Ireland’s first ever custom-designed indoor football facility has been opened at Airways Industrial Estate in Dublin.
Extending over an area of 4,000 square metres, the facility has four state of the art pitches, utilising the latest in pitch technology replicating natural grass with no infill, sand or rubber.
The target market is said to include recreational players and leagues, school tours, summer camps and children’s parties, with two party rooms, holding up to 20 children in each. There is also a conference room catering for up to 50 people suggesting team building sessions for business will also be a possible market.
The venue is privately owned by John O’Donohoe and Patricia O’Connor who were previously involved in a corporate travel business.
“After extensive research our marketing team saw there was a niche within the industry for a facility designed upon this concept, said O’Connor. We are offering soccer players a real alternative to outdoor pitches, where they can hold training and football playoffs all year round regardless of the weather.”
It will offer competition to AstroParks, the nearest of which to the new facility is at the Oscar Traynor centre in Coolock and has itself recently invested in new pitches.
Goals Soccer Centres in the UK runs 43 centres with an average of ten small pitches and expanded rapidly during the last five years. Recent figures there suggested demand had held up during the recession but that first half profits to June 30th were marginally behind last year.
The company year end profit for 2012 was £9.5 million on sales of £32.5 million.
Sports Tourism Seminar at Croke Park (September 19th)
Sport for Business 20/20 at Ulster Bank HQ (October 8th)
The Business of Youth Sport Seminar (November 28th)
New Indoor Soccer Facility for Dublin
