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Offaly have been left reeling by the news that their Cadbury Leinster U21FC first round game against Laois has been moved from Gracefield to a Laois venue.

The local derby clash was due to be played under lights at the Gracefield on February 19, but following a recent inspection of the ground, health and safety officials deemed that the venue situated on the outskirts of Portarlington isn't fit to host the game.

The decision has baffled Offaly football followers after Gracefield successfully hosted Offaly's two home games in last year's Cadbury Leinster U21FC against Meath and Kildare as well as the recent O'Byrne Cup tie between the Faithful County and Athlone IT.

The game could not be switched to a weekend slot as Leinster Council is committed to playing all of its U21 championship games midweek and under lights. With no other floodlit venue in Offaly considered as being up to standard, O'Moore Park in Portlaoise is now expected to host the game, while McCann Park - which is just across the River Barrow in Portarlington - could also be in the running.

I would love to see the reasons these health and safety crowd found that the Gracefield ground was not fit to hold this game. Last year we had a few great nights under lights with large crowds and i found it easy enough to move around the ground and get in and out on the road. The stand doesnt hold that many and is small , most of the crowd are located around the pitch .

What county is the GAA president from?

The only reason it can't be safe is if the crowd expected is going to be a big increase on last year and perhaps with the impropvement in the senior team and the increased crowds at their matches maybe they expect something similar for the u-21s.If this isnt the reason then basicaly every single GAA club ground isnt fit to host a club championship match.

I touched on this in the column for tomorrow, but the word going around is that "claims" were made in the aftermath of those games against Kildare and Meath last year. Whether those claims were successful or even justifiable is something I don't know, but the truth of the matter is that it's very hard to argue with a decision that is ostensibly in the interests of health and safety. I will say too that the preponderance of Laois members on the Leinster Council would make me suspicious.

However I will say this - if the match is moved to McCann Park or O'Moore Park, that's one thing - but it's still not a "home" match for Laois. As such if the venueis moved, Offaly should look for and should be accommodated in their preparations, which means getting access to the ground for one or two nights, either to play an internal challenge game or train, or whatever. Lights on, same conditions as would be in place for the match. If they are denied this, then it's not a health and safety issue any more, it's a stroke.

If this isn't granted, then we should be fighting tooth and nail (privately, not publicly) to move the game to Athlone, or somewhere that it at least genuinely neutral.

Wonder are the authorities afraid of Gracefield not being able to accommodate a large crowd as there will be many coming from both sides of Portarlington alone.

Shouldnt matter were the match is played, we still should be able to beat Laois!!!!!!

Tis a pity alright, couple of good nights over there alright.

What I would like to know is:

Was the inspection bt Health & Safety ( ie HSE) or by officials from Leinster GAA in Portlaoise ??

If the latter I would also have my suspecions.

The mention of "claims" is a worry.

It was "claims" that forced the exclusion of spectators from the pitch in Croke Park after games and if the "oh me back" & "how much can I stick them for" thing spreads then every game will have to be played in the big venues and God help the clubs who host games.

It was fairly obvious that gracefield would not pass the rigourous demands of the health and safety men when one considers that Birr has been deemed unsuitable to host our minor and u21 hurling teams in the leinster championship

I am sorry for Gracefield Club. They have installed excellent floodlights. The club were excellent hosts of two great u-21 games last season (Meath & Kildare). The loss of this game to Offaly is certainly not the fault of Gracefield GAA Club. The fault lies with Offaly Co Board who have failed to provide any floodlight pitch in the county capable of hosting any inter county games or even training sessions for our county panels. Offaly needs to have floodlighting installed at O'Connor Park and St Brendans Park upgraded in order that we maximise the benefit of any home draws we might get. Our near neighbours in Kildare have excellent facilities at Hawkfield and are not dependant on clubs for the use of facilities for training & challenge games.

Agree Sharp eye, but in the case of Kildare,they have a bigger problem. THey have no county ground.

Agreed, we need to get a training area, and floodlights would be great for OConnor park. Especially with a bit of buzz coming back into the football, Saturday nights would draw a big crowd. Would need to start at 7 to encourage people to bring kids along, and might help business around the town also.

Will be an item on the new chairmans list alright.

Sharp Eye wrote:Our near neighbours in Kildare have excellent facilities at Hawkfield and are not dependant on clubs for the use of facilities for training & challenge games.

That's the thing really - every county got an injection of cash while Croke Park was being rented out to the FAI and IRFU, and they all used it differently. Kildare (and Meath, with less success) went down the road of training facilities, Offaly developed OCP, Westmeath put in place the all weather facility at St Lomans, Longford installed their multi purpose gym and indoor training facility for all their squads.

I don't think Offaly are particularly strong or weak when it comes to infrastructure as a whole, but there are gaps we need to address.