Here is a little something to get you thinking and talking. Should Linfield sell up and leave Windsor Park? If the Local Assembly give the go ahead to the building of a new National Stadium, is there any need for Linfield to remain at Windsor Park? I think not.
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Yes Windsor Park is Linfield's home and has been for the guts of 100 years - the lease was purchased in 1904 - but so many teams these days are moving away from their traditional homes to new purpose built stadia. Derby, Bolton, Southampton and Sunderland amongst others have done so in England in recent times, and even Arsenal are finalising details to move from Highbury to a newly built stadium, while Man City will be moving into the Commonwealth Stadium in time for the 2003-04 season. Even at home, Ards will shortly be moving to a new stadium not far from their old Castlereagh Road ground.
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If the proposed new National Stadium is built it will be done so on the proviso that the Northern Ireland football side will play all their home games there as opposed to their current home at Windsor. The IFA currently have quite a lengthy agreement with Linfield governing the home games, so if this contract was to be broken, Linfield would be entitled to quite a large compensation settlement. If this were to happen, not only would all international games be moved from Windsor, but in all probability all cup finals would go, meaning the only games played at Windsor would be those involving Linfield.
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With crowds at Irish League games falling rapidly there is no longer a need for stadia with large capacities - Windsor in it's current state holds approximately 15,000 all seated, and the only times it comes anywhere near being filled is for Linfield v Glentoran games, but even then it's rare the attendance reaches 5 figures.
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It is obvious to even the most ardent of Bluemen that Windsor needs improvements. It was only recently that UEFA representative Ernie Walker slammed facilities at the stadium:
"Windsor is just about passable and no more but, frankly, it is about to hit the buffers, There are parts of Windsor which are acceptable but the main south stand needs to be demolished, so too does that at the railway end and be rebuilt. The dressing room accommodation is inadequate. There are of course showers but plunge baths are simply not acceptable nowadays."
And with the recent UEFA report outlining stadium regulations, it will only be a matter of time before Windsor is deemed unacceptable for European club competitions. Something needs to be done and there are two alternatives:
- redevelop the current Windsor Park
- move to a new purpose built stadium
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The North Stand and Kop Stand between them hold around 10,500, so if Windsor was redeveloped and stands matching these existing two were erected to replace the South and Railway Stands, the stadium would be left with a capacity somewhere in the region of 21,000. This would also cost a lot of money - the Belfast Telegraph (28 Sept 2000) estimates it would cost between £10 and £15million to replace the South and Railway Stands. If international games are taken away, when are we ever likely to see 21,000 at Windsor? Probably never, so I don't honestly see the point in redeveloping the current stadium. This leaves us with the second option, relocation.
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Obviously building a new stadium requires ground on which to build. Linfield are in a fortunate position whereby they already own land on which any new stadium could be built, and this relocation would not take the club away from their traditional area. The land in question? Midgely Park. The club could use the money given to them in any compensation payout from the IFA, and along with money generated from the sale of Windsor Park - it is situated in a highly desireable area off the Lisburn Road so a tidy sum could be generated - build a new purpose built stadium at Midgely. They wouldn't even have to sell all the land Windsor currently stands on as 75-80% would still bring in quite a bit of money. There are also National Lottery grants and money from the Local Assembly and Sports Council, which has been promised to local football.
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This new stadium could be built to suit Linfield's needs and requirements. Yes the UEFA regulations will need to be adhered to, but a stadium with a capacity of around 12,000, all seated and close to the pitch - something you are not in the current South and Railway Stands - would not be overly expensive and should generate quite an atmosphere, again something Windsor currently lacks.
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A perfect example on which to model any prospective stadium would be that of Sixfields, home of Nationwide Division Two side Northampton Town. This stadium was opened in 1994 and currently has a capacity close to 8,000 but the possibility exists of increasing this capacity further.
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| This is just my own view and is by no means the views of Linfield Football Club. Do you agree or disagree? Mail me with your comments and I'll post them here. |
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