Soccer club swamped by 2020 launch party plan

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Representatives of a city soccer club will outline later today (Friday) their concerns about the use of playing pitches in South Park for the official launch of Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture.

West United has already expressed huge reservations about plans for the Galway 2020 opening ceremony at ‘The Swamp’ in Claddagh on Saturday, February 8. West Utd has been playing out of South Park for 75 years – the club is angry about the lack of consultation surrounding the choice of venue. Club members also believe that it is not suitable for the opening ceremony, and fear that the pitches will be damaged by the large crowds Galway 2020 expects to attend.

“We are in no way against Galway 2020 but we are dumbstruck that such an event would be held in an area known as The Swamp in the middle of February – there is a reason it’s known as the Swamp. It’s very soft at the best of times but the best piece of ground in the whole area is the soccer pitch we use and do our upmost to keep in great condition. It will most likely be the area they will use for the 2020 launch,” said a spokesperson for the club.

He said there are concerns that the pitches could be unplayable for a period after the event. Three weeks out from the launch, he said the club was ‘still in the dark’ as to whether the pitch will be playable in the next few weeks and they have received no guarantees that the pitches won’t be damaged during the launch.
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