Egg Chasing

On the back of the two friendlies at Musgrave Park, we're now hearing that both Munster Rugby and CCFC would be open to the idea of sharing the ground on a more permanent basis, according to the Irish Independant.

There's been talk of such a move for years. The two grounds are within about 500 yards of each other and both hold about 8,000 people. But with Munster planning to extend the grounds capacity to about 22,000; and without the ability to fund the project, the partnership with Cork City is an enticing one for the Red Army.

For City it would be the same old story, renting a ground off a higher body; and surely a long term goal for the club must be the development of a ground to call their own. No doubt Munster hope by that pairing up with City then they'll entice help from the County Council; leading to a communal stadium like that of the Liberty Stadium in Swansea.

It all sounds like a great idea. Plans to play in a 20k+ stadium reflect the City's ambition to play in the biggest games in the country. European football, league wins and cup finals. Also, a partnership between Munster brings the potential of major marketing bucks, perhaps a Musgrave season ticket, which would entice far more people to Cork City games.

In addition to sharing of the stadium would hugely reduce match traffic on the nights when both City and Munster play games in the Airtricity and Magners leagues respectively. While for City it would bring to an end competition between League of Ireland football and a far more popular alternative on the same night.

The return of the terrace would be a massive selling point for City fans. Since the demolition of the Shed and the installation of an all seated stand the atmosphere has taken a major dip. Why stand up for the entire game when you have a seat to sit on? Hopefully in the prospective plans will be a commitment to make these UEFA regulated 'safe standing' areas, like that of the Signal Iduna Park, home to German giants Borussia Dortmund.

So surely you're thinking the first question on City fans lips will be: 'Where do we sign?'

But hold on just a second. Ground sharing is all well and good, but what about four months when both teams are playing simultaneously? October, November, February, March; not exactly renowned for their good weather now are they? With Magners League games usually wars of attrition, fought between the opposing packs; it takes a heavy toll on the pitch. All too often we've seen football games ruined by a pitch left by the egg-chasers the week beforehand.

With the bones of a decent football team (Danny Murphy, Gearóid Morrissey, Shane Duggan etc) then City's move to Muzzer could have a dramatic effect on the standard of football one sees when going to a Cork City game. Hosting an attractive, entertaining, and successful brand of football is key to getting punters in the gate. What use is having a brand new stadium if nobody wants to watch your team?

Which brings me nicely onto my second point. What use is there playing an a 22,000 seater stadium; when your average attendance last season was just over 1,750. I mean it's all very well for the club to have ambition but even if they chose to move into Musgrave on completion of the first phase (Taking its capacity to 12,500) it still would be far greater than Turners Cross, a stadium in which we struggled to half fill even when competing in the top division.

Though this ground-sharing idea seems like a good idea, it has one major flaw. With Munster rugby in decline, and more people being drawn away from local sport towards the bright lights of 'The best league in the world' (According to Andy Gray), it's obvious that despite what members say within FORAS, there will be one group that will always have the largest vote, the punters speaking with their feet.

Kev.