Carlisle Grounds
| Carlisle Grounds | |
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| The main stand of the stadium shortly after the renovation in summer 2006. | |
| Earlier names | |
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Bray Athletic Ground (1862) |
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| Data | |
| place |
 Bray , County Wicklow , Ireland
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| Coordinates | 53 ° 12 ′ 21 ″ N , 6 ° 6 ′ 10 ″ W |
| opening | 1862 |
| surface | Natural grass |
| architect | William Dargan |
| capacity | approx. 4000 |
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The Carlisle Grounds opened in 1862 in the port town of Bray , County Wicklow , and is considered the oldest sports facility for a team from the Football Association of Ireland . The stadium is home to the Bray Wanderers football club , whose predecessor clubs were already active here, as well as the Irish national rugby league team . Irish national football matches are also occasionally held here.
history
Beginnings of the Carlisle Grounds
The sports facility was built according to plans by the eminent Irish engineer William Dargan (1799–1867), who had made a name for himself by expanding the rail network in Ireland, and was inaugurated in 1862. Dargan had already designed some structures and buildings in and around Bray; including the beach promenade of Bray, as well as the International Hotel , which was located opposite the sports facility and which was destroyed by fire in 1974. He was considered a driving force in the region and once connected the port city to the island's rail network. Originally known as the Bray Athletic Ground , the sports facility was renamed the Carlisle Cricket and Archery Ground that same year in honor of George Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle . The Earl was personally present at the opening ceremony in his capacity as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland . The short form The Carlisle Grounds prevailed in the population by 1870 at the latest . One of the reasons for this was that not only archery and cricket were practiced on the grounds , but other sports were also played. A roller skating rink existed between 1876 and 1880 , which was still quite unusual and not widespread at the time. There were also flower shows and fireworks displays ; croquet was also played on the square . On Seymour Road , on which the Carlisle Grounds are located, as well as at the nearby train station, there were once coachmen who offered excursions to explore the surrounding area.
First division football in Bray
In 1923, Bray's First World War Memorial was erected on the outer wall of the Carlisle Grounds; at the same time it was one of the first war memorials in the fledgling Irish Free State . Most of what is now Carlisle Grounds dates back to 1929 and dates back to the efforts of the Bray Unknowns football club, founded in 1903 . The Unknowns had already played a few seasons on the Carlisle Ground around 1910 after they had played their games a few hundred meters further north in Woodbrook (already part of County Dublin ). After the club disbanded over the years, the club was re-established after the First World War and joined the League of Ireland in 1924 . The team had previously appeared in the Senior Division of the Leinster Senior League . After the team had played at the Woodbrook Ground on the outskirts of Bray in the first time after being accepted into the highest football league in the country , the team moved to the expanded stadium in Bray for the 1929/30 season . In the course of the renovation work, changes were made to the soil quality; Furthermore, the main wall of the stadium on Quinsborough Road was built, and green terraces were created. The old grandstand of the Carlisle Grounds, known by the population as The Shed ( English for The Barn ), was given a roof at the same time. In addition, the playing field was relocated. The first League of Ireland game at the stadium was a 2-2 draw by the Unknowns against Dundalk FC . The first goal was scored by Fred Rogers of the Unknowns, followed by goals from William Murray and John Aitken of Dundalk, before Johnny Payne of the Bray Unknowns brought the game to a 2-2 final. Until 1942/43 , when they were far behind in the last place in the table after 16 defeats from 18 league games, the Unknowns played League-of-Ireland football and appeared again in the Leinster Senior League Senior Division from the 1943/44 season onwards . In the following year, the team ceased professional football entirely and only appeared as an amateur team.
Brief return to the League of Ireland
When Transport FC was accepted into the League of Ireland before the 1948/49 season , it played its home games up to and including the 1950/51 season at the Carlisle Grounds and then moved to the Harold's Cross Stadium in Dublin. With the return of top division football to the Eastern Irish port city, the playing field, which was also relocated several times over the following decades, was reworked. Many CIÉ employees from Bray and Dublin volunteered to work on the square. The drainage of the lawn, which is described as excellent, is said to be due to the slag used for this from the nearby rail construction. The slag was used as the basis for the construction of the new playing field. After no more top division football was played on the Carlisle Grounds in the following years, amateur football was still played here. After around three decades at amateur level, the Bray Unknowns joined forces in 1973 with the Bray Wanderers , who had actually already ceased playing in 1963, and from then on appeared as Bray Wanderers in the Leinster Senior League. When the League of Ireland was increased to 22 teams in 1985, the Wanderers got one of the new starting places and started in the lower of the two seasons, the First Division, from which they were promoted to the Premier Division in the first season. The Wanderers played their first match in the First Division of the League of Ireland in September 1985.
