The Oval (Belfast)
| Oval | |
 |
|
| Location | Belfast |
|---|---|
| Owner | Glentoran Recreation Co Ltd |
| Operator | Glentoran |
| Capacity | 26,556 (6,050 safe capacity) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1892 |
| Renovated | 2000 |
| Tenants | |
| Glentoran (NIFL Premiership) (1892-1941, 1949-present) Queen's Island (1924-28) |
|
The Oval is a football stadium in Belfast, Northern Ireland, which has been home to Glentoran F.C. since 1892. The Oval was bombed during the Belfast blitz of World War II, and was out of use until 1949 when it was rebuilt by the club along with supporters, who had jointly formed the 'Back to the Oval' committee. During their exile, the club played games at the ground of fellow Belfast club, Distillery - Grosvenor Park. It had a new stand built in 2000 but requires consistent maintenance to fulfill health and safety requirements and its capacity is currently restricted to 6,050. The Oval has occasionally hosted the final of the Irish Cup as well as hosting the final of the County Antrim Shield and the Setanta Cup.
From 1882 to 1886, Glentoran used Ormeau Park as their home ground. They moved to Westbourne in Ballymacarrett for six years until 1892. They then moved to The Oval. Initially it was on Dee Street, however in 1903 The Oval's pitch was rotated 90 degrees to its current location. During the early 20th century, the land on which The Oval stood was given in perpetuity to Glentoran by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Daniel Dixon.
In 1941 the Oval was bombed in the Belfast blitz, destroying both grandstands and leaving a crater in the pitch. As a result, the ground was flooded repeatedly by the Connswater River; the water pumps were insufficient to drain the pitch.Grosvenor Park was used as a temporary home for Glentoran, until August 1949. In 1953 the main grandstand was built.
In September 1995, Glentoran had an advertising board with "JESUS" in white letters on a black background erected at The Oval. This became known as the "Jesus sign". It remained at the ground until 2010; Glentoran officials removed it, saying that they needed the space to sell advertising because of the club's financial troubles and because the sign had garnered no income for Glentoran for several years. In 2000 The Oval received funding for the refurbishment of the railway stand, by bolting seats on to the old terracing to create a 1,600-person-capacity stand. It was funded by a small grant as part of the much bigger £2,000,000 investment in Northern Irish sports announced by the Northern Ireland sports minister Michael McGimpsey. Other than new floodlights and a small section of terracing refurbishment, the ground has received no public investment since. During this time, in excess of £50 million of public money has been spent on 15 other football grounds in Northern Ireland.
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