Milltown (stadium)

Milltown is a football stadium in Warrenpoint, County Down, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of Warrenpoint Town of the NIFL Premiership.[1][2] The stadium sits in the larger Milltown Sports Complex, in the area of Warrenpoint of the same name. The ground was upgraded in 2013 after Warrenpoint were promoted to the Premiership, to satisfy the rules of that league.[3]

Milltown
LocationWarrenpoint, Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°07′04″N 06°15′48″W
OwnerWarrenpoint Town F.C.
Capacity1,450
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Opened1997
Renovated2013

History

In 2008, Warrenpoint Town applied to turn the pitch from natural grass into a 3G pitch, which was granted by the Newry and Mourne District Council.[4] In 2013, Warrenpoint Town were promoted to the NIFL Premiership. Owing to previous consecutive promotions, Milltown did not meet the Irish Football Association's criteria for use in the Premiership. As a result, the ground required renovation. Warrenpoint Town originally applied to play their home games at The Showgrounds, Newry. However the stadium owners at Newry refused them permission. Instead they were obliged to groundshare with Dungannon Swifts at Stangmore Park, Dungannon forty miles (64 km) away whilst Milltown was redeveloped.[3] Newry and Mourne Council granted Milltown £225,500 to assist with the redevelopment.[5]

On 21 December 2013, Milltown was opened for its first NIFL Premiership match between Warrenpoint Town and Glenavon. However the match was forced to be abandoned after one of the floodlights failed.[6] Despite the renovations, aimed to assist the ground to meet UEFA standards, observers note that the facilities are still limited at Milltown.[7] It was used as justification for applying for a UEFA licence.[8] Their 2019 application was refused however.[9]

In 2018, it was announced that Newry, Mourne and Down District Council planned to redevelop Milltown as the location for a new community hub due to plans to purchase a surplus Police Service of Northern Ireland station falling through. However, this proposal was not recommended to the council's committee.[10] This was due to accessibility and location issues, which led to the council preferring to build the hub at Clonallon Park instead.[10]

Usage

While Milltown is predominantly used by Warrenpoint Town for association football, it has also been used for Gaelic football by Warrenpoint GAA.[11] Milltown is considered by some opposing football managers as being a hard place to play at.[12]

References
  1. "Milltown Stadium - Football Tripper". 25 June 2015.
  2. Adams, Duncan. "Warrenpoint Town - Milltown - Football Ground Guide". www.footballgroundguide.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  3. "Warrenpoint Town's rise to Premiership football is almost too good to be true". Belfast Telegraph. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  4. "Applications for Planning Permission presented to Newry and Mourne Council" (PDF). Department of the Environment. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  5. "Warrenpoint Town FC 'back home for Christmas'". Newry Times. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  6. "Warrenpoint-Glenavon game abandoned after floodlight failure at Milltown". BBC Sport. 21 December 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. Michael Walker (21 December 2017). "Christmas on the Irish border: How one of Brexit's biggest issues is playing out in football". The Independent. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. "Newry City v Warrenpoint: From a pub side to top level club, Point have sights set on Europe". Belfast Telegraph. 26 January 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. "Irish Premiership: Uefa licences create three play-off scenarios". BBC Sport. 25 April 2019. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  10. McKenna, Micheal (19 November 2018). "New site earmarked for £1.4m Warrenpoint community hub after previous plans fell through". Armagh I. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  11. "Facilities". St. Peter’s GAA Club Warrenpoint. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  12. "David Healy believes Blues can find another gear". Belfast Live. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

See also
  • Stadiums of Ireland
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