Brandywell Stadium Development

[Andy Bernard]

stevebradley, the list of things that derry and the north west have been left behind on or blind-sided on is endless. the big ones are normally due to the orange run state stifling anything which might encourage growth or prosperity in this part of the region, others are due to the local authority here not being capable of organising anything much more than the bin collections and halloweeen. the walls issue you describe is another depressing example of a mixture of both.

as for the dcc and dcfc statements in the media today re the phased approach was always clear, maybe it was to them and to those closer to the process - and those who took the time to read the detail, it was never made clear to us the fans and the full blown stand was the image they presented to us continuously.

i'm going to reorganise my support accordingly into two phases to coincide with the stadium upgrade.
phase 1: i will support dcfc via drive 105 and radio foyle to coincide with stadium phase 1.
phase 2: i will buy a new season ticket and return to the phase 2 full size stand at the brandywell.

As Steve suggested I wrote to POD today to tell him the exact same

[Keyser Soze]

Its beyond a joke now. To do a full job on the Brandywell would only be a small amount compared to whats being spent on other stadia in the country, yet we can't even manage to get that, and instead have to get down on our knees and thank people for giving us a third of a new stand.

I could understand all this 'orange run state' a few years back, but in case nobody else noticed, we have had power sharing for quite a while now in NI. If all the money is still going to Unionist areas, then that says more about the so-called nationalist politicians than anything.

The crumbs from the table that are directed towards the second city is embarrassing at this stage. Tiny fractions spent here compared to Belfast, and I'm sure even smaller towns are getting more funding than Derry.

But, the same folk will get voted in the next time round, and the next, and the next.

[johnm]

Have things changed that much that the majority of people in Derry, Donegal and Tyrone don't have the appetite for local football anymore but feed into the TV football or other varieties of entertainment. While my tastes have altered through the years the draw for home football, even Irish league, still burns and also the need for belonging and joining in social activities is strong. The challenge posed each year in the team trying to come out tops in the league is something that continually pulls me to be there and so does the new challenge of getting our own ground and not always borrowing or renting somebody else's.
You say 'there's another Eddie Mahon spouting for pie in the sky but I'm applying for membership in his 'find a ground treasure hunt'. In supporting DCFC I can honestly say "We" when talking about the club not the 'we' in attaching myself to some distant club that is financed by TV subscription which is forked out regularly to mainly foreign owners whose one real object is profit.
Maybe the demise in the variety of species on this earth includes supporters of local sport.

[paul60]

As David Attenbourgh says "What happens next depends on us".

[KEVK]

Unfortunately this city suffers more than any on this island of chronyism, nepotism, gerrymandering, and tribal voting that gets people elected.

A sub-standard 'regional' stadium can be added to the long list if things that haven't been delivered for this region.

[TenaciousDee]

Is this match going ahead tomorrow?

[Treble89]

We're losing more fans by the day. That's the bottom line. Buy a season ticket. Where for? Who knows?

I often heard the older generation tell me ''i'll not be back until......'' There's always been an underlying issue. The board need to tell the fans the truth.

Club is a shambles. I feel sorry for Kenny Shiels. Man is a workhorse and puts 110% into his job and we're lucky to have him.

[shauna]

Did the match take place today if so did many turn up,

[Kellz]

Aye, the match happened. I'd estimate there were 200 at it.

[Gerrymc]

200 would be a good estimate. Nice touch that we all got a piece of turf, a season ticket for next season and a new top.

[MariborKev]

We're losing more fans by the day. That's the bottom line. Buy a season ticket. Where for? Who knows?

I often heard the older generation tell me ''i'll not be back until......'' There's always been an underlying issue.

Sadly find myself slipping more into this category. I'll be back, but my interest wanes by the year.

We had the whole consultation process at the start of the season and what did we come out of it with? A new commercial manager, who has made clear strides on merchandising. The rest? Stuck on the top of the pile of the many documents about the direction of the club that have been done in the past and will probably be done in the future.

We'll fall further and further behind, we'll overspend at some point. POD will at some stage decide that the several hundred grand he is funding us a year isn't worth the hassle, and we'll be back to where we started or worse.

Such is life.

[shauna]

Any sign of diggers arriving at the ground this morning.

[zico]

There is a real problem if people aren't purchasing until they see where we will be playing next season. Firstly it is clear that Celtic Park is first choice, as confirmed by Sean Barrett on BBC Newsline, but this has to be ratified by the Board of Derry GAA who do not meet until February I have heard (I'm open to correction on that?).

I think the Board would love to confirm Celtic Park, but are unable to do so for this reason. However if we all wait until February to renew season tickets then Kenny Shiels will not have much of a budget to sort his squad out until its too late and many of the good players will have gone.

I can understand fans being reluctant to renew if they genuinely can't make it to Buncrana for whatever reason, but I think all other fans should be showing their support for the Club by renewing now. Lord knows the Club needs all the support it can get at the minute because its clear that no one outside our loyal fan base is going to do the Club any favours.

[beezer_homes]

There is a real problem if people aren't purchasing until they see where we will be playing next season. Firstly it is clear that Celtic Park is first choice, as confirmed by Sean Barrett on BBC Newsline, but this has to be ratified by the Board of Derry GAA who do not meet until February I have heard (I'm open to correction on that?).

I think the Board would love to confirm Celtic Park, but are unable to do so for this reason. However if we all wait until February to renew season tickets then Kenny Shiels will not have much of a budget to sort his squad out until its too late and many of the good players will have gone.

I can understand fans being reluctant to renew if they genuinely can't make it to Buncrana for whatever reason, but I think all other fans should be showing their support for the Club by renewing now. Lord knows the Club needs all the support it can get at the minute because its clear that no one outside our loyal fan base is going to do the Club any favours.

