Taylors Avenue

Taylors Avenue is a football stadium in Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is the home stadium of local football team Carrick Rangers F.C., but owned by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council. Taylors Avenue has a capacity of 6,000. There are two covered stands, with the rest of the ground made up of open terracing.[1][2]

Taylors Avenue
Full nameTaylors Avenue
LocationCarrickfergus, Northern Ireland
OwnerMid and East Antrim Borough Council
SurfaceGrass
Tenants
Carrick Rangers F.C.

History

The ground, known before 1952 as the Barn Field,[3] was the home of Barn F.C. from 1889 until the club folded in 1928.[4] Taylors Avenue was originally founded as Barn Avenue where it was owned by James Taylor who owned the land as part of his converted barn estate. He set aside the land for the nearby Barn Mills National School to host sports events.[5]

In 2011, Carrick Rangers earned promotion to the IFA Premiership for the first time. However, Taylors Avenue did not meet Irish Football Association standards. Work to get the ground up to standards started with the aim of allowing Carrick Rangers to play their at least part of the season. In the meantime, they groundshared with Crusaders at their Seaview ground in Belfast for the whole season.[6] They had to do this again in 2016 following flooding at Taylors Avenue.[7] It was originally planned that the redevelopment would include a 3G pitch, however following subsidence issues discovered during construction a natural grass pitch was retained.[8]

In 2015, Carrick Rangers agreed a naming rights deal for Taylors Avenue after a local hotel.[9] In 2019, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council awarded Taylors Avenue £69,000 from SportNI for ground improvements. They also received £13,000 as part of the Department for Communities' Access & Inclusion Programme in order to improve the toilets.[10]

References
  1. www.fussballtempel.net Archived 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Taylors Avenue, Carrick Rangers FC, Northern Ireland Premier League". Football Ground Guide. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  3. J. Gorrod, A. Hack & A. Simpson (2014). Kings of the Castle: A History of Carrick Rangers Football Club 1939-2014. Unknown publisher, p. 65
  4. J. Gorrod, A. Hack & A. Simpson (2014). Kings of the Castle: A History of Carrick Rangers Football Club 1939-2014. Unknown publisher, pp. 13–16
  5. Hack, Adrian (10 July 2017). "The Conception of Carrick Rangers: Part 1". Thatfootballdaily.com. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  6. "Michael Hughes steps down as Carrick Rangers manager". BBC Sport. 23 September 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  7. "IRISH LEAGUE: Gers to play home games at Seaview". News Letter. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  8. "Carrick have grounds for optimism in pitch battle". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  9. "Gers agree naming rights deal". Carrick Times. 1 July 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  10. "Carrick Rangers FC set to benefit from funding boost". Belfast Live. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

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