Drogs, FAI and Louth County Council united on new stadium

Drogheda United have been given the green light for a new stadium that could potentially have a capacity of up to 10,000.

The FAI on Thursday announced the plans for the venue, which is to be built in conjunction with Louth County Council's plans for Municipal Playing Pitches in North Drogheda.

The stadium will initially be a 3,000-seater complex with the scope to increase the venue up to 10,000. 

The overall facility will include space for several full-size pitches and smaller artificial pitches, which will be accessible to the local community. 

Drogheda United will be the main tenants of the new stadium and their underage teams, at U13, U15, U17 and U19 level, will use the surrounding pitches for their national  league games.

The club’s chairman Fiachra Kierans was very positive about the plans confirmed today.

“This is fantastic news for Drogheda United Football Club, the people of Drogheda, and the future of football in County Louth,” said Kierans. “We have to give tremendous credit to FAI CEO John Delaney for making this happen.

“The future of Drogheda United is very bright and we are excited to work with the FAI and Louth County Council to turn this new stadium into something that our supporters and the people of Drogheda can be proud of. It is a major investment for the Drogheda area."

FAI CEO John Delaney also welcomed the news and said the stadium will also be able to host underage international matches.

“This stadium project is a huge step forward in further developing football in Drogheda and credit should go to Louth County Council, and their Chief Executive Joan Martin, who have been extremely supportive from the very beginning,” Delaney said.



“To have a modern stadium in Drogheda that initially starts out with a capacity of 3,000 with scope to rise up to 10,000 seats is great news for Irish football. It means that Drogheda United will have a new home to be proud of and that the FAI will have another venue to stage underage international matches.

“Drogheda United have had a great history in Irish football and it’s time for them to make new memories in a stadium that is fit for purpose to cater for their loyal supporters, to attract new fans, and to serve the local community.

"I'd like to thank Fiachra Kierans and all involved at Drogheda United, but I'm especially pleased for Vincent Hoey following a life-time of support for the club that his vision for a new stadium will be delivered,” Delaney said.

Joan Martin, Chief Executive of Louth County Council, also expressed the council’s delight at transforming the initial idea of the Municipal Playing Pitches to a facility that can be further developed. 

“The Council is delighted that this new stadium project has been given the green light by the FAI, after a lot of hard work to transform an initial idea of Municipal Playing Pitches into something that can be realistically built.”

“There is no doubt that this project would not have reached this stage without the guidance and persistence of FAI CEO John Delaney. Without John’s backing, we would never have moved any closer to realising our dream of constructing a modern complex that will serve the community of Drogheda. 



“We have a lot of work ahead of us to get the Municipal Playing Pitches and the Stadium, open to the public but it is an exciting time and we look forward to continuing this journey,” Martin said.

The municipal stadium route has proved very succesful for Shamrock Rovers who are anchor tenants in Tallaght in a venue owned by South Dublin County Council. Bohemians, Shelbourne, Dublin City Council and the FAI are currently developing plans for Dalymount Park. Derry City and Waterford are two other clubs who rent their facility from their local authority.

    About Gerard Grimes

    Final year journalism student who joined Extratime.ie in May 2016 as a teenager. Mainly found in United Park covering Drogheda United games, but have also covered international matches and domestic cup finals in the Aviva … View Full Profile