IFA Programme 2016

Demolition work begins on the South Stand in 2014.

Construction work begins on the new West Stand (Feb 2016).

Havelange and Nicholas Scott, Northern Ireland Minister responsible for Sport. The total cost of the North Stand scheme, including professional fees, VAT, site investigation costs and so on was just over £1.9 million. The government via the Department of Education contributed 50% of the total cost up to a limit of £1m. The Football Trust advanced £500,000 and the Football Grounds Improvement Trust £200,000 leaving a balance of around £250,000 to be funded by the Irish Football Association and Linfield. At the start of 1985 the ground got what could be described as its first modern dugouts. The dugouts, which each accommodated 11 people on individual seats, replaced covered structures which only had bench seats. Following the fire tragedy in the main stand at Bradford City’s Valley Parade ground in May 1985, in which 58 people died, local authorities across the UK acted to prevent any repetition. Following an intervention by the Department of Economic Development’s health and safety experts, the South Stand had to be revamped. The old Balmoral section of the stand was removed and fireproofing, lighting and exit points upgraded to comply with safety requirements. The stand’s wooden bench seats were removed and replaced with plastic tip-up seats. And its capacity was reduced to 1,700 by the start of the 1986-87 season. Following the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield in April 1989, in which 96 Liverpool fans died, FIFA decreed (July 1989) that from 1992 no standing spectators would be permitted at World Cup qualifying matches. This saw the closing of the Spion Kop terracing for internationals staged at Windsor Park from 1991-92 onwards, although it did remain open for Linfield games. Mind you, the Kop did manage one last hurrah re: international games. It was used for an international friendly against Germany on 29 May 1996; the Germans had used Northern Ireland

capacity of the ground from around 60,000 to 48,600, and that was the attendance quoted for the first international match to be played following the installation of the seats – Northern Ireland v England in October 1966. A Members Lounge was added to the ground in 1966 followed by a new official entrance and renovated dressing rooms two years later. At the start of the 1970s a social club was built at the Railway End – it was extended 10 years later – and towards the end of the decade the floodlighting was upgraded. In November 1978 Linfield invited Russian side Moscow Dynamo to celebrate the opening of the new £100,000 floodlighting system. It was switched on by Roy Mason, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The Russian visitors won the game 4-0 in front of 9,000 fans. The crowd was smaller than expected because there was torrential rain on the night of the game. Part of the Railway Stand at Windsor Park was wrecked by a terrorist bomb in April 1972, while a decade later the unreserved stand backing on to Olympia Drive went up in flames after Linfield had defeated Glentoran 1-0 in a Co Antrim Shield tie. Prior to the fire in the unreserved stand the Irish Football Association had commissioned a feasibility study looking at the potential replacement of the terracing there with a new all- seater stand. That study quickly became reality after the fire. Work began in September 1983 on the new structure, which would be known as the North Stand, and it opened a year or so later. Its 6,800 seats took the seating capacity in the stadium to 11,300, while the overall capacity in the ground was reduced by 10,000 to 30,000. The stand was formally opened in September 1984 on the eve of a Northern Ireland v Romania World Cup qualifying game. The opening ceremony was carried out jointly by FIFA President Dr Joao

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