Seaview

Seaview is a football ground in north Belfast, home to Crusaders Football Club. It stands on the Shore Road about a mile from the city centre, between the railway line to Larne and a goods warehouse yard. The main entrance is on St Vincent Street, where the club offices and social club sit beside a partly covered stand. Three new stands were added in 2011, replacing old terraces at each end and on the southern side. The ground has hosted the Steel & Sons Cup final on Christmas Day for many years. Crusaders moved here in 1921 and the site has grown through several rebuilds. In the early 1950s a main stand with bench seating was added, later replaced by a single-tier stand in the 1970s. The club installed Northern Ireland’s first 3G artificial pitch in 2009. Redevelopment in the 2000s brought new changing rooms, dug-outs and all-seated stands. The rebuilt St Vincent Street stand now seats 1,100 and the Railway End and Shore Road End each gained new covered stands in 2011. Visitors enter through the St Vincent Street side past the club offices and social club. The main stand on the opposite side is a single-tier structure with red seats spelling out the sponsor’s name. The Railway End backs onto the Belfast–Larne railway line and has a small terrace and a burger bar. The Shore Road End has a new covered stand seating 633. The ground also keeps a small section of original open terrace from the 1940s and a club shop beside it.