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 Interactive map of Taylors Avenue | |
| Full name | Taylors Avenue |
|---|---|
| Location | Carrickfergus,Northern Ireland |
| Owner | Mid and East Antrim Borough Council |
| Surface | Grass |
| Tenants | |
| Carrick Rangers F.C. | |
Taylors Avenue is afootballstadium inCarrickfergus,County Antrim,Northern Ireland. It is the home stadium of localfootball teamCarrick Rangers F.C., but owned by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Taylors Avenue has a capacity of 6,000. There are two covered stands, with the rest of the ground made up of open terracing.[1][2]
The ground, known before 1952 as the Barn Field,[3] was the home ofBarn F.C. from 1889 until the club folded in 1928.[4] Taylors Avenue was originally founded as Barn Avenue where it was owned by James Taylor who owned the land as part of his converted barn estate. He set aside the land for the nearby Barn Mills National School to host sports events.[5]
In 2011, Carrick Rangers earned promotion to the IFA Premiership for the first time. However, Taylors Avenue did not meetIrish Football Association standards. Work to get the ground up to standards started with the aim of allowing Carrick Rangers to play their at least part of the season. In the meantime, they groundshared withCrusaders at theirSeaview ground inBelfast for the whole season.[6] They had to do this again in 2016 following flooding at Taylors Avenue.[7] It was originally planned that the redevelopment would include a 3G pitch, however following subsidence issues discovered during construction a natural grass pitch was retained.[8]
In 2015, Carrick Rangers agreed a naming rights deal for Taylors Avenue after a local hotel.[9] In 2019,Mid and East Antrim Borough Council awarded Taylors Avenue £69,000 from SportNI for ground improvements. They also received £13,000 as part of theDepartment for Communities' Access & Inclusion Programme in order to improve the toilets.[10]
54°43′11″N5°48′1″W / 54.71972°N 5.80028°W /54.71972; -5.80028