These are the five biggest sports stadiums in Northern Ireland

Regardless of which sport is your favourite, you’ve likely visited one of the biggest sports stadiums that can be found across Northern Ireland. Below are the five biggest sports stadiums across the six counties, with all figures supplied by Wikipedia. While on your way to checking out games at these stadiums, you could take that travel time to also visit mystino.com if you’re a fan of online casinos.

The following countdown could come in handy for an upcoming general knowledge quiz, or maybe you’re a sports and/or stadium completionist who wants to check off their own personal bucket list of places they’ve always wanted to attend a game. To that end, here are the five biggest sports stadiums that can be found across Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh, and Tyrone, starting with…

1. Casement Park

Location: Belfast, Antrim

Capacity: 34,578

First opened in 1953, it is a bit of a tragedy that the single largest sports stadium in Northern Ireland is currently out of operation. While it was open, Casement Park was primarily used to house major GAA and hurling games in Ulster, but it was ultimately closed down in June 2013. Following a failed attempt to get it reopened as part of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, renovations have now officially begun as Casement Park has been pitched as part of a successful bid by the Republic of Ireland, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to host the 2028 Euros.

2. Páirc Esler

Location: Newry, Down

Capacity: 20,000

Home to the Down Gaelic football and hurling teams, as well as the Newry Shamrocks GAA, Páirc Esler is the largest still-operating sports stadium in Northern Ireland. Built on the banks of the Newry River, the stadium received a proper construction overhaul in 2006, expanding its overall capacity. It is named after Father Esler, who has been credited with bringing back interest in GAA in Newry in the 1930s, before he eventually secured the grounds that would eventually go on to become Páirc Esler.

3. Windsor Park

Location: Belfast, Antrim

Capacity: 18,614

While both Casement Park and Páirc Esler are bigger stadiums, Windsor Park is the largest stadium in Northern Ireland that is almost entirely dedicated to housing soccer games. Initially built in 1903, Windsor Park is the home ground of Linfield Football Club, and it is also used regularly by the Northern Ireland national football club. Windsor Park is also where fans can usually watch the final of the Irish Cup, including this year’s match, which saw Cliftonville beat Linfield 3-1.

4. Athletic Grounds

Location: Armagh

Capacity: 18,500

Yes, the No.4 and No.5 spots have the exact same amount when it comes to capacity, but we’re giving the Athletic Grounds the edge here because it reportedly has more seats for the attending crowd. First opened to the public in the 1920s, the Athletic Grounds is home to Armagh’s GAA and hurling teams. Additionally, the stadium also ranked the highest out of all of the grounds to be found in Northern Ireland in a recent breakdown on all of the sports grounds across Ireland.

5. Celtic Park

Location: Derry/Londonderry

Capacity: 18,500

Last but by no means least in this top five countdown, Celtic Park technically comes in joint fourth with the Athletic Grounds above, but we’ve placed it here as it has only seating room for 3,600 attendees, as opposed to the Armagh stadium’s 5,575. Apparently, Celtic Park was home to the Derry Celtic Football Club as far back as 1900 (we checked, the team itself was founded in 1890), but these days is more known for being home to the local GAA and hurling teams. Following some major developments which weren’t completed until 2009, Celtic Park is now considered to be one of the best available in all of Ulster.