COMMENT: You can’t beat summer soccer at Dalymount

WITH Euro 2016 finished and the new Premier League season yet to start, where are football fans to get their kicks this summer asks Bohs fan Tony McCrossan?

One alternative to playing console games is live top flight soccer in Richmond Park, Tallaght Stadium or best of all for Northsiders, Dalymount Park, the home of Irish football.

Every Friday night the best football players in Ireland are using their skills in competitive matches and you can join the growing legion of new League of Ireland fans for relatively little cost.

With eight members of the national team who played in Euro 2016 coming from the league, and an average season ticket costing less than one trip to the UK, it makes a lot of sense to give it a go.

From a Bohs perspective, one big hit with young players has been the half time game. Football teams from across Dublin, and further afield, have been given the opportunity to grace the hollowed turf of Dalymount Park and play football for the duration of the half time break.

The last match in Dalymount Park saw Howth Celtic Under 8 team play, and it was a great experience for the kids. Schoolboy teams interested in taking part can contact Donal Byrne at Bohemian Football Club for more information.

Contrary to some media stories, League of Ireland football is both skilful and entertaining, and above all family friendly.

Match nights in Dalymount Park have a family zone in the main stand. This area is to enable families to sit together away from noisier sections of the crowd and the kids are beside the players’ tunnel where the teams enter and exit the pitch.

The location beside the tunnel gives kids the opportunity to get autographs or take selfies with the players after the game. Although pitch invasions by fans make the news these incidents are few and far between. Of the 1,260 minutes of football played this season, there has been only one incident, and that was dealt with by the club promptly. 

With the redevelopment of Dalymount  Park due to begin after the end of this season, this could be your last chance to sit in this historic stadium.

Although Bohs will continue to play there, the redevelopment will see the orientation of the pitch change as well as the total redesign and construction of new stands.

It is expected that the redevelopment of Dalymount Park will take at least one season before a staged reopening, so why not get down there this summer, enjoy the football, enjoy the atmosphere, and at just €5 for a kids ticket, treat your kids and take the chance to enjoy quality time together outdoors instead of in front of a console.

Memories are not made in front of a screen!