Bohemians to Save Up to €400k by Staying at Dalymount Until May 2027

Bohemians expect to save between €350,000 and €400,000 by staying at Dalymount Park until May 2027, giving the club a fairly straightforward reason not to leave Phibsborough months before the builders actually need the place.

Bohs announced on Friday that their departure had been pushed back, but COO Daniel Lambert has now explained how much the extra time is worth. The club had originally expected to leave earlier in 2027, only to learn that full access to the site was unlikely to be required until late April. Staying until the end of May allows Bohs to keep bar and matchday income coming through Dalymount while putting off the point at which they start paying rent somewhere else.

Lambert told The42:

“We did a calculation and it’s a big number, in terms of keeping the bar and not being somewhere else and paying rent. It’s as simple as that.”

He put that number at between €350,000 and €400,000.

For context, Bohs reported turnover of around €4.5 million in 2024, so the upper end of that saving is close to 9% of a full year’s revenue. The club has grown considerably in recent seasons, helped by stronger crowds and commercial income, but €400,000 is still €400,000. Giving it up simply to leave earlier would have made very little sense.

Lambert expects the men's team to use at least two grounds during the redevelopment, with Richmond Park and the redeveloped RDS among the options. European qualification could require another venue, while the women's team will also need somewhere to play. Bohs say those arrangements are already mapped out and will be announced once they are finalised.

Some of the disruption will arrive before the club leaves. Dalymount's existing floodlights are due to come down and the Tramway End, which dates from 1928, is also scheduled for demolition. Lambert expects some of the early-2027 fixtures to move to Saturdays or Sundays as a result, so even the final months at the old ground won't look quite like a normal Bohs season.

Dalymount has been home since 1901, when Bohs beat Shelbourne 4-2 in the first senior game there. The club has been trying to secure a rebuilt version of it for years, with Dublin City Council eventually buying the ground from Bohemians for almost €3.8 million in 2015. At the time, the redevelopment was expected to cost around €20 million. By late 2025, that estimate had risen to €63.75 million, with almost €25 million coming through the Large Scale Sport Infrastructure Fund and the council approving borrowing of roughly €34 million towards the work.

The latest plans are for a four-sided stadium of just over 8,000 capacity, including 6,245 seats and 1,794 standing places. The existing ground will be completely reworked, with the pitch rotated, new stands built and new bar, retail and community spaces added around it.

The new Dalymount is planned to meet UEFA Category 3 requirements. That will cover most domestic football and European qualifying rounds, but it also explains why Bohs may still need another Dublin ground if a future European run goes far enough. The club could end up back in a temporary home for certain matches even after Dalymount itself has reopened.

Bohs and Dublin City Council still expect the club to return to the redeveloped ground for the start of the 2029 League of Ireland season.

Between now and then, Bohs will have to move home fixtures around Dublin and live without the ground they have known for more than a century. Another few months in Phibsborough at least keeps close to €400,000 in the club rather than someone else's rent account.