Bishopstown Stadium

Bishopstown Stadium

Staid Bhaile an Easpaig
Location	Curraheen Road, Bishopstown, Cork
Coordinates	51°52′28.2″N 8°32′53.6″W
Public transit	Curraheen (Marymount Hospice) bus stop (Bus Éireann route 208)
Owner	McCarthy Developments
Capacity	2,000
Surface	Grass
Scoreboard	No
Opened	1992
Tenants
Cork City F.C. Training ground Cork City Women's F.C.

Bishopstown Stadium (Irish: Staid a' Baile an Easpaig) is an association football stadium located in Bishopstown on the western outskirts of Cork, Ireland. It is the home ground of Women's National League (WNL) club Cork City WFC. Formerly the home ground of League of Ireland club Cork City FC, it later became their training ground.

Cork City FC's move to Bishopstown in 1993 proved costly and unpopular with fans, while the condition of the pitch quickly became "notorious". With Cork City on the verge of liquidation in November 1995, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) bought the stadium for £70,000 to be shared amongst the club's creditors.^[1] Under new ownership Cork City returned to Turners Cross in 1996.^[2]

Property speculators McCarthy Developments then bought the Bishopstown ground and twice tried to turn it into student accommodation serving the Cork Institute of Technology, only to be refused planning permission.^[3] They rented the site back to Cork City as a training ground and administrative base in early 2010.^[4] Cork Women's FC began using the facility as their home ground in 2013, as they forged closer links with the owners of the male Cork City club.^[5]

References

1. Thornley, Gerry (23 January 1996). "FAI to meet liquidator in effort to rescue Cork City". The Irish Times. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
2. "A Timeline of League of Ireland Soccer in Cork". Cork Past and Present. Cork City Council. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
3. "Former Cork soccer stadium to be knocked?". Irish Examiner. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
4. Buckley, Éanna (4 March 2010). "McCarthy Developments Announced as Community Partner". Cork City F.C. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
5. "Cork Women's F.C. join forces with Cork City". ExtraTime.ie. 20 August 2013. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2016.