Strokestown Road, currently known as Bishopsgate for sponsorship purposes, is the name of a football stadium in Longford,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

which is the home of

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

club

Longford Town Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

History

In the mid-1990s,

moved their home ground from Abbeycartron to the townland of Mullolagher just off the N5 road between Longford and

Tarmonbarry Tarmonbarry, officially Termonbarry (), is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is located where the N5 National primary route crosses the River Shannon. East of the bridge, part of the village lies in County Longford. As of the 2016 c ...

. It is one of the few

grounds which is owned by the club itself. The stadium underwent a huge redevelopment at the end of 2000–01 season. Previous to this, while containing a good pitch and floodlights, the ground had poor facilities along with two terraced (one uncovered) stands and a single-seater stand. The club's promotion to the Premier Division in 2000 was seen as a catalyst in the redevelopment of the ground to its present-day form. Through the receipt of government and FAI grant aid, it was fully redeveloped into an all-seater stadium by July 2001. The ground's capacity is 5,097. The ground became known as Flancare Park, after the club's then sponsor Flancare, in early 2001 until the arrangement finished at the end of 2013. During this time the ground held numerous international underage matches, three

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

ties and staged the 2004 League Cup final (which Longford won). It was affectionately referred to by

fans as the ''Flan Siro''; a play on the name of Flancare Park and on the name of the world-famous

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums i ...

stadium in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city ...

. In 2014, the ground's name changed to the City Calling Stadium. This name change was related to the club's then newly acquired main sponsor City Calling Group, a recruitment agency. In 2018, City Calling Stadium was honoured with the Football Association of Ireland Pitch of the Year award. The stadium was selected as a venue for the 2019

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

as part of Ireland's hosting of the tournament. Four group stage matches were held at the ground including England v France on 3 May 2019. In November 2019, the ground was renamed Bishopsgate after the club's new main sponsor. Bishopsgate is a large contractor payroll solution for national and international companies who provide operatives into the UK market.

Location

The ground is located in the townland of Mullolagher on the Strokestown Road (N5) to the west of Longford town.

References

Association football venues in the Republic of Ireland Longford Town F.C. Sports venues in County Longford {{Ireland-sports-venue-stub