Tims 92

Shelbourne

Tolka Park

After having seen the two national stadiums of Ireland, for my second day in Dublin, it was off around the city to see some of the domestic grounds and first on my list was Tolka Park, home to Shelbourne.

I hadn’t especially been looking forward to visiting beforehand, as the pictures that I had seen didn’t really show it to be that interesting, however once there it was quite the opposite impression that I got. Entering through an open gate I was at the Drumcondra End of the ground, which was where the newest structure in the ground was. This stand is quite intriguing, despite only running for half the width of the pitch it looks quite imposing, being raised above the ground with a single tier of seating. To the right, running the full length of the pitch is the Riverside Stand, and despite being much older than the Drumcondra Stand, it looks quite good, being all seated, and a rather irregular shape, rising towards the middle, with a roof covering its central section. At the far end is the Ballybough Stand, which only runs for two-thirds of the pitch, and is a medium sized, uncovered all-seated stand, which dips down towards the river, whilst completing the Tolka Park picture is the Richmond Road (or Main) Stand. This is another interesting structure, which is all-seated, and has a barrel shaped roof supported by a number of pillars. On both sides a number of (relatively) small floodlights are in front of the stands, which unfortunately adds to the restricted views, but at the same time helps give the ground character.

Overall I really was quite impressed with the ground. As with the other Irish grounds that I saw, by English standards, then it would be one of the worst in the league, more akin to the Conference, but it does have a unique charm and looks to be a good place to watch a match from.