Tyrone's Healy Park set to close for a year
The ground is to close for a year as it undergoes a £1m scheme to upgrade the playing surface.
The club championships and Ulster Club series will also be forced out of the venue later in the year. The Ulster Club SFC final was played at the ground last November.
Problems with the pitch have dogged the Omagh stadium for several seasons, with a propensity for waterlogging during adverse weather conditions.
A number of high-profile games have had to be postponed or switched to alternative venues, including the 2016 Tyrone SFC final replay between Killyclogher and Coalisland, and more recently other club championship ties, some of which were played at Armagh’s Athletic Grounds.
Healy Park is the only floodlit venue in the county capable of staging championship ties, although plans are in the pipeline to upgrade O’Neill Park in Dungannon.
The Omagh St Enda’s club will also be without a home during the period of contract, which is due to go out to tender this month.
The county board will seek funding for the scheme from the GAA at provincial and national level to offset the cost faced by Tyrone GAA and the local club.
Should Mickey Harte’s Red Hand side reach the Super 8s this year, the loss of home advantage will be a bog blow, but their Ulster Championship campaign will not be affected, as they travel to Ballybofey for a first round tie against Donegal, and semi-finals are played at neutral venues.
The closure of Healy Park for 12 months means it will not reopen until the spring of 2021, meaning Tyrone will not be able to host NFL games there next season.
That means they will attempt to avoid floodlit fixtures, and use Pomeroy or Dungannon as alternative venues.
This year’s League schedule, however, will be unaffected, with the ground set to stage the opening Division 1 tie against newly promoted Meath on January 26, as well as high-profile home games against Kerry and Dublin.
