Athletic Grounds

The Athletic Grounds is a Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is the county ground and administrative headquarters of Armagh GAA and is used for both Gaelic football and hurling.UsesThe stadium is the county ground of Armagh GAA, i.e. the primary stadium in the county, and as such is used for higher profile games such as county finals and inter-county matches in the national leagues and Ulster and All-Ireland Championships.FeaturesThe ground has a capacity of 18,500, with one covered stand seating 5,682, one covered terranced stand, uncovered terracing at both ends of the grounds, floodlighting, changing rooms, administration facilities, a treatment suite, media room, referee's area, and access for disabled spectators. A new attendance record for the redeveloped ground was set on 14 June 2015 when 18,156 spectators attended the Ulster Senior Championship quarter-final between Armagh and Donegal.HistoryThe grounds were purchased for the GAA for £1,000 by public subscription in 1936, when an area of land next to the Armagh-Keady railway line came on the market. The land had already been in use for sports for some years, and was informally known as "the Gaelic Field". However the term "Athletic Grounds" was in use from at least 1935 when the field hosted a sporting and cultural Feis featuring a football challenge match between Armagh and Dublin selections.While remaining in trust for the County Board and serving as the county ground, the stadium was principally used for many years by Pearse Óg GAA Club in Armagh, which then had no ground of its own. In 1982 the ground was closed for a refurbishment costing £150,000. It was reopened in the GAA's centenary year, 1984, with a challenge match between the Armagh and Dublin county teams. The complex included a new Armagh GAA administrative headquarters (the Ceannáras), a handball alley and an extended and re-seeded playing area. The cost of refurbishing and maintaining the grounds proved unsustainable for the local club, resulting in the venue being handed back to the County Board and, in 2002, in its being closed again. Apart from a brief reopening in 2008 the Athletic Grounds remained out of use until the most recent redevelopment was completed in 2011.