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Páirc Aibhistin de StaicThe Sportsfield | |
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 Interactive map of Austin Stack Park | |
| Location | Tralee,County Kerry,Ireland |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°16′09.51″N9°41′38.37″W / 52.2693083°N 9.6939917°W /52.2693083; -9.6939917 |
| Public transit | Tralee railway station |
| Owner | Kerry GAA |
| Capacity | 15,500[1] |
| Construction | |
| Renovated | 1994, 2001, 2015 |
Austin Stack Park is aGAA stadium inTralee,County Kerry,Ireland. It is one of the stadiums used byKerry GAA'sGaelic football team and the stadium of thehurling team.
The ground was named afterAustin Stack, an Irish revolutionary and captain of theAll-Ireland winning KerryGaelic football team of 1904. It is located in the centre ofTralee. It hosts manyKerry GAA home games, mostly football league games and both league and championship hurling. The County Championship football and hurling finals are normally held here.
Austin Stack Park has been used for the playing of games since well into the 19th century. Generally known asThe Sportsfield, it was owned by the County Kerry Athletic and Cricket Club. At that time the pitch was oval shaped and surrounded by a 440-yard sloping cinder track considered to be the finest in Ireland.[citation needed]
In 1903, the trustees rented the ground to a committee consisting of all GAA members. The Kerry County Board then purchased the grounds in 1929.
In 1934,The Sportsfield was converted into a rectangular pitch to host the 1934 All Ireland Semi Final which led to the demise of the cinder track. In 1944, the County Board renamed the grounds in honour ofAustin Stack.
The Kerry County Board have had their offices in the ground since 1985 located in the pavilion which first opened back in 1967. In 1994, a new development was completed including a new stand, terracing and redeveloped County Board offices.[citation needed]
The stadium hosted theAll-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship final in 1983 whenKerry took the title beatingLondon in the final. It also hosted the 1997-98Sigerson Cup final which was won byTralee IT, while the first game inKerry GAA played under floodlights took place here in November 2001.[2][3]
In 2007, plans were approved for the stadium's relocation to a site, outside the town, occupied byBallybeggan Racecourse. In December 2009 it was announced that plans for this development had been put on indefinite hold due to thepost-2008 Irish economic downturn.[4] By 2012The Kerryman newspaper reported that the plans had, in effect, been abandoned.[5]
In 2014, a committee was put in place by the Kerry County Board to look into the gradual refurbishment of the existing grounds. These proposals included the upgrading of the pitch, a new score board, upgrading of the lighting system and terracing of the western side of the grounds.[citation needed] A number of these developments, including resurfacing and drainage works on the pitch, were undertaken in 2015 and 2016.[6]
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