Ten years on from Saipan; the Republic of Ireland are set to use training facilities rejected by two competing nations. James Clancy writes this time, unlike 2002, everyone in the Republic of Ireland playing set-up wants to be there.

Ten years on from Saipan; the Republic of Ireland are set to use training facilities rejected by two competing nations. James Clancy writes this time,  unlike 2002, everyone in the Republic of Ireland playing set-up wants to be there.

Shortly after Ireland qualified for Euro 2012;  Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni inspected the training centre and stadium at Gydnia, 7km from the Irish squad’s base in Sopot.  After a brief tour; Trap gave the location the thumbs up.

These facilities had previously been viewed and rejected by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund and Svenska Fotbollförbunde (German and Swedish Football Associations respectively).

At the moment, people who train in the gym at the facility can be seen from the street, but UEFA will make sure that all windows are covered from prying eyes before June.  Meanwhile, finishing touches are being put to the 43,000 capacity

PGE Arena where Ireland will meet Spain on 14th June.  The stadium is likely to be popular with Irish fans as the club who play their; Lechia Gdansk wear green and the seats are coloured in various shades of green.

The new stadium in Gdansk comes with seats of varied green hue

 

The stadium has prison cells for rowdy fans – and a judge will be on standby via teleconference.

The state-of-the-art stadium – which was officially opened just over two weeks ago – has a number of additional features including eight ‘periscope’ cameras. These are located alongside the pitch and can be raised to the height of the back row of the stands. The cameras will be used to film any fans who are causing trouble.  The stadium also has a unique high-definition camera which can take a snapshot of the entire stadium – and show each spectator clearly.

Stadium security cameras equipped to take High-Definition photos of individual fans

The stadium has prison cells for rowdy fans – and a judge will be on standby via teleconference.  There is an onsite bar, which can cater for 250 people; with 40 High Definition televisions.  It has not been decided whether the bar will be open during European Championship games but only non-alcoholic beer will be available at stadiums during Euro 2012.