We’re just a month out from our Connacht Championship meeting with Galway and, after months of uncertainty, it’s now looking like the big match will be played on the newly redeveloped pitch at MacHale Park.
Michael Gallagher has a piece on this in the Mayo News this week (here) where it’s reported that everything is looking “good to go” for 24th April. The fine weather appears to have helped greatly in this respect and, if the image above and the drone footage below are anything to go by, the pitch looks to be in great condition at the present time:
‘The grass far away is greener’ Well not anymore!! @HastMacHalePark is looking fabulous after the fine spell of weather and the new surface is in immaculate condition
— Mayo GAA (@MayoGAA) March 25, 2022
#mayogaa #bringongalway #HastMacHalePark
Drone Credit: David Beattie pic.twitter.com/B3AbvGafJr
The final decision on the venue for the game next month is one for Connacht GAA to take. In that piece linked above, Connacht GAA Secretary John Prenty says that the provincial Council expect to receive a report on the readiness of MacHale Park “in the coming days” and, arising from this, to make a decision on the venue “within the next week.”
By the sounds of that, we’ll know very soon where we’ll be heading to for the Galway game but all the indications now appear to suggest strongly that it’ll be contested at MacHale Park.
Any chance they could make the seats green and red like they should have done in the first place.
@Mike H. ..The playing surface looks fantastic from the pictures, hopefully it will pass the test of playing on it.. The Blue seat’s was a very strange decision back in the day… But sure the mischievous in me couldn’t help but notice more than a hint of Blue in Mayo GAA.
@leantimes aah stop it now or we will both get kicked off here !!!!
Is this good news given our horrendous
Record there?
@Ah face the ball. stop it now… it’s very good news, compared to wandering around Connacht for another home… Performance brings results, perform at home better than the opposition and results will follow!
Pitch is looking good and terraces being power washed.Albany barely visible wonder is that part of history gone.
We’re blessed with the current good weather which has to be a great boost to the growing conditions.
Mike H and Leantimes, are ye sure ye’re not Galwaymen?
@Ahh, AndyD,.. I was always sure!
https://westernpeople.ie/2022/03/26/its-quite-simple-are-we-or-are-we-not-in-it-to-win-it. This is very good as always from Anthony Hennigan.
Our record in Mchale park should improve because as far as i am aware the pitch has been extended on all sides. Before it was one of the smallest county grounds which meant defensive teams found it easy to defend narrow against us and finding space down the wings was difficult. With a bigger pitch and quality surface with no bumps or dip in the middle should lend itself to pacy flowing football so no excuses for a poor home record anymore.
Ha Ha @AndyD… I see we have crossed the thin blue line for you.
I have used half the Russian oil reserves travelling to Mayo games this year like every year. see you in carrick on Sunday.
Maigheo abu.
@Inittillwewinit, I don’t believe the width has been increased, just the length by 5 or 6 metres.
The old pitch was identical in size to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick.
@inittilwewinit The pitch wasn’t extended on all sides,it was extended by 5 metres on one end,the Albany end.
I really hope it helps us a bit but it’s the narrow nature of the pitch that was just as big an issue for our style of play.
@viper the Garlic grounds playing surface is bigger than Machale Park as anyone who’s ever been there or understands that it’s primarily a hurling pitch would know.A quick Google search confirms it.
Lots of stuff here over the years about the size of the pitch which wasn’t really that big of a deal. I had a look on Wikipedia awhile back and from memory McHale Park was a good sized pitch on any dimension. Same article would also say it had a capacity of 39,000 but I think we all know that’s not based in reality.
Anyway, a better Croke Park like surface won’t do any harm.
@FW both old mchale park pitch and Gaelic grounds dimensions 137×82
Great to have a top quality pitch, no doubt it will suit our style and our team with results to reflect that.
Mike H spot on about the seats 13 years on and i still can’t get used of them.
Casually watching the Wales game the other night in a pub, I commented that couldn’t be a home game cus
” look at the blue seats” ?
@Aidan Gaelic Grounds 145m × 90m
@FW, no it isn’t 145m × 90m, it’s 137m × 82m, the same as McHale Park used to be. I’m right and so is @Aidan.
Fecken hell @FW if it was 145m × 90m the stewards would still be struggling to get Mick Barrett off it !
The Gaelic grounds pitch is much bigger than MacHale park, don’t believe everything you read on Wikipedia. Go on YouTube and watch the throw in for a game in each stadium. In MacHale park the 65s are almost on the half way line, while there’s a big distance between them in limerick.
There was a twitter post recently by GAA League Tables that had the Gaelic Grounds at 137 x 82. However a quick Google Maps check there has the pitch at at least 143m long. The same google maps, although the satellite image isn’t as clear, has MacHale Park over 5 metres shorter than that.
Maybe the blue seats were left over from the Croker Park development, all blue seats in Croker.
Green seats would look great as the Aviva Stadium, with a bit more leg room also available.
Pitch sorted, great news, should make for a great occasion vs Galway. Now if we could stop all the deftness and negativity that’s been on here the last week, that would be even better.
Same daft arguments about not wanting to play league final, James would be wry happy to play it but first priority is Galway match and getting positions sorted is a big factor again vs Kildare. Indeed Galway like to be playing Div 2 final.
Daft suggestions re Aido at FB, he’s an option there against a Donaghy type / player similar to himself. Even dafter option as Goalie.
