One debate that rumbles around the Irish League surrounds the stadiums that clubs play their games at and the features of said venues.
Astro or grass? Seats or terraces? Wooden fence or walled perimeter? Sometimes, they are even centred on location; what the backdrop is, whether you get a better view watching from the side or behind the goal.
Location is a prominent and literal subject of this article.
In the Playr-Fit Championship, a relocation for this season was revealed when the Irish FA released their annual club licensing list towards the tail end of 2022/23.
Newington, traditionally a north Belfast club, would exit their heartland and play their home fixtures in east Antrim, with Larne’s Inver Park becoming their hosting stage.
Formerly tenants of Cliftonville’s Solitude ground up until earlier this year, a change in scenery was to be in order after the Swans secured survival in their first-ever season as a senior-status football club, staving off the drop to guarantee a second consecutive term since achieving promotion as Premier Intermediate League champions 18 months ago.
But the green-shirted establishment, who are now a decade on from their entry into the NI Football League following promotion from the Amateur League, have never had a place to truly call their own.
The argument that has often been thrown around for this is that there is simply not enough room for an Irish League-standard football ground at the heart of their community.
Which, in turn, begs the question – why not create the room?
A fascinating diagram was laid out last weekend by the ever-captivating ‘Irish League Grounds’ account on ‘X’.
The proposal was to build a community stadium on the corner of Grove Park that would house Newington, giving them that place to call their own and build a base around that they have coveted.
But that wasn’t all. The layout also included social housing in the immediate vicinity of the pitch – a concept which, it seems, would kill multiple birds with one stone and almost sounds too good to be true.
Firstly, The ‘Ton – Steel and Sons Cup champions to go along with their PIL triumph in 2022 – could at long last have a settled location and a state-of-the-art venue to better allow them to build their core support.
Secondly, social housing is a hot topic in itself and, if there is spare land around the stadium, the free space can go to good use for those within the area with something that genuinely offers a boost to locals.
And thirdly, perhaps fundamentally, they intertwine. With that core base in mind, the club would be in a better position to foster a connection with the community in their true home. It is hard to do that if you are on the road – Inver Park adds to Solitude, Seaview and Antrim’s Muckamore Park among places Newington have played games as the home team – and a return to stay in a familiar stomping ground would make that much easier to achieve on the face of it.
What’s more, what supporter – home or away – wouldn’t be appealed by the chance to tick a new ground off their bucket list?
Earlier this season, a stunning early-season run of six wins in seven matches had Newington atop the Championship table. In their 44 years of existence, they have never been higher – and they have built from the bottom to do it.
Such hard work, you’d think, should warrant support for a permanent residence in Belfast.
Instead of making the argument that there is insufficient space for that concept to materialise, maybe it is high time to create the circumstances that would turn a long-held dream into a reality.
Featured image from Belfast Media.
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