Westport United to officially open game-changing new facilities

THEIR 113-year-old journey commenced with a decades-long tour of Westport Demesne, Munster’s Field and Coyne’s Field (now known as Fr Angelus Park).

On Sunday, Mayo’s oldest soccer club will begin their latest chapter when they officially open one of the finest soccer facilities in the land.

Following a fifteen-month-long, multi-million euro development, United Park now boasts a new full-size floodlit grass pitch, a full-size astro turf pitch, and two floodlit astroturf multi-use games areas.

Phase 3 of the United Park development, which first opened in 2016, will see an extension to the clubhouse. The club hopes to commence this towards the end of the year.

Westport United has given football to thousands of young people from the banks of the Carrowbeg.

Prior to re-homing to the Golf Course Road, the club plied their trade up in Horkan’s Hill - where many of its teams still train.

From United Park, to McConville Park, to Rice College, to The Point, Westport United currently trains over 700 players on 40 teams. The club also recently re-entered a junior team into the Mayo Women’s League.

All of that activity strained manpower and resources, but Westport United still thrived on and off the field.

Today, they boast three full-sized pitches at United Park; facilities which will be the envy of junior soccer clubs around Mayo.

Club stalwart Padraig Burns said the opening of these new pitches will be ‘a game-changer’ for the club in the short- medium- and long-term.

“Basically, it will allow all our activity to take place in United Park,” Burns told The Mayo News.

While men and women in black and red stripes will still kick ball at The Point, the extra acres in United Park will make the task of keeping every team trained a lot easier.

“It was difficult. But we did it. We probably never realised there was no other option for it, we just lived with it,” explains Burns when asked about life before United Park.

“We were no different to anyone else. The winter time was the hardest, because we were training at The Point. It’s right by the sea. It could be very windy and wet and no proper changing facilities.

“It brought its difficulties, but there’s also a lot of positive stuff as well about being at the Point. We never complained about The Point. It’s a breeding ground for many young footballers in Westport and please God, we’ll still use it because it’s a wonderful place.

“But having United Park now means everything’s under the one roof. We can plan and structure our training better, we can get three underage teams training at the same time on the astro, we can use the five-a-side cages for underage training if they are not being used commercially. It’s massive.”

The €4 million United Park project has been paid for through extensive fundraising, thousands of volunteer hours and the Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP).

But Burns insists that ‘it wasn’t just fortunate’ that ‘United were awarded a €2.8 million grant from the IIP.

“It was a massive amount of work that went into that [application] by the development committee, a serious amount of hours.”

Westport United, no more than any club, may dream of silverware, but their ambition is singular.

“Our long-term goals are the same as our short-term goals, to provide football to everyone in Westport and make it an enjoyable experience,” said Burns, who has managed several Westport United teams and is a coach with their Mayo Super League side.

“There is no great plan there to be playing in the League of Ireland. If that happens, that’s other world stuff. That’s a different argument altogether, but at the moment, everything revolves around providing the best facilities we can for our players and our members and our community,” he added.

“We can’t emphasise enough how important the community aspect of this is. It’s massive. We have huge support from our community. Football is embedded in our community since 1911 - even before that. It’s part of what we are and this is our way of building on.

“Somebody set up the club in 1911, somebody created the environment to redevelop the sports park, and all we’re doing now is carrying on that work. People that will come after us will do the same.”

Come see what the people of today have achieved this Sunday.

All are welcome to the official opening Phase 2 of the United Park project at 2pm on Sunday, August 25 with special guests Michael Ring TD and Paul Cooke, President of the FAI. Light refreshments and activities for children will be provided on the day.