Dalymount Park – stadium description

Opened in 1901, the stadium at Dalymount Park became one of Irish football's homes almost instantly, hosting the domestic cup final for the first time as soon as in 1903. First international came soon afterwards and despite many changes the ground is still used by Irish clubs in international competitions today.

From the very beginning it was owned by Bohemian FC, one of Ireland's most renowned clubs. It was the Bohs games that gathered crowds of over 40,000 in the stadium's glory days, in 1950s. It was also then that the vast terracing surrounding the pitch saw a record crowd of 48,000 watch Ireland take on England in 1957. At that point only the southern main grandstand made of wood reminded everyone that the stadium dates back to early 20^th century.

In 1962 the very first games under floodlights came. The four masts standing to this day were transported to Dublin from London, where they served at the famous Highbury stadium. It was also Arsenal to first play against Bohemian FC at night, winning 8:3.

This was one of the last great moments in decades. With very limited spending on renovation works the stadium fell into despair in 1980s and was abandoned by the national side in favour of Lansdowne Road. Capacity was cut first to 22,000 and later even further.

It wasn't until 1999 that the first new stand was built. Initially planned to be the first part of a major redevelopment, the new south side proved to be the only new grandstand, replacing the 90-year-old structure from Dalyer's early days.

The opposite side was half-demolished and left that way. The retained sections were equipped with seats, but later got closed for safety reasons. East end was sold by the club and is closed, leaving only the semi-modernised west end usable apart from the main grandstand.

In 2015 the stadium was transferred by Bohemian FC in order to enable public investment in its redevelopment.