Having opened its doors for the first time in May 2010, the Aviva Stadium, which sits in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin, around a mile South of the City Centre and harbour, is the stunning replacement for the landlocked yet charismatic 48,000-capacity Lansdowne Road Rugby Stadium, which was demolished in 2007.
The stadium, which cost €410m to build, was constructed on the old stadium footprint and was funded by a joint venture between the Irish Rugby Football Union and the Football Association of Ireland, aided by significant government funding.
The stadium has an innovative design, and from the outside, it looks stunning. The main entrances to the ground can be found alongside Shelbourne Road, where the uniformed silver-grey bulk of the stand rises above the houses. This side of the ground presented one of the biggest challenges to the designers, with the railway line running beneath the seating deck of the old West Stand a way had to be found to build a protective shell around the railway whilst also allowing fans access to the turnstiles and concourses. The Podium was the solution, essentially the floor deck sits on top of the concrete railway tunnel with fans elevated to the Podium level by a series of staircases and escalators.
Stepping into the stadium through the West Stand’s Podium turnstiles and concourse, the eye is immediately drawn to the East Stand on the far side of the pitch. The dark green and white playing colours of the National Football and Rugby teams are represented by both the seats and the roof-supporting steelwork throughout the stadium, with only AVIVA picked out in white seats on the Lower Tiers of the East and South Stands.
The East, South and West Stands uniform into one giant U-shaped stand with the advertising boards effectively separating the nicely proportioned Upper and Lower Seating decks.
From whichever direction you come from, the first views of the Aviva Stadium present a jaw-dropping spectacle, especially when viewed from outside the street corner pubs along Grand Canal Street, where the green seating and white roof steelwork of the East Stand’s Upper Tier is visible, towering over the neighbouring housing estate, or approaching along the River Dodder footpath where it would appear a giant shiny spaceship has landed in the suburbs! Closer to the ground, however, fans can face a slightly bewildering experience working out where they are in relation to the colour of their ticket.
Away fans are housed in the small North Stand, accessed from the Red Ticket entrance walkway on Bath Avenue to the side of the housing estate. Every seat has an unobstructed view of the pitch, and there are also a good number of spaces for wheelchair users along the pitch side. However, there are a couple of drawbacks to being seated on this side of the ground.
The North Stand’s roof, designed specifically to be as low and as unobtrusive as possible to the housing estate which sits behind it, doesn’t overhang the seating in any way, so if it rains, expect a soaking and this also, in turn, means any atmosphere generated by fans tends to leave the ground rather than echoing back down from the roof. Other than that, facing out onto three tiers of passionate Irish Support in one of the most modern stadiums in the world. What could be better?
There are several pubs in close proximity to the Aviva Stadium. Here are three of the best:
- Slattery’s D4 – 62 Grand Canal Street Upper, Beggar’s Bush, Dublin, D04 T295, Ireland
- The Merry Cobbler – 78-82, 78-82 Irishtown Rd, Dublin 4, Ireland
- The Old Spot – 14 Bath Ave, Dublin 4, D04 Y726, Ireland
Traffic is notoriously bad in the area on matchdays, and coupled with road closures (up to 1km away) and parking restrictions around the stadium, is it best to travel by train? If you still intend to drive, perhaps consider parking in one of the city centre car parks and then walking out to the stadium.
The stadium itself has no car parking facilities but there is a large multi-story car park that fans often use. This is called the Q-Park Grand Central Square and fans can pre-book their parking spaces in advance.
The stadium has its own railway station called Lansdowne Road and is on the Dart line. This line runs through Dublin, including Dublin Connolly, Tara Street, and Dublin Pearse. You will need to board a Southbound train heading towards Bray or Greystones. Once at the Lansdowne Road platform, you will see the South Stand directly ahead of you. For West Stand turnstiles, head to the left over the level crossing. East Stand and North Stand turnstiles can be reached by walking to the right, away from the level crossing, passing the main reception, and then walking around the outside of the stadium opposite the training pitch.
You can also use the Dublin metro system to get to the stadium but it isn’t quite as convenient as the train. The nearest metro stop to the Aviva Stadium is Charlemont on the Green Line. This is a 25-minute walk away from the stadium.
Official Web Site: www.avivastadium.ie
Republic of Ireland v Gibraltar
10th June 2019
European Championship Qualifier
Monday 10th June 2019, 7.45pm
Ian Howitt (Neutral)
Why were you looking forward to this game and visiting the Aviva Stadium?
A chance of some footy and to tick off the Aviva Stadium, plus a trip to Dublin thrown in, what is there not to look forward to?
How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking?
An absolute doddle. I jumped on the DART at Connolly Station which takes you to the ground in about 15 minutes. The stadium can be clearly seen from the train as it nears the Lansdowne Road stop.
What you did before the game pub/chippy etc, and were the home fans friendly?
We ate and drank in the city centre having flown out that morning. There was loads of choice of eating and drinking places in a great city.
What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the Aviva Stadium?
The ground is incredible, a really modern venue with all the facilities you need.
Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, facilities etc..
The game was not great, two sides that were not the best and Ireland should have won at a canter but needed an injury-time goal to secure the win. The atmosphere, however, was very good and the stewards in keeping with the rest of the city were friendly and did a good job.
Comment on getting away from the ground after the game:
Easy enough, plenty of DART trains laid on and our journey into the city was swift enough to hit the pubs before closing time.
Summary of overall thoughts of the day out:
A really enjoyable day out, and with flights very cheap (nine from Stansted was £48 return) I cannot recommend enough.