Casement Park
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Casement Park |
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| Location | ||
| Area: | Belfast | |
| County: | County Antrim | |
| Country: | [[]] | |
| Facility Statistics | ||
| Opened: | 1953 | |
| Renovated: | 1992?, 2000 | |
| Surface: | Grass | |
| Owner: | [[Antrim]] | |
| Capacity: | 32,000 | |
Casement Park (Irish: Páirc Mhic Asmaint) is the principal Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland, home to the Antrim football and hurling teams. Named after one of the participants of the 1916 Easter Rising, Sir Roger Casement, the ground has a capacity of 32,000.
Casement Park opened for the first time in June 1953, with Armagh Harps defeating St John’s of Antrim in the final of the inaugural Ulster Senior Club Football Championship.[1] The newly opened Casement Park hosted the Ulster Championship final less than a month later, which saw Armagh overcome reigning All-Ireland champions Cavan.
In all, Casement Park has hosted eight Ulster football finals. However, the Antrim ground has not held the provincial show piece since 1971, with St. Tiernach's Park in Clones hosting the final until 2004 and it was moved to Croke Park the following year. A major facelift of the stadium took place in 2000, a move which saw more championship games played at Casement Park. In 2006, floodlights were added which now enable hurling and football to be played in the evening.
[edit] 2007 Championship
On 2 June, 2007, the ground was set to be used for an Antrim inter-county double header, with the hurlers competing in the Ulster hurling final against Down, and the footballers competing in the Ulster Senior Football Championship opener against Derry.
However, while the hurling match was played, and completed, the football match could not take place because of dreadful weather. Pools of water had waterlogged the pitch, and the referee called off the game for player safety worries twenty minutes before the match was scheduled to start. The fixture was postponed until the following Sunday, but admission was free to encourage supporters of the teams to watch the match.[1]
[edit] References
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