Eamonn Deacy Park, formerly known as Terryland Park, is an association football stadium in the Republic of Ireland based in the Terryland district of

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. It is owned by the

Galway Football Association The Galway Football Association is the governing body for association football in County Galway. It is responsible for organizing and managing the Galway & District League, Eamonn Deacy Park, and Galway W.F.C. Affiliated leagues * Galway & Di ...

and is the home ground of both Galway United and Galway W.F.C. It is named after Eamonn Deacy, a former Galway United and Aston Villa player and Republic of Ireland international. In both 2007 and

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, the ground was voted the best surface by the FAI. It won the same award again in 2015.

History

Early years

One of the earliest games played at Terryland Park was on 3 February 1935. It was a 1934–35 FAI Junior Cup game between Athlone Town and a team referred to as the Galway Macks. Athlone Town won 8–2 and went on to win the cup. In 1950 the

purchased the grounds for £250 from Eamonn Deacy's grandfather. Different sources name Eamonn Deacy's grandfather as either Martin Joseph Morris or Dean Flynn When Galway Rovers made their

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 ...

debut in 1977–78, Terryland Park became their home ground. They played their first League of Ireland game at the venue on 28 August 1977 against St Patrick's Athletic.

Redevelopment

The stadium underwent redevelopment in 1993. This saw the introduction of floodlights and saw evening matches at the ground. In 2007 a €500,000

Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

grant went towards developing a new 1,500-seater stand. The new stand was opened in July 2007 and raised the seating capacity to 3,300 and the overall capacity to 5,000. Development of the interior of the Main Stand continued as new dressing rooms, medical rooms, showers, officials' dressing rooms, media facilities and other amenities were all upgraded and installed.

Tenants

Although perhaps best known as the home of Galway United, the stadium also serves as the headquarters of both the

and Galway & District League. It regularly hosts an average of one hundred games per year. It has also served as a home for both Mervue United and Salthill Devon. During the 2009 and 2010 seasons when they were playing in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

, Mervue played at Terryland Park as their regular ground, Fahy's Field, did not meet

standards. Following the withdrawal of Galway United from the League of Ireland after the 2011 season, Salthill Devon re-branded themselves as SD Galway for the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

season. They adopted the maroon and white worn by Galway United and switched their home matches from

Drom Soccer Park Drom Soccer Park is an association football venue in the Republic of Ireland based in Drom East, Rahoon, County Galway. It is the home ground of Salthill Devon F.C. It was built in 2002 and has a capacity of 2,000. Drom also hosts the Galway C ...

to Terryland Park. In June 2013 the FAI announced Galway W.F.C. as an expansion team for the upcoming 2013–14 Women's National League season and they also began to play at the now renamed Eamonn Deacy Park. In addition the stadium has also hosted various Republic of Ireland under-17, under-19 and under-21 internationals.

Cup finals

Eamonn Deacy Park has hosted finals of the League of Ireland First Division Shield, the

FAI Intermediate Cup The FAI Intermediate Cup ( ga, Corn Comortais Peile na hÉireann), also known as the FAI Umbro Intermediate Cup and the Pat O'Brien Intermediate Challenge Cup, is a cup competition organized by the Football Association of Ireland for intermediate ...

, the Connacht Junior Cup, the

Michael Byrne Cup The Michael Byrne Cup is an association football cup competition featuring teams from the Galway & District League. It is now the main league cup competition for this league. However when it was originally inaugurated in 1976–77, it was a pla ...

and the Collingwood Cup. The stadium has also hosted two

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

finals. In 1996–97, it hosted the first leg of the final as Galway United defeated

Cork City Cork ( , from , meaning 'marsh') is the second largest city in Ireland and third largest city by population on the island of Ireland. It is located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster. Following an extension to the city's ...

3–1, en route to a 4–2 aggregate win overall. More recently it hosted the 2015 final between Galway United and St Patrick's Athletic. This time Galway United would lose out on penalties.

Renamed

In 2012, following the death of Eamonn Deacy, the

renamed Terryland Park in his honour. The renaming ceremony took place in August 2012 and featured a testimonial match between Galway United and Aston Villa legends teams. The stadium was formally renamed by

Michael Ring Michael Ring (born 24 December 1953) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Mayo constituency since 1997, and previously from 1994 to 1997 for the Mayo West constituency. He served as Minister for Rural and ...

, the Minister of State for Tourism and Sport. Other special guests included three former

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

internationals –

Packie Bonner Patrick Joseph Bonner (born 24 May 1960) is an Irish retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper and spent his entire career at Celtic. He earned a total of 80 caps for the Republic of Ireland national football team after making his debut on h ...

, Paul McGrath and

Gareth Farrelly Gareth Farrelly (born 28 August 1975) is an Irish football manager and former professional footballer. He played as a midfielder notably in the Premier League for Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Everton. He also played in the Football Leagu ...

Notes

References

{{Galway Buildings and structures in Galway (city) Association football venues in the Republic of Ireland Galway & District League Multi-purpose stadiums in the Republic of Ireland Sports venues in County Galway Galway United F.C. Galway W.F.C. Association football in Galway (city)