Dundalk to complete pitch repairs ahead of Waterford home fixture

Repairs to the damaged playing surface at Oriel Park will be completed in advance of Dundalk FC’s return to home action against Waterford in the League of Ireland on Friday week, March 13th.

The newly installed synthetic pitch sustained significant damage during the recent Louth derby between Dundalk and Drogheda United, when a number of flares were thrown from the away section of the ground. The incident left 35 burn marks on the surface.

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Remedial works are due to commence at Oriel this week, with the club confident the affected areas will be restored in time for the visit of Waterford. The fixture will mark Dundalk’s first home game since the incident, with The Lilywhites keen to ensure the surface is fully fit for play.

Manager Ciaran Kilduff confirmed that his squad had returned to training following the incident but noted that work had been confined to a specific section of the pitch.

“It’s just that area of the pitch,” he said. “It’s obviously not perfect. I think it’s only really getting done early this week and finished off, so we’ll be fine. It’ll be all done. It should be done by the middle of this week.”

Kilduff insisted that the publicity surrounding last week’s incidents was no excuse for his side’s 4-0 SSE Airtricity League Premier Division defeat to St Patrick’s Athletic at Richmond Park.

“It didn’t affect really much prep,” he said. “It’s long forgotten about for me. Obviously, we’re here, and we’ve been following it. It’s turned into a bit of a saga, but on Monday in Tallaght, we were probably happy to be in our bubble, having the games to distract us from that. I’ve made my point clear: it was a shame it happened, it can’t happen, but no, that never even figured into things.”

Drogheda have been fined €15,000 by the Independent Disciplinary Committee of the FAI over their role in the recent incident, with away supporters also prohibited from travelling to the club’s next four league fixtures, as well as their forthcoming visit to Oriel Park in July. In a statement, the club confirmed it would meet the costs of repairing the damage caused.

Dundalk issued a statement of their own addressing the incident at Oriel, in which a 12-year-old supporter was injured and the pitch suffered criminal damage.

The club said it was treating the matter “with the utmost seriousness” and reiterated that all forms of pyrotechnics are strictly prohibited at the stadium. While acknowledging the importance of a positive matchnight atmosphere, Dundalk stressed that such an environment “cannot and will not be built on behaviour that endangers others.”

The statement added that the club rejects any suggestion that pyrotechnics are necessary to generate support or enhance the spectacle and condemned attempts to justify, normalise, or glamorise their use.

Dundalk confirmed that the damage to the pitch has been assessed and that repair work is scheduled to begin early next week. While the club declined to comment on the precise cost, it described the expenses as “significant” and dismissed publicly circulating figures as inaccurate.

Finally, the club said it was conducting a comprehensive review of the incident, including all matchnight operations, its Ground Regulations, and broader safety and security procedures.