Are they even on sale yet?

[stevebradley]

There is a real problem if people aren't purchasing until they see where we will be playing next season. Firstly it is clear that Celtic Park is first choice, as confirmed by Sean Barrett on BBC Newsline, but this has to be ratified by the Board of Derry GAA who do not meet until February I have heard (I'm open to correction on that?).

I think the Board would love to confirm Celtic Park, but are unable to do so for this reason. However if we all wait until February to renew season tickets then Kenny Shiels will not have much of a budget to sort his squad out until its too late and many of the good players will have gone.

I can understand fans being reluctant to renew if they genuinely can't make it to Buncrana for whatever reason, but I think all other fans should be showing their support for the Club by renewing now. Lord knows the Club needs all the support it can get at the minute because its clear that no one outside our loyal fan base is going to do the Club any favours.

Unless something major has happened in the GAA that I'm not aware of, it's the GAA's Annual Congress that needs to decide if any member grounds can be opened to football/soccer. It meets in February. I believe a two-thirds majority would be needed at that, and I can't see why delegates from counties like Kilkenny, Clare, Offaly, Leitrim, Cavan etc would have any interest in helping out a football club. The mood may have changed in the GAA over the years so I may be wrong, but I just don't see why they would want to help a single club. Though it would be tremendous if they did.

Also - don't the FAI licensing rules require confirmation of where we're playing to be submitted in December ?

[shauna]

There is a real problem if people aren't purchasing until they see where we will be playing next season. Firstly it is clear that Celtic Park is first choice, as confirmed by Sean Barrett on BBC Newsline, but this has to be ratified by the Board of Derry GAA who do not meet until February I have heard (I'm open to correction on that?).

I think the Board would love to confirm Celtic Park, but are unable to do so for this reason. However if we all wait until February to renew season tickets then Kenny Shiels will not have much of a budget to sort his squad out until its too late and many of the good players will have gone.

I can understand fans being reluctant to renew if they genuinely can't make it to Buncrana for whatever reason, but I think all other fans should be showing their support for the Club by renewing now. Lord knows the Club needs all the support it can get at the minute because its clear that no one outside our loyal fan base is going to do the Club any favours.

Unless something major has happened in the GAA that I'm not aware of, it's the GAA's Annual Congress that needs to decide if any member grounds can be opened to football/soccer. It meets in February. I believe a two-thirds majority would be needed at that, and I can't see why delegates from counties like Kilkenny, Clare, Offaly, Leitrim, Cavan etc would have any interest in helping out a football club. The mood may have changed in the GAA over the years so I may be wrong, but I just don't see why they would want to help a single club. Though it would be tremendous if they did.

Also - don't the FAI licensing rules require confirmation of where we're playing to be submitted in December ?

They voted at congress a year or two ago on a motion to allow county boards to decide if other sports ie.soccer could be played and it failed to get the two thirds majority, so while there maybe some movement in gaa thinking on this issue its clear there is a long way to go yet before such a motion is passed.

[Conka]

Any sign of diggers arriving at the ground this morning.

Aye, me and Hugh Curran

[Chalkie]

Sinn Fein need to be sent up the A6 left I no doubt that they have to secure the rest of the funds for that new stand in February.

Sinn Féin only care about Casement Park. They have absolutely no interest in Brandywell or in developing anything in Derry.


Chalkie

[Chalkie]

We're losing more fans by the day. That's the bottom line. Buy a season ticket. Where for? Who knows?

I often heard the older generation tell me ''i'll not be back until......'' There's always been an underlying issue.

Sadly find myself slipping more into this category. I'll be back, but my interest wanes by the year.

We had the whole consultation process at the start of the season and what did we come out of it with? A new commercial manager, who has made clear strides on merchandising. The rest? Stuck on the top of the pile of the many documents about the direction of the club that have been done in the past and will probably be done in the future.

We'll fall further and further behind, we'll overspend at some point. POD will at some stage decide that the several hundred grand he is funding us a year isn't worth the hassle, and we'll be back to where we started or worse.

Such is life.

I am surprised that you're putting yourself into the 'older fan' category, MariborKev, but I'm not surprised that your interest in DCFC us waning. You have been submitting proposals and ideas for the developmernt if the club for at least 15 years now and they have largely been ignored. The club is not going forward and as it is static and other clubs such as Limerick and Dundalk develop our static nature is setting us back.

The thing that most concerns me is that while the club, the Council, and the Politicians don't do what we would expect, we always relied on a very small group of fans to keep pushing (dragging?) the club forward and that small band of volunteers us becoming more disinterested, more disillusioned, and older as each season passes. I have been warning against thus for almost 20 years now and I think we're almost at the stage where we have no club volunteers left. The club needs more paid employees as I've always said but also needs more volunteers.

With volunteers like you straying away from the club and becoming much more disinterested, the future isn't bright for the club.


Chalkie

[brendy_éire]

All talk of using Maginn Park today, but IMO we really need to consider using Riverside instead of, or in conjunction with, Maginn Park.
Whilst I love a wee day out to Buncrana as much as anyone, it would be disastrous for our attendances, especially if we're not doing well. A few hundred would be a reasonable estimate of what we could expect to get, I'd reckon.
Distance and transport will put most people off, and virtually eliminate any casual supporter from going. You can further discount anyone travelling from Belfast. Leaving there at 5, you simply won't be able to get to Buncrana in time for KO.
Riverside is much better placed for our games. It's in the city, there's plenty of transport options, a car park, and it can be easily policed (beginning to sound better than the Brandywell even).
I really think the club should be examining the place as an option.