DUNDALK MANAGER CIARAN Kilduff admits he’s surprised last Friday’s League of Ireland clash with Drogheda United still went ahead after surverying the damage caused to the pitch by flares thrown by away supporters.
And the Lilywhites boss says the new astro turf surface at Oriel Park will not be playable until the affected areas are replaced.
Advertisement
Dundalk’s next two Premier Division fixtures are away from home before a return on 13 March with the visit of Waterford.
Kilduff hopes the pitch has been repaired by then but insists there cannot be a repeat of events last Friday.
On the back of Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan announcing that all government funding for astro turf pitches for League of Ireland clubs has been paused – a new surface at Oriel was only laid in the last few weeks as part of a €500,000 grant that involved new floodlights – the two clubs released a joint statement condemning what happened while the FAI reiterated that stance and also said it was assessing the report of the match delegate.
For Kilduff, he was unequivocal about the situation after his side’s 1-1 draw with champions Shamrock Rovers last night.
“We’re all devastated by how it looks. This has nothing to do with football. That was just a really disappointing event. It just can’t happen again.
“I remember thinking, you couldn’t play a Premier Division match on that now. Do you know what I mean? So, just going forward, I’d be more worried. If that ever happened on the night of a match, I think they’d be looking at calling the game off more than anything.
“I don’t think it can ever happen again. Probably what people don’t see is we came into training Saturday morning. And we’re very proud of our pitch. We haven’t got it long. And it was in terrible condition. In hindsight, I’m surprised the game went ahead.
“There’s literally chunks out of the pitch. It’s a health and safety issue now. Do you know what I mean? We have young boys and girls, academy teams, underage teams using that pitch every Saturday and Sunday.”
Related Reads
Dundalk finally have a late late show to savour with draw at Shamrock Rovers
Sports Minister wants to pause astroturf funding for League of Ireland after crowd trouble at Drogheda game
Drogheda fans face prospect of stadium ban for next away game over flare damage
'We're all devastated by how it looks. This has nothing to do with football. It just can't happen again'
DUNDALK MANAGER CIARAN Kilduff admits he’s surprised last Friday’s League of Ireland clash with Drogheda United still went ahead after surverying the damage caused to the pitch by flares thrown by away supporters.
And the Lilywhites boss says the new astro turf surface at Oriel Park will not be playable until the affected areas are replaced.
Dundalk’s next two Premier Division fixtures are away from home before a return on 13 March with the visit of Waterford.
Kilduff hopes the pitch has been repaired by then but insists there cannot be a repeat of events last Friday.
On the back of Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan announcing that all government funding for astro turf pitches for League of Ireland clubs has been paused – a new surface at Oriel was only laid in the last few weeks as part of a €500,000 grant that involved new floodlights – the two clubs released a joint statement condemning what happened while the FAI reiterated that stance and also said it was assessing the report of the match delegate.
For Kilduff, he was unequivocal about the situation after his side’s 1-1 draw with champions Shamrock Rovers last night.
“We’re all devastated by how it looks. This has nothing to do with football. That was just a really disappointing event. It just can’t happen again.
“I remember thinking, you couldn’t play a Premier Division match on that now. Do you know what I mean? So, just going forward, I’d be more worried. If that ever happened on the night of a match, I think they’d be looking at calling the game off more than anything.
“I don’t think it can ever happen again. Probably what people don’t see is we came into training Saturday morning. And we’re very proud of our pitch. We haven’t got it long. And it was in terrible condition. In hindsight, I’m surprised the game went ahead.
“There’s literally chunks out of the pitch. It’s a health and safety issue now. Do you know what I mean? We have young boys and girls, academy teams, underage teams using that pitch every Saturday and Sunday.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
damage League of Ireland LOI loi2026 Oriel Park Dundalk