1989/90, there were 27 bulbs on each floodlight as I used to count them when I was a ballboy :)

Now there is only 15 or so - we need more bulbs! :)

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by An Absolute Disgrace »

The problem with the lights is going to need more than just realignment to fix, as the pitch has been moved closer to the south end stand the roof of the stand is now caring a shadow onto the pitch which is why it’s so dark, it looks like to resolution could be to place a couple of lights on the roof of the south end stand but this won’t be a cheap fix

marcoloco
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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by marcoloco »

Hope you were counting them when they were off!? :shock: :lol:

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by Keyser Soze »

I think another problem is the lights in the new Mark Farren stand.

These are very bright, and they make the stand brighter than the pitch, which is distracting.

Could they turn half of them off during games?

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Re: Brandywell Stadium Development

Post by stevebradley »

Keyser Soze wrote:I think another problem is the lights in the new Mark Farren stand.

These are very bright, and they make the stand brighter than the pitch, which is distracting.

Could they turn half of them off during games?
Unfortunately they'd face a compensation claim as soon as someone took a tumble if they did.

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