The Showgrounds is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium in

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, althoug ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 531,665. It borders County Antrim to the ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. It was the home ground of Newry City F.C. and is now the home ground of their successor club,

Newry City A.F.C. Newry City Athletic Football Club are a semi-professional Northern Irish football club who play in the Irish League Premiership. They are based in Newry, County Down and play at the Showgrounds. The club's colours are blue and white. Backgr ...

The stadium holds 7,949, but is currently restricted to 2,275 under safety legislation. The stadium is located in the Greenbank Industrial Estate on the

Warrenpoint Warrenpoint ( ga, An Pointe) is a small port town and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It sits at the head of Carlingford Lough, south of Newry, and is separated from the Republic of Ireland by a narrow strait. The town is beside t ...

Road, close to the

Down GAA The Down County Board ( ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael Coiste Chontae An Dún) or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland, and is responsible for the administration of Gaelic games in County Down ...

home stadium of

Páirc Esler Páirc Esler ( , ; also ga, Páirc an Iúir ) is a GAA stadium in Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the home of the Down Gaelic football and hurling teams and the Newry Shamrocks GAA club. The ground has a capacity of about 20,000. ...

History

In 2009, The Showgrounds had two new stands constructed. In 2011, there were plans to turn The Showgrounds' pitch into an

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

pitch however due to Newry City's financial troubles, these plans were shelved. In 2012, on the eighteenth day of the

2012 Summer Olympics torch relay The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from 19 May until 27 July, prior to the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The torch bearer selection process was announced on 18 May 2011. As well as touring the United Kingdom the schedule included the t ...

, the Olympic torch passed The Showgrounds on its way to

. In 2012, Newry City were liquidated after a High Court winding-up petition. Discussions on creating a

phoenix club The Phoenix Building and Cincinnati Club are two historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The membership of these two clubs was chiefly Jewish. Located at 812 Race Street, the Phoenix Building was constructed in 1893, desi ...

, initially titled "Newry City 2012" and eventually titled "Newry City AFC", took place at The Showgrounds. When Newry City was wound up, The Showgrounds were not sold off with the club as it was owned by Newry City's supporters and not the club. This meant that Newry City AFC would be able to use it as their home ground.

Usage

It was used to host Newry City's matches and also hosts the fixtures of Newry City AFC after Newry City was liquidated. It is also used for training. In 2013, The Showgrounds were suggested as a temporary home ground for Warrenpoint Town after they were promoted to the

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Danske Bank Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and colloquially as the Irish League or Irish Premiership, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northe ...

as their Milltown Playing Field did not fulfill the criteria for use in the NIFL Premiership. However, the

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

blocked the move as the owners of The Showgrounds objected. Newry City AFC also gave reasons for objecting the potential groundshare, citing the poor quality of the playing surface, the lack of a licence for The Showgrounds to host NIFL Premiership matches and a large increase in insurance and running costs for Newry City if the groundshare went ahead. The Showgrounds are also used to host the

Bessbrook Bessbrook is a village in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It lies about three miles (5 km) northwest of Newry and near the Newry bypass on the main A1 Belfast-Dublin road and Belfast-Dublin railway line. Today the village of Bessbrook str ...

Cup Final, which is traditionally played on

St. Stephen's Day Saint Stephen's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Stephen, is a Christian saint's day to commemorate Saint Stephen, the first Christian martyr or protomartyr, celebrated on 26 December in Western Christianity and 27 December in Eastern Chr ...

. In 2013, the Bessbrook Cup final was postponed after one of The Showgrounds' floodlight pylons had been damaged in bad weather, which led to Health and Safety officials deeming that The Showgrounds were unsafe to be used for the match.

International football

The Showgrounds have been used to host youth international fixtures. In 2005, it was a venue in the

2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was held in Northern Ireland between 18 and 29 July 2005. Venues Qualifications There were two separate rounds of qualifications held before the Final Tournament. 1. 2005 UEFA European Under-19 ...

. In 2009, it was used to host some of the 2009 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship qualification matches for Group 9.

Panoramic view

References

External links

IFCP photos from The Newry ShowgroundsPanoramic images of Newry Showgrounds
{{DEFAULTSORT:Showgrounds (Newry) Association football venues in Northern Ireland Sport in Newry Association football venues in County Down Newry City F.C. Sports venues completed in 1923 1923 establishments in Northern Ireland Newry City A.F.C.