TheCity

Tag: Bohemian FC

  • Dalymount Park renovation faces another roadblock 

    Dalymount Park renovation faces another roadblock 

    Dalymount Park football stadium in Phibsborough, home to Bohemian Football Club, faces problems with its redevelopment again. 

    The cost of redeveloping the Dublin pitch has more than trebled since Dublin City Council (DCC) bought the stadium a decade ago, reaching as much as €63 million. On top of that, the construction of the stadium is expected to be delayed by as much as two years. 

    In 2015, the council purchased the sports ground from Bohemians for €3.8 million. The following year, it unveiled plans for a new stadium costing an estimated €20 million. 

    In the same year, DCC purchased Drumcondra’s Tolka Park, home to Shelbourne Football Club, with the goal of selling the property to raise money for Dalymount’s renovation into a facility for both teams. 

    However, following a campaign by Shelbourne supporters to maintain the ground, it subsequently modified its plans regarding Tolka Park. 

    The council agreed in 2022 to abandon plans to rezone Drumcondra’s stadium for housing and to redevelop Dalymount Park as a standalone project. 

    In February 2024, planning permission was granted for Dalymount’s demolition and reconstruction, with a new 8,000-seater stadium the aim for the redevelopment. 

    One of the entrances to Dalymount Park football stadium, home of Bohemian Football Club (picture taken by Patryk Goron)

    At that point, the project’s total cost, which included team facilities, club offices, a bar/function room, and community facilities had increased to over €40 million. The cost had again risen to €56.6 million by the end of the previous year when the council released its capital plans for 2025-2027. 

    New estimates, submitted to municipal councillors last Monday, suggest the cost has reached €63.75 million.  

    The council has received €25.6 million in government funding, an additional €2.6 million from levies paid to the municipality, €1 million from the long-term lease of Tolka Park back to Shelbourne FC, and €500,000 from UEFA. This results in a gap of over €34 million. 

    Around €25 million will come from government funding but Dublin City councillors have now approved the borrowing of €34 million to get the project under way. Repayments will be “partly funded from the annual rental income, match day revenue and non-match day revenue,” the council said. 

    It is expected that work will begin around the end of 2026 or early 2027, with the reconstructed stadium opening in time for the new League of Ireland season in February 2029. 

    Bohemian FC praised the council’s ruling in a statement, calling it “the final step in a process that began with DCC acquiring Dalymount exactly 10 years ago.” 

    The borrowing, along with government funding, “will allow for the historic stadium to be fully redeveloped and serve the people of Dublin and beyond long into the future.” 

    Councillors questioned if the stadium’s capacity could be extended to accommodate European football games, whether there was a business plan for the stadium’s operation, and how the project’s cost could be kept within budget. 

    Don Daly, the Council’s Capital Projects Manager, stated that Bohemian FC’s decision to have terraces for standing was one of the reasons the stadium could not be constructed to category 4 standards, while Richard Shakespeare, CEO of Dublin City Council, stated that it would require “a whole different level of pain financially” to make the stadium eligible for hosting European games. 

    Additionally, Mr. Shakespeare stated that while the stadium’s operational elements are still being worked out, the predicted costs have “a whole range of contingencies built into it” and he expressed confidence that the project will be completed within the allocated budget. 

  • Bohemians forced to axe Bob Marley jersey

    Bohemians forced to axe Bob Marley jersey

    Bohemian Football Club made headlines last month when they announced that Bob Marley’s image would be featured on their away jersey next season.

    The jersey’s design also included red, green and yellow stripes to represent Marley’s Rastafarian faith. The jersey certainly received a lot of attention online, both by people who lauded the design and those who had no time for it whatsoever. Other League of Ireland clubs Sligo Rovers and Bohs’ local rivals St. Patrick’s Athletic mocked the design on Twitter with their own jerseys. Sligo Rovers’ spoof featured Westlife, while St. Pat’s spoof featured Phil Lynott.

    However, last week Bohemians were dealt some bad news. The Phibsborough club were contacted by representatives of the late singer who informed them that they had no right to display Bob Marley’s image on the jersey.

    In an official club statement, Bohemians explained: “Bohemian Football Club acted in good faith and followed the correct process when purchasing the licence for this image via a world-leading third-party photo licensing company.

    “However, the Bob Marley representative agency has informed us that this company did not have the right to grant any such licence for this image. We are dealing with this separately.

    “Subsequently, following direct correspondence with the Bob Marley representative agency, they cannot license the image to the Bohemian Football Club due to their own contractual and other obligations.

    “Consequently, we can no longer supply the jersey with the image of Bob Marley as advertised.”

    Bob Marley and Phil Lynott murals produced by Niall O’Lochlainn // Twitter @BFCDublin


    Niall O’Lochlainn, a street artist who painted the mural of Bob Marley at Dalymount Park, in commemoration of the reggae legend’s 1980 gig at the stadium, shared his thoughts on the controversy with The City.

    “Not many people know Bob Marley played in Ireland, let alone Dalymount Park.”, he said.

    “I think it’s one of those gig that says something about the culture of Bohemians, the gig was supposedly supposed to happen in the RDS but they pulled out as they have it in their code of ethics not to deal with organised groups such as Rastafarians, so instead the gig happened in Dalymount Park.

    “It’s one of those gigs that is important in terms of Dublin’s urban history. I admire Bohs for trying to celebrate that small piece of Dublin history and fair play to them for taking the chance! It’s a pity that it’s getting shut down, the club bought the image and took a chance.

    “It’s sad [that] we live in a world where red tape overrules a brave idea. I don’t follow football but I support Bohs as a team owned by its fans and [for] taking chances to celebrate their history in music and in football!” said Niall.

    Irish Daily Mirror journalist and Bohs’ fan Donagh Corby, echoed Niall’s disappointment.

    “I was really excited when I saw the shirt initially, and I wasn’t the only one. I know how much League of Ireland sides struggle to get mainstream attention, so to see something capture the imagination like that jersey did was brilliant. Bob Marley’s own son was a huge fan, he said that he loved it and it was the dopest jersey he had ever seen,” Donagh said.

    “However, it was obviously an … oversight on behalf of the club to think that the jersey was going to be allowed to go on sale without having ever been in contact with the Bob Marley estate. I think it’s overall been a success for the club, but it would have been great for us to at least get one match out of it.”

    Bohemians received plenty of publicity as a result of the jersey but will be hoping that their football makes the headlines once the League of Ireland kicks off again in February.