LOI fans in your community/school/friends/parents etc.

[Dunny]

none of my friends would know a thing about eircom league. work with 1 guy that goes to games but thats it.

That's because there's no such thing..

[CarrickFan]

One of my best mates is a Longford Town fan and theres maybe 2 or 3 other proper Rovers fans in town who you can have banter with...all other mates would be Liverpool,Man,Arsenal fans etc or worse still GAA fans who would slate the LOI as "sh!te" without ever having been at a game(judging by the the standard of GAA around here they would know the definition of SH!TE!!)...also im involved in our local Junior club and underage soccer teams and it's interesting to note most of the people involved in the club are the LOI fans from around and not the lads who spend August to May roaring at Gerrard,Rooney and the likes on the TV.

[micls]

I've managed to indoctrinate all my clas, so much so that now when they talk about who the 'best team is' they say 'Liverpool?) then glance to me and add 'And cork city'
We have a scarf over the blackboard and raffles for tickets etc.

The other teachers are well up to date on City matters at this stage as they know it will determine my mood. Unfortunately its usually 'Are ye really going bust....again' etc. Got one SNA hooked and she's now a ST holder.

Family wise, got my sister hooked and the rest always ask after City.

[passinginterest]

The lads in work take an interest, then again one of them played League of Ireland and one of the others Dad's did, I think I'm the only one in my current area that goes to games regularly though. In my old building there was regular Bohs, Rovers and Pat's fans (well one of each anyway!). People definitely seem to be taking more of an interest recently, or maybe it's just the fact that I keep brining it into conversation.

[brendy_éire]

In my team in work, out of the ones who like football, there's me, a Glenavon and a Linfield fan. There's also one who plays for Bangor.
There's always plenty of banter between us, and generally within in the office (most of them are aware that I'm a Derry fan).

Out of my circle of friends, well the fellas anyway, almost all of them are fans of an Irish club. The ones who aren't constantly get dragged along to them too.

[sheao]

I was the only supporter of Cork City in my family,my father would take to games but he was'nt very interested. Last season my uncle and 2 cousins came along with me to sample a game a turners cross. They were massively interested straight away and have come to nearly all the home games over the last 2 seasons. I would suggest to everybody to drag along a family member,relitive or friend to a game. You would be suprised how interested they will be. In my school there are a few a City fans who go every home game and some away games but there very few of these people. Also some to the odd game and mainly just check the scores in the City gams but sadly most people in my school would be Premiership or GAA supporters for life.

[saintmaniac]

When I was in school, there was a Rovers fan and a Shels fan in my year, and a mouthy Bohs fan two years below us (he happens to post here, so I'll shut up ). It wasn't a footballing school at all, which was weird.

College was a wilderness in comparison. About half a million Derry fans (slight exaggeration), but no other club represented bar one Dundalk fan and one Bohs fan in my class who dropped out after the first year. I met a Pats fan in my final year as well, but hardly ever saw him around.

In my current job, there's a lapsed Shels fan, who claims she will go back to games when they get promoted, and two Rovers fans - one who's a season ticket holder in Tallaght, and one who hasn't been since Milltown but still labels himself as such. The only benefit to this is the Tallaght season ticket holder is my boss, so he gave me unlimited licence to book time off for Malta. Then I couldn't afford it, so that backfired on me...

I find in my job a good few people will ask me about Pats, but very few would actually venture to a game. I'm not sure if it's that they feel that by asking me questions, they are doing their civic duty, or if they just run out of things to say to me.

I also find that when people hear I support Pats, their usual response is "Oh, my uncle was on the board of Cork City/ my dad used to go to Shels games", etc., as if I will be personally moved by the detail.... I mean, that's very nice, but how are you meant to react to such information? If I supported Cork or Shels, it might mean something.

[stann]

Like that, I get loads of well meaning interest from family, friends and work (and a lot of contributions to the fundraising stuff too, in fairness), but very few of them are supporters. One chap at work is a regular (and some-time poster on here), two others go to the very odd Blues match, that's out of 20-odd of us.

Friends-wise, very few would be league fans, though most are football fans. One of my oldest friends used to go to games regularly, and when his kids are a bit older I think he could be tempted back, and another friend is a very active fan, and gets to far more games than me. More recently, have made one or two good friends through the LoI. Well.

Most of the family live elsewhere, in areas without league teams. I did manage to talk the father into coming into a game once, years ago, but sadly it coincided with the dullest match I've ever seen. He hasn't been back.

[thischarmingman]

I find in my job a good few people will ask me about Pats, but very few would actually venture to a game. I'm not sure if it's that they feel that by asking me questions, they are doing their civic duty, or if they just run out of things to say to me.

I also find that when people hear I support Pats, their usual response is "Oh, my uncle was on the board of Cork City/ my dad used to go to Shels games", etc., as if I will be personally moved by the detail.... I mean, that's very nice, but how are you meant to react to such information? If I supported Cork or Shels, it might mean something.

My experience exactly.

[Darkglasses]

My dad got me interested in LOI, so obviously he's a fan too. I occasionally manage to convince a friend to come along to a Youths game, unfortunately thats it!

[RoversHead]

Grandfather played for shels but like the rest of us supported the hoops ,there is a Bohs fan in the family tree and me aul lad assures me he is still hanging there.