Remodeling work in the 1990s and 2000s
In 1996, the Bloody Sunday scene of the film Michael Collins with Liam Neeson in the title role of Michael Collins was filming on the Carlisle Grounds . In the years 1997 to 1999, parts of the wall around the sports facility were renewed or reinforced in order to improve access to the stadium and improve security in the stadium. In addition, new turnstiles were installed at the entrances on Quinsborough Road on the corner of the sea, which is around 100 meters away. The old turnstiles, however, were blocked so that access was only possible via the new system. In 1999 the seating was renewed on the track side of the stadium. In early 2001, the Bray Urban District Council granted the Bray Wanderers a 35-year lease on the land that the city had owned for decades. In the summer of 2006, the covered main grandstand (sheet metal roof on a wooden structure), which until then only had standing room, was demolished and replaced by a new building. The new construction of the grandstand created 985 seats (hinged hard plastic shells in the club's color) with a small number of standing places behind a barrier behind the seven rows of seats. At that time the venue had a total of around 2000 seats and a capacity of 3000 to 4000 spectators.
Wall collapses in 2009 and 2010
On July 10, 2009, an incident occurred during a league game between the Bray Wanderers and the Shamrock Rovers . When the opposing fans celebrated the goal, they ran to a low wall surrounding the spectator area, whereupon it collapsed due to the pressure exerted on them. Five guest fans were injured; the game continued after a half-hour break. The collapsed section of the wall was subsequently replaced by a new reinforced wall. A similar incident happened again a little over a year later, when the same piece of wall collapsed again, as it could not withstand the pressure exerted on it by the guest fans. When the goal celebration in the relegation match between Wanderers and Monaghan United on November 8, 2010, around a dozen people fell, this time with no injuries. After the Football Association of Ireland opened investigations into the first collapse in 2009, more intensive investigations were ordered in 2010.
Development since the end of 2009
As early as October 2009, plans for a comprehensive renovation of the site were announced. Plans for a new stadium were also presented. In the course of the 2010s, the seating from 1999 on the back straight was completely renewed; this section of the stadium, which was mainly intended for fans of the away team, remained without a roof. In 2016 the grass wall behind the gates, which had served as additional standing area, was leveled, which lost another part of the charm of the Carlisle Grounds.
Since the Irish national rugby league team played a game against Belgium (34-0 win) at the Carlisle Grounds on July 12, 2015 , the stadium has served as the new home of the Irish national team.
After Irish national soccer teams had played a number of times on the Carlisle Grounds before, the stadium served as the venue for the 2019 U-17 European Championship in May 2019 . Between May 4th and 10th the group matches Greece against the Czech Republic (0: 2; Group A), Spain against Austria (3: 0; Group D) and Austria against Germany (1: 3; Group D) took place here. It was also the venue for the quarter-finals between Belgium and the Netherlands (0: 3).
Web links
- Carlisle Grounds on the official website of the Bray Wanderers (English)
- Carlisle Grounds on footballgroundguide.com (English)
- Photos of the stadium (July 2015)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Unveiling of Bray War Memorial by Lord Powerscourt, 1923 , accessed on July 11, 2019
- ^ Bray War Memorial , accessed July 11, 2019
- ^ Wall collapses at football match , accessed July 11, 2019
- ^ Wall Falls Down , accessed July 11, 2019
- ^ A b c FAI launch investigation into Bray wall collapse , accessed on July 11, 2019
- ↑ Soccer - Wall Collapse - Carlisle Grounds , accessed July 11, 2019
- ↑ a b How Bray's Carlisle Grounds were part of Dargan's plans for the 'Brighton of Ireland' , accessed July 11, 2019
- ↑ Ireland - Venues , accessed July 11, 2019