Hardly beautiful by even then modern standards, the hodgepodge of architecturally mismatched stands and oddly-shaped north and south terraces somehow generated one of the most raucous atmospheres in world football.
The home of the Irish rugby team – while still in use it was the oldest rugby union stadium in the world – first saw international soccer on St Patrick’s Day, 1900, when Ireland faced England. In 1926, the first game under the guise of the Football Association of the Irish Free State came against Italy – the last football fixture at the ground until Waterford United played Manchester United in a European Cup tie in September 1968.
The Lansdowne Road stadium was the brainchild of Henry Dunlop, a decorated track walker, the organiser of the first All-Ireland Athletics Championships, and engineering graduate of Trinity College. Dunlop had started the Irish Champion Athletic Club in 1871 but the university Provost banned meetings on the college grounds forcing him to look elsewhere. Dunlop founded Lansdowne Football Club in 1872 which has played rugby at Lansdowne Road on Dublin’s southside ever since.
The Football Association of Ireland first leased the ground for international soccer matches in 1971, and from 1990 to 2006 it was used for almost all home fixtures by the Republic of Ireland. Their “spiritual” home at Dalymount Park was no longer deemed an adequate venue for hosting games due to its lower capacity.
Floodlights were added in 1993 while “bucket” seats were installed on the terraces for UEFA-sanctioned games limiting the capacity to just 36,000. With thumping feet on the temporary metal and the rumbling of Dublin’s commuter train, the Dart, uniquely passing beneath the West Stand, the ground generated an astonishing atmosphere particularly for evening kick-offs.
Within walking distance of Dublin’s centre and with watering holes around every corner, the city would be electrified with supporters on matchday. Perhaps the stadium’s greatest day for football came with the 1-0 defeat of the Netherlands in 2001 to all but seal passage to the World Cup via a play-off. Prior to kick-off, legendary Irish broadcaster Bill O’Herlihy said he’d never seen an atmosphere like it at Lansdowne Road, a precursor for something special to come.
Now replaced by the gleaming glass and undulating curves of the Aviva Stadium, the ground takes its place among the modern arenas of the global game but has yet to revive the mysticism that so captivated footballing figures like the great Zizou.
From Póg Mo Goal Issue 7. Illustration by Duncan Mattocks, a former artist on Grand Theft Auto now living and working in Brisbane, Australia.
Instagram: @donkmodeillustration