It's usually on the football field that a club makes its mark. And the more significant the mark the better the season. Like, for instance, a championship or league win, or, for the Joe Ward Cup winners a decent run in the provincial series. There's also reason to celebrate if relegation, seemingly inevitable at one point, is avoided. It that case there can be reason to look back on the twelve months with a degree of relief if not satisfaction. By Joe Carroll. Dundalk Gaels juniors reached the Junior 2B championship final but lost to Na Piarsaigh by a point on November 27. The intermediates have completed their programme, having reached the championship semi-final and finished in the league's top four after being in the hunt for the prime spot for a while. Nothing major there to write home about; yet, when The Ramparts outfit comes to review 2005, there'll be much off-field activity to consider. It has, in short, being one of the club's most significant years since its formation back in 1928, and it has all to do with a decision taken an an extraordinary general meeting held during the summer. For years Gaels have been based at The Ramparts, where once there were three pitches. It was owned by the Christian Brothers, with whom the club has had a strong friendship over the years. Gaels trained there and also played a few home games at adult level, but the pitches were really only suitable for underage football. It was there where nearly all Cumann Peile na nOg games were played when the local streets' league organisation was formed in the mid-l960s, and, of course, CBS teams had their home games at the venue after the closure of the nearby Athletic Grounds in the late Fifties. Come the 1970s and the CBS decided to sell the land in three lots. One was bought by McCanns the fruit importers, another by Telecom Eireann, while Gaels entered into an agreement with the school authorities whereby they took a lease on just over six acres at a price considerably lower than that paid by McCanns and Telecom. The lease would extend way belong the lifetime of those who were part of the negotiations, and the brothers would have a limited use of the pitch. Gaels developed the pitch, and consensus is that with its sanded base, it is now one of the best in county, suitable for football when most others are suffering from inclement weather. It is, however, based right in the middle of an area which has in recent years attracted the attention of some of the country's biggest developers. Next door to the Gaels grounds, in what was known as 'Peru Clarke's Field', is the recently-opened Marshes Shopping Centre. It was inevitable, perhaps, that Gaels would come under the developer microscope. Around six years ago the first approach was made, and it was then that the ground rules were laid down. Money wouldn't be a factor. What would be, however, was that if the club was to vacate the pitch it would have to be re-housed within its own hinterland, and that the new base would have a couple of floodlit pitches, a stand and a social centre. Six years on and huge progress has been made. Having been in negotiations with Wanze Properties Limited, owners of Dundalk Shopping Centre, for four of the six years, the Gaels committee, under the chairmanship of Dick O'Callaghan, was in a position to call an extraordinary general meeting a number of months ago, at which members were asked to approve of what was basically a swap of land - Pairc na nGael for thirteen acres at Priorland on which the required pitches, stand and social centre would be built. Members voted overwhelmingly in favour, much to the delight of Dick O'Callaghan, who was to the fore in the protracted negotiations. "We are delighted the project got the go-ahead," the chairman told The Argus. "We have been in negotiations on this for almost four years, but it is important to stress it is still subject to planning permission and no contract has been signed yet." He outlined what was in the plans - a large two-storey building which would house six dressingrooms all with their own shower facilities; referee's room, medical areas, a gym and an hall over 30m in length. Envisaged also a bar, kitchen and an upstairs function room with a balcony overlooking the main pitch. Referring to the outdoors facilities, the chairman said that both pitches would have floodlights, and be constructed with state-of-the-art drainage systems. "The main playing area will be the maximum size allowable for a GAA pitch, while the other will be smaller, but still the same size as the one at The Ramparts. A 400 to 500-seater stand will be built on one side of the main pitch with terracing on either side of it." There is still a lot of work to be done before work can begin, but until then Gaels can plan for what will be the biggest event ever undertaken in the club's history. And now to the present and the club's pending junior championship final appearance. Victory would bring a first trophy of the year at adult level to The Ramparts, and would a fitting reward for the team and its manager, Dermot Culligan. When many others would have packed it in having gone for about three months without a fixture, the whole crew stuck with it. Their season gained momentum with a series of wins in the knock-out, and while nothing can excuse the complete mishandling of the league by the fixture-makers, to finish the season with a trophy would be some measure of compensation. The club's flagship, the intermediates, reached the championship semi-final, but more important than that, avoided relegation to lower section of the league. That might not seem such a great achievement, but for a long stretch of the season it looked as if the slide that began last year was set to continue. The club's premier side was relegated after a most unrewarding 2004 season in senior. But enthusiasm abounded with former player, Niall Lambert, taking over for the first time. Several of the stalwarts agreed to stay on, while there was a sprinkling of some very good young players. Things, however, didn't work out to well at the beginning of the main league, and after about five games the team was much closer to the bottom of the table than the top. And when the first game in the championship - against Geraldines - yielded a defeat, morale hit an all-time low. In addition, many key players were out through injury. But then fortunes began to improve, starting with a hugely impressive win over St Fechin's. It was then on to a quarter-final meeting with Lannleire, and here again the display with such, early season results seemed as if they'd been different. Naomh Malachi were there for the taking in the semi-final, but after holding a commanding lead, a last quarter collapse proved fatal. Niall Lambert was then left with the task of lifting morale once again in the lead into the crucial second half of the league. That he succeeded is beyond question. There were wins over the championship finalists, Geraldines and Malachis, and when another followed in the joust with table-toppers, Sean O'Mahony's, what had been a fight against relegation became a very solid bid for the title and a quick return to senior. Hunterstown were beaten after that, but in the one that really counted - a clash with Na Piarsaigh - too many players were below form for the team to have any chance of taking the points. Tremendous work continues to be done at underage level, and when these young men, the minors in particular, progress to adult football, it's the wish of the club, no doubt, that their home games will be played at Priorland. Tweet

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