The UCD Bowl is located in the Belfield suburb of southern Dublin.
If the centre of Dublin is famous for Trinity College then nowadays Belfield is synonymous with University College Dublin. This is the location of that institution’s large campus and a League of Ireland Football Team – University College Dublin AFC.
This is one of the few University football clubs in Europe and certainly one of the few student teams to play and win a two legged fixture in modern UEFA Competition.
The men’s first team now plays in the League of Ireland First Division mostly on Friday nights at the UCD Bowl a small stadium located on the campus.
Visit a game at the UCD Bowl and you can grab yourself some crisps before the game at the student campus shop or even go for a pint at the campus bar.
Tales of when Everton came calling in 1984 are fabled at UCD even though the game was actually played at Tolka Park. But in season 2015-16 Slovan Bratislava came to play at the UCD Bowl winning a second leg tie 5-1.
The tie against the Slovaks came only after the student side had beaten F91 Dudelange of Luxembourg in an earlier round. The win was all the more remarkable as the club subsequently went onto qualify twice for the Group Stages of the Europa League.
That win over the Luxemburgers was all the more miraculous as UCD only qualified for the Europa League thanks to the UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking system. This came after the FAI finished third in the 2014–15 fair play rankings, and the national association nominated UCD for the extra European place.
Previously an amateur club the club did turn semi-pro eventually only due to a recognition of the demands of remaining competitive in the top two divisions. Players with no association with the college are allowed to represent and play for the first team although most of the squad are either students or graduates.
The current captain Ronan Finn is a sports management graduate from the establishment.
Substantial improvements to the UCB Bowl have occurred over the last 18 years.
The redevelopment work was assisted thanks to this kicking off during the Celtic Tiger years. But the redevelopment has also came in part thanks to the money that has came thanks to that win in the UEFA Europa League. Meanwhile solidarity payments have arrived thanks to the improvement performances of Irish clubs in UEFA competition.
Seating capacity of the Bowl has increased from 860 to 1,500 and floodlight improvements have occurred. Meanwhile there has been the addition of a shop, press facilities, toilets and turnstile access facilities.
That said while this is a neat, compact and modern facility surrounded by grassy banks the UCD Bowl is one of the smallest facilities in the League of Ireland.
Its appearance, fit and atmosphere is one that highlights the limitations of the club compared to the stadiums of the giants of Irish football all of whom are located to the north of UCD in the Irish capital.