Negativity around form of Oisin Mullen. He’s a class player and similar daftness spoken on his jersey number. He’s very versatile and will be needed at 3 any time we play Kerry (unless McBrien settles at senior level super fast). Could also be needed against Flynn, McManus or any other tall pacy skilful FF line player who cross our path come championship. Harrison is next closest in that regard aim past form and could handle almost all types of FF. Right now he’s not quite making the team. If 100% experimental vs Kildare, Keegan who needs no more game time could be benched for Harry but apart from that happy with the team. Durcan being held back is either to ease his way back from injury or to allow some additional experiment.
On negativity re Aido at 6, as far is I’m concerned Management is simply looking at the option to see if it works. So far it does work but not for 73 mins, maybe for up to 55 or 60. I don’t know though if we need Aido at 6 as an option because we have so many career defenders vying for the spots. So I can take some criticism as valid but it’s still over the top. Management may simply want to get him game time and because of injuries 6 works for the time being. If Jason Doc clicks at FF I’ll be happy but if he his form is a bit slower to return then Aido is an option there.
For Kildare I wouldn’t worry about Loftus in the air as wing forward (more daftness posted on that) and Boland has been targeted for height in the past but generally goalies are looking for other options. Carney at 11 is a good option because his height can be of more use and allows him a stronger role to build confidence. He’s done well so far, better than I expected. The main thing for this one is to play with a better more positive attitude, Tyrone were for the taking and for whatever reason we were flat.
We need a higher % chances to conversation ratio which wasn’t good enough at times last year.
We definitely need to post Aido at 14 for Mc Hale Park games now….those balls that we used to drop into the goalies hands will now be dropping at the edge of the square. Place Aido there…a no brainer imo.
It will be brilliant to have a bigger pitch it will suit our team much better ,even if it is slightly narrower the length will suit us,the width is only over a metre per per player narrower the length will make up for it,we will will beat Kildare tomorrow,we are in a very good position,I just don’t understand how people are so pessimistic,we will be in a league final ,also the criticism of AOS is silly the OSheas have given everything to Mayo football and AOS is vital to our team,I remember the sixties onwards we could not buy a win,we have been spoilt over the last ten years or so,many thanks Willie Joe,Mayo for Sam
As you can see from the video the pitch was not extended, there was already enough room to lengthen the playing surface by 5m or so. As for the seats , I believe light blue was chosen because it is less likely to fade compared to colours like green or red. Though I would have preferred if they chose grey like croke pk or pairc ui caoimh.
I always felt the pitch at Machale Park was very slow, the ball never bounced properly. Didn’t suit the way Mayo wanted to play. There were also times when the grass was so long. More like playing in a field than a football pitch. Also when you hear from players, when there is a wind it seems to get amplified through the pitch. Maybe due to the lack of a proper stand behind either goal? This resurfacing looks very good. Good time to do it as it has time to bed in during better weather. Big test for it will be next Jan/Feb when league is on how it holds up in terrible conditions.
@Albanyend… Maybe if we all all around in 20 year’s time, those Blue seat’s might have faded to one of the “40 Shade’s of Green’ Johnny Cash used to sing about.. More likely they will have faded to one of the much less attractive… ’50 shade’s of Grey’ NOT that I have read the book or watched the movie NOW…. Visage had a brilliant haunting song many years ago, “Fade to Grey”.. my hair was Jet Black when that song came out first . But now I’m afraid, you already guessed it..
Always interesting hearing GAA people discuss the merits of the League v the Championship.
Most & probably all sports worldwide have their premium competition run on a league basis & subsidiary ones are knockout.
The GAA has moved to a hybrid format for its main competition which appears to be a transition for slow learners, with the eventual destination a league only format, which imo is the future. The benefits are obvious & the losers would be the Provincial Councils.
It can then rebrand its knockout competition as a subsidiary one (similar to the soccer Cup competitions)
@Shuffly Deck, the form of some players does take a dip occasionally, that’s just the nature of the beast, for some it lasts longer and some posters have mentioned this.
But how can such observations be made in a positive way when there is nothing positive about a player out of form ?
You have used the word “negativity” on more than one occasion in your post when it could easily be replaced by the word “opinion” but I suppose that wouldn’t be dramatic enough.
I try to stay well clear of giving opinions about players myself but there are posters who do naturally enough but it’s poor form to see their opinions being shot down and being constantly told that they are too negative when all they are doing is giving an honest opinion.
@leantimes. I’ve no doubt those seats will still be there in 20 years time , unless Mayo win the euro millions as well as Sam. Still I’d prefer a lighter shade of blue than lime green and pink as emerald green and red would be by then.
@Albanyend… Nothing like thinking ahead.. I’d prefer Lime Green seat’s, myself, that’s the color in the Aviva and it looks fantastic..I wouldn’t be too gone in the Pink seat’s.. I think Croke Park gives you an idea of what the Blue seat’s will fade to . And it’s very far from Sky Blue, More like the Sky Grey in a dull winter.
@viper,do you have a source?
A quick Google and any experience of being there would tell you the Gaelic Grounds is noticeably bigger than Machale Park.If you can’t see that I can’t help you.
The old MacHale Park wasn’t even one of the bigger pitches in Co. Mayo, I seem to remember Crossmolina’s pitch was something like 12 or 13 meters longer than it.
I’d be very surprised if any major hurling pitch wasn’t bigger than it, I’ve been on the pitch in Semple Stadium in Thurles and it was considerably larger.
A Mapmyrun, usually pretty accurate suggests The Gaelic Grounds is 145 x 90 approx.
@mattd,yep,exact dimensions I got aswell.
Some might argue its semantics but I think things like facts are important, especially when dealing with posters like viper and the September gang (posters who never posted on here until the final last year and dont post after wins but wear the keyboard out after losses)