Bohemians continue to rebuild their ground

Dalymount Park’s much needed development aims to remedy seating issues

The Bohemian Football Club, one of Ireland’s most historic clubs, is finally moving with owners Dublin City Council to redevelop its stadium Dalymount Park.

The Bohemians have seen a need for a bigger stadium in order to accommodate all the club’s fans.

The new developments are raising the capacity of the stadium to 6,000 seats, a large improvement over recent numbers – though in the mid-20th century it held as many as 48,000!

However, chief operating officer of the club Daniel Lambert says it will still be “too small for certain games”.

The club lacks the funds to renovate the stadium to the extent they would like, with the cost of the rebuilding currently standing at €35 million.

Last summer, developments began limiting the maximum capacity of the stadium from 4,227 to around 3,800.

“Every game you need to battle for your places, and sometimes you just don’t have one,” says Paul, a supporter The Liberty met at the ground on a matchday. 

“Every game you need to battle for your places, and sometimes you just don’t have one”

Paul, Bohemian Supporter

Fifteen years ago the club sold the rights to the stadium to property investor Liam Carroll and had plans to move to another stadium.

However, Dublin City Council blocked the construction of a new stadium, leaving the club stuck in Dalymount.

The cost to the club was bound to be substantial but was to be shared with another historic club, Shelbourne FC, who recently withdrew because they wished to remain in their stadium, Tolka Park.