Dexcom Stadium

Dexcom Stadium

View from College Road
Location	College Road, Galway, Ireland
Coordinates	53°16′44″N 9°02′23″W / 53.2790°N 9.0397°W / 53.2790; -9.0397
Public transit	Galway railway station
Owner	The Galway Agricultural & Sports Society Ltd.
Capacity	6,129 (expandable to 8,129)[1]
Record attendance	9,120 (Connacht vs Toulouse, 19 November 2011)[2]
Surface	Pitch (3G synthetic surface) Track (all-sand)
Opened	1927
Tenants
Connacht Rugby Greyhound Racing Ireland
Website
Rugby Greyhounds

Dexcom Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Galway, Ireland. It opened in 1927 and has been used to host Connacht Rugby matches and greyhound racing since that time.

Rugby Union

Up until 2011, the regular capacity of Dexcom Stadium was 5,500. The stadium was modified and extended in 2011, and again in 2016, instigated by the success of Connacht Rugby. The facilities include the:

• Main Stand – which has enclosed corporate facilities and covered terrace underneath
• Clan Terrace – a covered terrace on the clubhouse side of the ground
• Covered Stand – a covered seated stand to the side of the main stand which holds 300 people
• Uncovered terracing – at the Bohermore and College Road ends of the ground

Dexcom Stadium is able to hold up to 8,129 people without temporary seating. It recorded its record attendance on 19 November 2011, when a crowd of 9,120 watched Connacht take on Toulouse in the team's first ever Heineken Cup match at home.^[2]

Renovations (2011 - 2016)

Connacht's participation in European rugby's most prestigious club competition, the Heineken Cup, for the first time in the 2011–12 season spurred a new phase of development at the Sportsground to extend formal capacity to 7,500 supporters.^[3] The existing Clubhouse Terrace was knocked down to be replaced by the new covered "Clan Terrace". This terrace primarily houses season ticket holders. Ancillary work was also undertaken behind the terrace which saw the construction of a new bar (The Clan Bar), food outlets and restroom facilities on the clubhouse side of the ground. A temporary covered and seated "West Stand", adjacent to the existing main stand was also erected for the season.^[3] This series of improvements came on the back of developments which the IRFU had helped to fund in the preceding years, such as a new playing surface, a new clubhouse and floodlighting, while a new gymnasium had been built in 2008.^[4]

In 2011, planning permission was granted to redevelop the Clan Terrace by building a seated tier above the terrace. This was ultimately not completed.^[5]

In the summer of 2016, work was completed on an additional seated and covered stand which can hold 300 people. The stand, situated next to the Main Stand, increased the ground's regular capacity to 8,100.^[6] Following a naming rights deal, it was christened as the Grant Thornton Stand.^[7]

The Sportsground prior to a Connacht vs Wasps European Cup match in December 2016.

Redevelopment (2022 - Present)

In October 2018, Connacht unveiled plans for a €30m redevelopment of Dexcom Stadium to turn it into a 12,000 seater stadium with the redevelopment to also include a high-performance training centre.^[8][9] Plans were submitted to Galway City Council the following December with full planning permission secured in May 2019.

In January 2020, the Government announced funding totalling €20m towards the project, with €10m coming from the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund, and a further €10m from the Project 2040 fund in line with the Government's commitment to "balanced regional development".

Following a delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Phase 1 of the redevelopment began after the 2021/22 season with the installation of a new 3G pitch and LED floodlights.

On 19th January 2024, Connacht Rugby confirmed that of Phase 2 of the redevelopment would begin in March, with building works beginning on the new high-performance centre beside the existing gym. Construction on the new North Stand is due to begin after the 2023/24 season, which will involved the demolition of existing Clan Terrace and Clubhouse.

International rugby

International Rugby Union Matches
Date	Home	Score	Opponent	Report
1 December 1984	Ireland B	23–20	Scotland A
1 November 1994	Ireland Development	13–20	United States	[10]
25 January 2013	Ireland Wolfhounds	10–14	England Saxons	[11]

Other sports

The venue has occasionally hosted Gaelic games fixtures, including the 1932 All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship Final and the 1942 Galway County Hurling Final.

When Terryland Park was being renovated in 1993, Galway United played at the Sportsgrounds for the first part of that season. It also hosted Galway's first game in European competition in the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Greyhound racing

Greyhound Racing Ireland host race fixtures throughout the year, trading as Galway Greyhound Stadium. ^[12] Distances are 350, 525, 550, and 575 yards.^[13] The feature competition at the track is the Champion Bitch Stake.^[14] Ollie Hester has been Racing Manager since 2003.

History

The Galway Greyhound Company was established in 1929 but it took a further three years for the first greyhound racing to take place at the west coast venue on the west side of the Lough Atalia. The opening night was during 1932.^{[citation needed]}

By 1978 the stadium required a facelift and the management decided that improvements could only be completed with the closure of the greyhound track. Therefore, in 1978 a new stand with bars and tote facilities was built and the circuit itself was re-laid with increased cambers. The grand re-opening was on 25 May 1979 with the modernisation costing over £500,000.^[15] In March 1998 the track was converted to sand from grass.^[16] In 2003 the track was subject to a major renovation project that cost the Bord na gCon €6m.

Track records

Current ^[17][18]

Former

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Galway Sportsgrounds.

• Connacht Rugby

References

This page was last edited on 29 January 2024, at 22:00