Winter Sports - Football
Like any outdoor facilities, our pitches are open to the elements. Our groundstaff have to put in a lot of hard work and pay close attention to the pitches to keep them in good shape
” H
ome to Ballymena United Football Club, Ballymena Showgrounds is being hailed as one of the finest sports facilities in Northern Ireland. Sitting in the middle of County Antrim, the grounds date back decades, but have undergone substantial modernisation since 2010 with the completion of a new 2,500 seat cantilever stand costing £3m.
This single tiered structure is split jointly between home and away fans. It replaced a twenty‐three year old concrete structure in the same location, known as the Clock Stand, which was demolished in 2009. Going back even further to 2001, the stadium went through a total
redevelopment and, due to the more recent renovations, it can now hold 3,600 spectators safely.
However, more plans are being
considered to totally replace the main pitch next year as well as installing a new ‘Prunty style’ irrigation system. The Ballymena United Football Club was formed on 7th April 1928, when four local businessmen and football enthusiasts decided that the town needed a senior football team in the Irish League. Those four men, Albert McClelland, DB Elliott, John Gordon and James McIlhagga, helped the new club take the place of Barn United in the Irish League for the 1928/1929 season.
A number of players were conscribed from the local area, as well as further afield, to play their first competitive game on 20th August 1928 in front of a packed Ballymena Showgrounds playing against reigning Irish League champions Belfast Celtic. Sadly they lost 3‐0.
However, five days later, Ballymena gained their first point in a 2‐2 away draw to Larne and created another landmark when Jimmy McCambridge scored the club’s first ever goal.
The first win for the new club came in early September when the ‘Braidmen,’ as they were nicknamed, defeated Ards 2‐1 at Castlereagh Park.
The Showgrounds still remains a very popular venue on match day when fans can
be seen queuing down the residential Warden Street waiting to get in at the turnstiles.
The facilities are owned by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, and hosts, in addition to the main arena, five other grass pitches, a 2G Astroturf pitch, a 3G pitch and another Astroturf pitch.
In addition to sports, the Showgrounds also hosts stockcar racing from Good Friday through to the end of September and the annual Ballymena Agricultural Show. There race track surrounding the football pitch in the main arena is thought to be the only such combination situated anywhere in Northern Ireland or even the Republic of Ireland.
Due to the Showgrounds being owned by the local council, which services an area stretching from Clough in the north of County Antrim to Carrickfergus in the south, there is a dedicated council staff team that looks after sports amenity sites within the borough.
One of those heading up that team as parks supervisor, or head groundsman in lay terms, is Stephen Galvin who has been working in the industry for the past twenty‐ seven years.
Stephen’s journey into this job has been an interesting one, with various positions
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