COMMENT: Kildare morale at rock bottom but stadium a great lift 

Walking down the Main Street of Newbridge recently on a glorious Sunday morning, sun shining, GAA fans everywhere, all in red; the red of Cork and the red of Tyrone.

​The occasion? The All-Ireland Minor Football Championship final of 2026.

No doubt who had the biggest following. The Rebels, with Sports Direct getting full value for their sponsorship of the county from the deep south, and while Tyrone supporters were certainly not scarce on the ground, they were out-numbered, nevertheless.

Maybe the Corkonians were still on their way south following their shock defeat at the hands of Galway in the All-Ireland SHC semi-final the previous day.

Then again, not sure if the hurling fans from the Rebel County would have the same interest in their minor footballers.

Seems to be two ‘breeds’ in that southern county. The big ball family. And the small ball clan.

Certainly no sign of our friend Donal Óg. Probably still smarting from his spat with Joe Canning on the box. A bit touchy was the bauld Donal Óg.

That is what losing an All-Ireland semi-finals can do. Getting personal is a sure sign you are losing the argument.

Not sure if the former custodian went home by train, car or however, but there was certainly no sign of him on that particular Sunday morning.

I’d say there was some clamour the following morning to cancel a train trip to the Capital that was all booked up for the All-Ireland final Sunday.

Talking about counting your chickens …

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Entering Cedral St Conleth’s Park for that final and the mind takes a bit of a walk, back to a time when Kildare GAA hosting an All-Ireland, of any description, was simply not a runner.

Not on the agenda. Not in the discussion. Not even up for consideration.

Nowadays when entering Cedral St Conleth's I have to admit I do so with absolute pride.

Gone are the days when one would be embarrassed.

Gone are the days when entering the so called press area, the first thing that had to be done was clean up after late night visitors had left some of their paraphernalia behind.

Gone are the days when one was embarrassed when visiting newspaper folk sought the wi-fi password.

It was a bit of a standing joke with the local scribblers when the initial enquiries were made, time and time again.

The nearest thing to a wi-fi pass code was behind the stand in the headquarters of Bord na Móna.

But, needless to say, we did not have the luxury of its use.

Then again, many stadia over the years did not have such luxuries either, it was just that Kildare GAA were very slow to modernise the place.

Looking back there were many venues that left a lot to be desired.

I can recall getting a lift up onto the back of a trailer in one of our northern brethren’s headquarters.

How could you forget it?

That, of course, was before the ‘queen’s shilling’ was spent to bring the county grounds up to what they are today, which is brilliant.

But back to Cedral St Conleth’s Park and I have to say since it opened it is just magnificent to hear visiting team officials, players and supporters comment on the facilities that we now all enjoy.

The atmosphere for that minor All-Ireland final was something very special, just as it was twelve months earlier when Kerry arrived to take on Tyrone in the same competition.

There is something these days about a big crowd in Newbridge, not sure if it is the closeness of the fans to the pitch, or what, but it certainly leads to a mighty atmosphere that is hard to replicate at other venues, yes bigger, but most don’t carry the atmosphere as does Newbridge.

When opened there was some criticism that it should have been constructed to take in some 20,000 or more. But personally speaking, I believe the capacity at present is spot on.

Looking back on the recent Kerry game (All Ireland Series), apologies for bringing that up again, but the attendance that evening was given at just under 10,000.

Now we are told that the stadium can hold 15,000, all I can say is if there was another 5,000, or even 3,000 at that game, not sure where they would all have fitted.

But, no matter.

For now, at a time when things are at a low ebb, a very low ebb, particularly from a football point of view, we should not forget those who were responsible for the re-development of the stadium.

There were many, too many to mention here but anyone who knows anything about GAA in the county knows who those folk are.

And remember, there is no massive overhanging load there to burden the county over the coming years, in fact come convention 2026 it is expected that Cedral St Conleth’s Park will be debt-free.

Now that in itself is some achievement.

So while there is no doubt that on the field of play, things are not where any one of us want it to be, off the field we can indeed be immensely proud of what we have for our own players and indeed for outside counties, which, no doubt, we will see more and more of in the future.

News that week that Brian Dowling is to continue to guide the senior hurlers of the county is to be warmly welcomed. His reputation is rising, his future is bright, and that has been acknowledged back in his own county of Kilkenny. He is wished the very best.

Next up … we await anxiously.