Emotions high for Connacht’s final home game before bulldozers move in
Emotions will be ‘brewing up a storm’ at Dexcom Stadium for a final home game like no other tomorrow (Saturday) as Connacht Rugby fans bid farewell to the beloved Clan Stand, shortly to be bulldozed to make way for a €45m redevelopment of the former Sportsgrounds.
It is a must-win for Connacht’s against the South African side Stormers if they are to make it to the URC knockout stages and next season’s Champions Cup following their heavy defeat away to Munster last weekend.
Connacht stalwart Tiernan O’Halloran, who was part of the team that fans got to roar on for that momentous Pro14 victory in 2016, will be among up to seven departing players lining out before the Clan Stand for the final time.
Diggers move in next month to tear down the walls before a new 12,000-capacity stadium takes its place over the next 18 months.
Sean O’Connor, president of the Connacht Clan fan club, said there was upset among ardent supporters when news emerged initially that the Clan was coming down after nearly 15 years.
He attended his first game at age 9 after his father bought him a ticket in 1983 when the Clan was but a distant dream.
“There’s great memories there, from the Heineken Cup, our win over Leinster, John Muldoon’s final game when we beat Leinster in 2017. But there’s also great excitement what’s coming next. It will be state of the art and what they’re putting in there is really to the benefit of supporters,” he told the Galway City Tribune.
“It will be a modern stadium but we will have the same fun, the same emotion, it will be one of the best in the country.”
Pictured: The Clan stand is lit up by flames after Connacht scored a try during the Champions Cup Round of 16 First Leg game against Leinster in March 2022