Soccer Stadiums – A Guide to Lansdowne Road, Ireland

The Republic of Ireland soccer team play their home matches at Lansdowne Road in Dublin. Situated in the Ballsbridge area of the city, the stadium is currently under redevelopment and should be completed by 2009.

Lansdowne Road is the world's oldest international stadium, built in 1872 to host a variety of sports including rugby, cricket, athletics, soccer, tennis, and archery. It was originally known as The Royal Irish Parks Stadium, changing its name to Lansdowne Road in the early 20th century.

The first international soccer match to be held at the stadium was on 17 March 1900, when England beat Ireland 2-0.

During the 20th century, the ground was used primarily for rugby union, with soccer matches taking place at Dalymount Park in North Dublin. In the 1980s, international matches returned to Lansdowne Road where many great matches were played from 1990 - 2006.

Whilst the redevelopment of Lansdowne Road is taking place, international soccer games are being played at Croke Park, North Dublin. This stadium was redeveloped recently and is the home of Gaelic Football. The ground holds 82,300 fans on match days.

The new Lansdowne Road stadium will have a seated capacity of 50,000 as opposed to the previous 36,000 and will boast four tiers of seating.

Travel Information

Dublin's light rail service the DART, has a stop at Lansdowne Road station, however on match days this is a restricted service and passengers must alight at a nearby station. Board the southbound DART at Connolly station in the city centre.

Bus passengers can use the 7, 8, 45 or 84 services, which all operate from the city centre and serve the ground.

To get to Lansdowne Road on foot, leave St Stephen's Green in the city centre and walk down Merrion Row, Baggot St Lower, and Baggot St Upper. Cross the Grand Canal at Baggot St Bridge, continuing down Pembroke Road, crossing at the junction of Northumberland Road and Merrion Road.

For ticket holders asked to use the Havelock Square entrance, walk from Merrion Square to Mount St Lower, turn left at Northumberland Road into Haddington Road. Take the right fork at the end of this road, which leads to Havelock Square.