What was there before the Aviva Stadium in Dublin?

On Wednesday, May 22, Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen will race for the Europa League trophy in what promises to be a match of high technical-tactical caliber: on one side, Xabi Alonso, who has shaped an unbeatable Leverkusen, on the other, Gasperini, who, after the defeat in the Coppa Italia final against Juventus, is still in search of his first, eagerly awaited trophy on the Dea's bench. The match will take place in Dublin, amidst the splendid setting of the Aviva Stadium, a state-of-the-art stadium with a capacity of 51,000 spectators. But most importantly, the players on the field will be greeted by a decidedly calmer atmosphere compared to what awaits Fiorentina as they prepare to face Olympiacos in the Conference League final at the Agia Sophia in Athens - an environment to say the least formidable. In short, Italian clubs will play their fate in two very significant venues - but this discussion mainly concerns the Aviva Stadium, the stadium risen on the site of the former Lansdowne Road. Summarizing why it is the most important stadium in Ireland is by no means simple because on that patch of land, truly everything has happened: concerts, riots, shows, and sports of all kinds.

The Home of Irish Sport

Originally, the stadium's name was Lansdowne Road: it came to life in 1872 from a creation by engineer Henry Dunlop and pays tribute to the third Marquess of Lansdowne. It is the world's first international sports facility despite its initial ambitions being considerably more modest. Towards the end of the 19th century, it was established as a multifunctional sports complex for the Irish Champion Athletic Club (ICAC): a gravel track was laid (the first international athletics competition in history took place at Lansdowne Road, with Ireland facing England in 1875). Additionally, a tennis court was built for the Lansdowne Tennis Club, a croquet field, three football pitches, but also facilities for archery; in short, it established itself as a multi-sport facility from the outset. Dunlop's missionary effort extended to the founding of the Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, but at the same time, it continued to host the most important athletics events until around 1950.

Since its inception, the sports facility has indeed emerged as the beating heart of Irish sport: especially for rugby and athletics, and in 1925 it even hosted an equestrian show featuring Russian Cossacks. Although Lansdowne Road later became the true cradle of Irish rugby, in the last 30 years, football has been the sport that has enjoyed great success in the country - today it is the third most popular sport in the Republic of Ireland. But it is precisely football that is linked to one of the most unpleasant events in Irish sports history and Lansdowne Road itself. It was February 15, 1995, when the friendly match between Ireland and England took place and over 4,000 English fans went to Lansdowne Road, including the small neo-Nazi faction known as Combat 18. The English fans, enraged, destroyed the seats to hurl them at the Irish fans in the lower tier. The referee was forced to suspend the match, with 30 fans ending up in the hospital and one losing their life.

The Most Interesting Features of the Former Lansdowne Road

Lansdowne Road was demolished in 2007 to make way for the Aviva Stadium, which remains to this day the only stadium in Ireland to have hosted a Europa League final - the 2011 final between Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. Lansdowne Road is remembered for its unique features, including the so-called Schoolboy Stand. This term refers to a stand accessible exclusively to students at a price that was around £5, as recounted by more than one user on Reddit. The Schoolboy Stand, before the 1990s, had no seats but rather "Safe standing", a stadium safety measure aimed at ensuring spectators can stand safely during sports events. This is an important safety measure in the context of UK football: in the 1990s, a series of fatal incidents - including the Lansdowne Road Riot of 1995 - led to legislation requiring all clubs to build all-seater stadiums, without standing areas.

Old articles buried in the depths of the web recount that another of Lansdowne Road's most iconic features was the noise of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) train passing practically underneath one of the stadium's main stands, which used to make the stands tremble. Lansdowne Road, of which only many memories remain, has given way to a modern facility with futuristic design, in stark contrast to everything that Lansdowne Road represented over the years.