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The UCD Bowl is a football and rugby union stadium in the Southeast of Dublin. It is the home ground of University College Dublin A.F.C. in FAI League of Ireland Premier Division and University College Dublin RFC in the AIB All Ireland League. It has also hosted training sessions for the Ireland rugby team.
With its redevelopment complete, it now has capacity for 3,000 people, including 1,500 seats. It is located to the North of the Belfield campus beside the National hockey stadium, near the Sports Centre. There is a single stand on the Southern side of the stadium with uncovered standing room at each end. 860 seats in the stand are covered.
[edit] Redevelopment
A substantial programme of improvements to the Bowl was started in 2007 after a decision was made to move the UCD football team from their home in Belfield Park as the Bowl would not meet the requirements of UEFA licencing for the FAI League of Ireland. The redevelopment was confirmed in 2006 after a €1.25 million Sports Capital grant [1] was allocated to the work and objections to planning were overruled. The seated capacity increased from 860 to 1,500 and a hard surface laid to allow standing capacity around the pitch. Floodlights, improved fencing around the stadium and facilities for shops, toilets and turnstiles were also added. The work was finished in late 2007 in time for the 2008 Eircom League season. It is also planned to replace the current roof with a cantilever structure in 2008 or 2009 which will cover all 1,500 seats. Eventually, the stadium is planned to have a capacity of 4,500 seats although there is no time scale laid out for this yet. [2]
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