Ballymena Showgrounds
Encyclopedia
The Ballymena Showgrounds is a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 stadium in Ballymena
Ballymena
Ballymena is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland and the seat of Ballymena Borough Council. Ballymena had a population of 28,717 people in the 2001 Census....

, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...

, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

. It is home to Ballymena United F.C.
Ballymena United F.C.
Ballymena United, is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club playing in the IFA Premiership. The club hails from the town of Ballymena, County Antrim and plays its home matches at Ballymena Showgrounds. Club colours are sky blue and white. Away Colours are Red and BlackThe club was...

. It is owned by Ballymena Borough Council. In addition to men's soccer a variety of other sports and events are held at the stadium and surrounding facilities, including women's soccer, field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...

, and stock car racing
Stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing found mainly in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Great Britain, Brazil and Argentina. Traditionally, races are run on oval tracks measuring approximately in length...

.

The stadium was redeveloped in 2001 at a cost of £3m. This reconstruction included the building of a new stand and new dressing room facilities. In 2010 the Warden Street stand was redeveloped to all-seater standard with a new capacity of 2,200 seats. The stadium now holds 4,100 spectators.

New Stand

The New Stand replaced the old 'Clock Stand' which ran parallel to the side of the pitch and was knocked down in 2001, in preparation for the new construction. The stand incorporates approximately sixteen changing rooms, offices and bars - as well as press and corporate facilities.

The first game it was open to the public was an Ulster Cup tie against Carrick Rangers in August 2002; however was officially unveiled a month later with the glamour friendly with Bolton Wanderers.

Home supporters are situated in this stand, as they use the turnstiles at the social club to enter the ground.

The stand cost £3million pounds to build, and as yet has not been officially named despite prolonged debate by the council who have recently proposed selling the naming rights to local businesses, although the fans thoughts that the 'New Stand' should be renamed 'The Norman McBurney Stand' after the Ballymena born owner of haulage company McBurney Transport.

Warden Street Stand

It cost £250,000 to construct and was used for the first time in an all-Ireland cup game against Shamrock Rovers in August, 1980.

The stand, which is now used to hold visiting supporters has a seating capacity of just over 1,200. The stand was used to house the home supporters until the opening of the new grandstand in 2002.

In front of the stand is terracing which can hold around 2,000 standing spectators. The dug-outs also sit in front of this stand.

United's PA Announcer - Davy "Kingo" King can be found in his stand, as when he's not covering games live for local radio station - SevenFM from the old press box, he's playing his unique collection of records over the tannoy.

It has been revealed that there has been announcements that the stand is going to be completely refurbished to bring its seating capacity up to 2,200, the work shall commence on the 14th January 2010 in which the terracing shall be removed and replaced by seating the roof shall also be replaced and the seats replaced.

This work has now been completed and the new stand was first used in a 3-1 home victory for Ballymena United F.C over Portadown F.C on 16th October 2010.

Security Tower

With aid of grants from the Sports Council, Ballymena United have erected a brand new security control tower which will be used by the police and United stewards to monitor behaviour at the Showgrounds.

This further adds to the reputation of the Ballymena Showgrounds as the best(sic) facility for football in Ulster.

Pitch 2 (3G)

Currently Home pitch of Carniny Amateurs FC, Ballymena and Provincial Intermediate League Team
Carniny Amateur and Youth Football Club

Pitch 7

Home to Carniny Youth FC NIBFA National League Teams and Carniny Amateurs II, Ballymena and Provincial Junior Div 3 team.

Pitch 6

Home to Carniny Amateur and Youth FC Football Development Centre http://www.carninyyouthfc.co.uk

Home to Ballymena United FC Youth Academy Football Development Centre

Stock Car Racing

Stockcars run at Ballymena on select Friday evenings from Good Friday until the end of September, with many Championship races taking place throughout the season, most recently the 'Raceway' (as it is fondly known to fans) hosted the Stockrod Championship of the World. In 2007 the Raceway celebrated its 30th Anniversary which featured a celebratory race meeting featuring many famous retired drivers, along with guest drivers from other forms of Motorsport, most notably Kris Meeke who tried his hand at racing a National Hotrod.

visit for info. www.ballymenaraceway.com

External links

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